Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that 83% of US international aid programs were “canceled” hours before a federal district judge ruled that the administration’s actions were an overreach of the Executive branch’s power. At risk are thousands of lifesaving humanitarian programs. In a refugee camp in Bangladesh, 500,000 Rohynga children depend on food treatment […] Continue reading ->
Only 17% of suspected mpox tests in the the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had been tested in the past week – a drop of almost 10%, Dr Ngashi Ngongo, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) lead on mpox, told a media briefing on Thursday. Only seven of the DRC’s 26 […] Continue reading ->
The Trump administration has terminated the contracts of nearly 10,000 global health projects funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) or the US State Department  – including projects to provide vital diagnosis and treatment for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, as well as humanitarian aid projects providing nutrition and water and sanitation services. Grants […] Continue reading ->
Encephalitis “remains under-recognized, under-diagnosed, and underfunded”,  according to a new policy report from the World Health Organization (WHO). Climate change, vaccine hesitancy, and the rising burden of vector-borne diseases are also fuelling an increased number of encephalitis cases, a rare but serious inflammation of the brain.  The technical document urges coordinated global action to “confront […] Continue reading ->
As African countries baulk at One Health requirements in the draft Pandemic Agreement being negotiated in Geneva, Rwanda’s success in containing its Marburg outbreak underscores the essential role of international partnerships and a strong health system in containing human-animal outbreaks KIGALI, Rwanda – The Egyptian fruit bats look like innocuous little furry grey umbrellas hanging […] Continue reading ->
(The New Humanitarian) The International Rescue Committee, one of the oldest humanitarian aid organizations in the United States, is cutting thousands of staff, in another sign of the turmoil rippling across the humanitarian sector as the US aid funding freeze continues. “We have had to take immediate and significant cost-cutting measures, including laying off and furloughing […] Continue reading ->