The leadership of the World Health Organization (WHO) has slammed Ethiopia’s “complete blockade” on health and humanitarian aid to Ethiopia’s Tigray region, saying it has been unable to deliver life-saving medications for nearly six months – in a situation that is “unprecedented” even in comparison to conflict-wracked Syria or Yemen. “Humanitarian access even in conflict […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – A locally produced COVID-19 rapid antigen test that was recently approved by South Africa’s medicines regulator is able to detect Omicron, according to its developer. This follows some controversy about whether antigen tests were able to detect Omicron, and suggestions that throat swabs might be more effective than nasal swabs as Omicron […] Continue reading ->
The European Union (EU) has described India’s call for an urgent meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference to discuss the body’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including a proposed waiver of relevant intellectual property protections, as “premature”. Addressing the WTO General Council informal meeting on Monday, EU Ambassador João Aguiar Machado said […] Continue reading ->
The first generic version of Paxlovid, the Pfizer pill that has proven highly effective in treating COVID-19, is already available in Bangladesh. However, Indian generic company Dr Reddy’s, which has started to produce the Merck antiviral, molnupiravir, might be in trouble after the country’s National Task Force for COVID-19 resolved on Monday that there were […] Continue reading ->
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting communities and countries at the centre in the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases, which affect some 1.5 billion people globally, is more important than ever before. New digital health tools can help us increase transparent reporting on progress and setbacks in achieving the NTD-related Sustainable Development Goals. […] Continue reading ->
Some researchers and governments are questioning the accuracy of rapid antigen tests to identify Omicron – and it has been suggested that rapid tests based on throat- instead of nasal swabs might be more accurate in detecting the highly infectious COVID-19 variant. Last week, a small pre-print study reported that 29 fully vaccinated and boosted […] Continue reading ->
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to order the arrest of Filipinos who refuse to receive COVID-19 vaccinations – in one of the most extreme vaccine mandate edicts to be made by any government worldwide. “Because it is a national emergency, it is my position that we can restrain [unvaccinated people],” said Duterte in a […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – Shortly before New Year’s eve, the South African government lifted the country’s curfew and allowed indoor gatherings of up to 1000 people – despite the prevalence of the highly infectious Omicron variant. The Cabinet-level decision was taken after considering “the trajectory of the pandemic, the levels of vaccination in the country and […] Continue reading ->
Women who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 had a slight but not clinically significant change in the length of their menstrual cycles compared to unvaccinated women, according to a new study published by researchers from Oregon Health & Science University in Portland in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Specifically, vaccinated women experienced a less than one-day (0.71-day) […] Continue reading ->
Mass Omicron infection could lead to the formation of new and potentially even more dangerous coronavirus variants, officials from the World Health Organization warned on Thursday. That is despite the fact that the Omicron variant is proving less lethal than its SARS-CoV2 predecessors, such as Alpha, Beta and Delta – which swept through India and […] Continue reading ->