The COVID-19 pandemic blindsided most of the world as it swept from China across the world at an unprecedent pace, infecting, ultimately killing millions of people. But more than two years later, there are some lessons that can be learned, said Tatiana Valovaya, director-general of the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday evening. At the […] Continue reading ->
In a significant breakthrough, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) TRIPS Council on Friday will finally discuss a compromise proposal on a waiver of intellectual property (IP) rights on COVID-19 vaccines – almost 18 months after it was first proposed by India and South Africa. Members attending an informal meeting of the TRIPS Council on Tuesday […] Continue reading ->
Children sick with malaria, adults in bed with fevers and rashes as a result of the Zika virus, tick-borne illnesses – all of these diseases are on the rise as a result of climate change, according to Valérie D’Acremont of the University of Lausanne. She spoke on Tuesday at the Geneva Health Forum during a […] Continue reading ->
More accessible funding will be required for the international community to implement a broad One Health approach, scientist Lisa Crump of the UN Environmental Program (UNEP) told Health Policy Watch on Tuesday. Speaking on the sidelines of the Geneva Health Forum’s (GHF) kick-off discussion, “One Health: is there a paradigm shift?” Crump said that “we […] Continue reading ->
When we think about the critical drivers of disease prevention and control – we need to stop thinking only about medicines, vaccines and diagnostics. In fact some of the most important forms of disease control can be found in forests – which harbor thousands of pathogens, known and unknown in relative isolation from humans and […] Continue reading ->
Individuals who suffer from severe psychiatric disorders were at least twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than others who caught the virus, at least in the first year of the pandemic when the most deadly SARS-COV2 variants, including Delta, were predominant. That is the key finding in a new study published in Molecular Psychiatry, […] Continue reading ->
In DR Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak, the two people with confirmed cases are dead and response is focusing on identifying and vaccinating contacts – because of insufficient doses to conduct a mass vaccination campaign in the outbreak area. Meanwhile, public health officials are trying to reboot Africa’s mainstream immunization programmes, which saw setbacks during the […] Continue reading ->
A core group of WHO member states have agreed on a landmark move to boost their annual “assessed” contributions to the global health organization to cover 50% of its core budget needs by 2028-2029 – but contingent on internal WHO reforms to boost efficiency and transparency. Partly in response to the reform call, a reshuffle […] Continue reading ->
A 79% rise in the reported measles cases in the first two months of 2022, compared to the same period last year, has raised concerns over the possibility of an outbreak that could affect millions of children this year. Pandemic-related disruptions, increasing inequalities in access to vaccines, and the diversion of resources from routine immunization […] Continue reading ->
Following the purchase of Twitter by billionaire Elon Musk on Monday, the World Health Organization warned about the dangers of health and vaccine misinformation on social media, and expressed hope that the acquisition would lead to an ‘improvement of quality information’. “There is misinformation and disinformation out there across whatever platform you wish to go […] Continue reading ->