Influential conservatives have long sought to curtail the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) – and the actions of four nurses in Mozambique may have inadvertently given them the ammunition to do just that. Deeply uncomfortable with the sexual dimension of HIV transmission, the powerful Heritage Foundation, which authored the conservative Project […] Continue reading ->
A new mpox outbreak in Sierra Leone and a rising case toll across Africa are fueling urgent calls for stronger containment efforts, even as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) finally speeds up its mpox vaccine drive and Rwanda’s swift response to Marburg suggests a model for epidemic control. Health authorities in Sierra Leone have […] Continue reading ->
Picture a young woman in rural Sindh in Pakistan, fatigued from years of battling an undiagnosed illness, unable to care for her children or fulfill her potential. But a simple diagnostic test and a 12-week treatment for hepatitis C could transform and save her life. This story is no longer a distant dream. With the […] Continue reading ->
A widely cited study about the use of Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat COVID-19, published in March 2020, has been retracted by its publisher, Elsevier. The study, published in Elsevier’s International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, was retracted in the January 2025 edition of the journal (issued last month). “Concerns have been raised regarding this article, […] Continue reading ->
More than 24.6 million people – one half of Sudan’s population – are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the latest report of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which tracks hunger risks and extreme hunger spots globally. And famine (IPC phase 5) is present in at least five Sudanese areas […] Continue reading ->
In April 2022, amidst the continuing uproar of the COVID pandemic, four deans of schools of public health from the USA, China, Switzerland and Singapore, first got on a call with each other to see how they could ramp up cooperation – remotely. Barred by lockdowns from the usual academic meetings and conferences, the urge […] Continue reading ->
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s last countrywide anti-polio drive of 2024 is set to conclude on 22 December but eradicating polio remains a challenge for the government, and this year’s surge in cases has resulted in calls for an independent audit of the program. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries in the world battling to […] Continue reading ->
Although malaria, compounded by malnutrition, seems the most likely cause of the mysterious illness in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), haemorrhagic fever syndrome has not been ruled out. Dr Ngashi Ngongo, mpox lead for Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told a media briefing on Thursday that there were two “working […] Continue reading ->
Some two million people may get access to lenacapavir, the twice-yearly antiretroviral injection that prevents HIV injection, within the next three years, thanks to the Global Fund and United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The initiative is contingent upon regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), national pharmaceutical regulators, […] Continue reading ->
Climate change, unplanned urbanization, sprawling cities, and the El Nino effect all converged to make 2024 a “historic” year for dengue transmission. With increased opportunities for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes–the insects that carry dengue– to breed, cases reached a record 12.7 million cases in the WHO’s Americas Region, nearly three times more than in 2023. This translates […] Continue reading ->