The disengagement of both USAID and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from the WHO-led global polio eradication initiative, threatens efforts in the world’s poorest countries with about $233 million more in a year in budget shortfalls, WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Hanan Balkhy, said on Friday. This, in a year […] Continue reading ->
Despite Waiver, Many US-Funded HIV Programmes Remain Paralysed; Trump Orders Face Protests, Lawsuits
Many HIV programmes worldwide remain paralysed despite being exempted from the United States’ 90-day freeze on foreign aid and “stop work order”. This is largely because the axe Elon Musk has taken to US agencies has resulted in there being too few staff members left to support their work, including processing payments and ensuring that […] Continue reading ->
The richest man in the world and the President of the United States sent a message over the weekend to USAID, the world’s largest provider of humanitarian assistance depended on for survival by millions of the world’s poorest people: “Time to die.” Two weeks into Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office, the Washington headquarters […] Continue reading ->
Goma Hospitals Swamped with Casualties, Food and Water Low as M-23 Rebels Take Over Eastern DRC City
Hospitals in Goma, the city at the epicentre of the M23 rebel advance in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are being flooded with casualties. Health facilities and workers have been targeted in attacks. Humanitarian food stores are being looted. Women are at increased risk of rape, and the safe evacuation of wounded has been […] Continue reading ->
WASHINGTON, DC – Robert F Kennedy (RFK) Jr’s Senate confirmation as Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary faced fresh obstacles on Thursday after Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) said he “wasn’t sure “ he could vote for someone “who spent decades criticizing vaccines, and who’s financially vested in […] Continue reading ->
Robert F Kennedy (RFK) Jr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), faced two days of tense questioning from senators on the finance and health committees. He walked back many of his past statements on vaccines and abortion, and emphasized his commitment to address America’s […] Continue reading ->
Non-governmental organisations that receive US government funds across a range of sectors – including HIV, LGBTQ support and climate change – have been told to cease operations immediately. Over the past two days, letters have been sent to US grant recipients following a “stop-work order” issued late Friday by the US State Department’s Office of […] Continue reading ->
The weekend release of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report favouring a laboratory leak as the likely origin of COVID-19 – albeit with “low confidence” – has reignited a vitriolic debate. On the one side of the divide are those who argue that SARS-CoV2, the virus causing COVID-19, originated from a lab leak from […] Continue reading ->
The good news first: HIV science has made remarkable progress. While we still lack a vaccine or cure, a single dose of a new long-acting injectable drug can now offer protection against HIV for up to six months. This breakthrough could revolutionize efforts to curb a pandemic that still claims a life every minute. However, […] Continue reading ->
Tanzania has confirmed an outbreak of Marburg virus disease in the northwestern Kagera region after one case tested positive for the virus following investigations and laboratory analysis of suspected cases of the disease. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced this during a press briefing on Monday with World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom […] Continue reading ->