First in a series of stories about how the coronavirus lockdowns and relaxations are playing out in different parts of Africa. Ibadan, Nigeria – While Lagos and Abuja capital city continue to be the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria accounting for nearly half of confirmed cases, Oyo State is also generating a buzz. […] Continue reading ->
Italy has become the first nation to require pharmaceutical companies to disclose secret data about any public subsidies it may have received for the development of a new drug, during negotiations over drug pricing and reimbursement with national regulatory authorities, according to a decree published Friday in the nation’s official gazette. The decree, following on […] Continue reading ->
In a landmark achievement, incidence of chronic hepatitis B has successfully dropped below 1% in children under five, reaching the 2020 goal set at the 2016 World Health Assembly, said World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanon Ghebreyesus on Monday. The target reduction in hepatitis B virus (HBV) incidence in children was met in 2019, […] Continue reading ->
Moderna, a frontrunner in the COVID-19 vaccine development race, today entered the final phase of testing required before pursuing regulatory approval, beginning the Phase III trial for their vaccine candidate mRNA-1273. The trial, titled COVE (Coronavirus Efficacy), will measure how well a 100 microgram dose of the vaccine can protect people against developing symptomatic COVID-19 […] Continue reading ->
Kilifi County, Kenya – Elyne Kaingu, a 33-year old mother from the beautiful Mnarani area of Kilifi County, overlooking the Indian Ocean, was extremely wary during her first pregnancy about the silent killer in her midst – malaria. She knew some other first time mothers had fallen ill with the disease, and had even lost […] Continue reading ->
COVID-19 is on it’s way to becoming the deadliest infectious disease in the world this year, and could cause more deaths worldwide than the current deadliest infectious disease killer tuberculosis. Currently tuberculosis, one of humankind’s oldest known infectious diseases, takes the lives of some 1.8 million people per year. Global Deaths Due to Various Causes […] Continue reading ->
A new study by researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has documented how poor building ventilation plays a role in indoor transmission of Covid-19. The study looked at the air flow and infection dynamics from three important Covid-19 outbreaks in China and Japan, concluding that spread of the virus was “definitely favored by poor air […] Continue reading ->
In past decades, Europe has achieved one of the world’s highest water and sanitation coverages, but it is often forgotten that one in ten schools in the 53 countries of WHO’s European region still lack basic hand washing facilities, leaving some 5 million pupils without access to soap and clean water. All in all, some 31 […] Continue reading ->
In the largest and perhaps most robust peer-reviewed study to date, A COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by pharma giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University has been shown to induce strong antibody and T cell responses in healthy volunteers, according to Phase 1/2 trial results published in The Lancet on Monday. Most studies so far have focused on […] Continue reading ->
The race for the leadership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) gained traction this week as eight competing nominees presented their pitches to fill Azevêdo’s role to the WTO General Council, and later to the press and public. The nominees include: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and former finance minister of […] Continue reading ->