Midway through last year, the head of the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, Strive Masiyiwa, angrily accused the global COVID-19 vaccine acquisition platform, COVAX, of misleading African countries about its ability to procure vaccines for them. Masiyiwa’s bitter remarks came after months of Africans watching Europeans and North Americans being vaccinated against COVID-19 while no […] Continue reading ->
The Indian government has halted the Maiden Pharmaceuticals plant that produced the cough and cold syrups that WHO says were tainted with toxic chemicals – possibly linked to the recent deaths of some 66 children in The Gambia. A senior WHO official confirmed that Indian government health authorities had shut down the plant after WHO […] Continue reading ->
A nature-based solution that could help reduce the rising global burden of disease from dengue fever is looming on the research horizon. But more studies are needed before the World Health Organization could recommend a broad scale-up of the approach, WHO’s chief scientist said on Wednesday. WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan summed up her conclusions […] Continue reading ->
The spread of a cholera outbreak to an overcrowded Haitian prison, of Ebola virus to Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, and increased incidence of malaria, dengue, measles and cholera in flood-swamped Pakistan were among the long list of health emergencies needing urgent attention and investments – as compared to the trillions being invested right now […] Continue reading ->
If sustainability of vaccine production is the question, then mRNA technology is the answer, Martin Friede, co-ordinator for vaccine research at the World Health Organization (WHO), told a panel convened by the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute on Monday. “The big advantage of mRNA is that, in theory, you can make many […] Continue reading ->
Under the leadership of Dr Bernard Pécoul, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative became one of the flagship programmes for research and development into diseases affecting the world’s most forgotten people. He has contributed to the betterment of the lives of millions, yet few outside global health circles know his name. This is his story. […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan, a respected voice in WHO’s senior leadership is expected to resign within the next month – in the first major leadership shuffle by Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Health Policy Watch has learned. Conversely, Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s […] Continue reading ->
Four health workers have already died in the Ebola outbreak in Uganda and, while rapid tests are still not available, authorities have managed to cut the testing turnaround time from 24 to six hours, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa region and Africa Centres for Disease Control. Meanwhile, the US is routing all […] Continue reading ->
The second iteration of the Self-Care Readiness Index (SCRI) will be released later this month during the Global Self-Care Federation World Congress 2022. The congress takes place on the 19th and 20th of October 2022, in Cape Town, South Africa. The Self-Care Readiness Index 2.0 builds on the 2021 report, analysing another 10 countries to […] Continue reading ->
The mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub in South Africa will start animal studies on its first COVID-19 vaccine candidate in October, a senior World Health Organization official said Wednesday. If all goes according to plan, human clinical trials will begin towards the end of 2023. “We did start this (mRNA vaccine hub) with a longer […] Continue reading ->