Dr John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has told Health Policy Watch that the continent is not in short supply of COVID-19 test kits. According to him, every African country that is in need of the test supplies can get it if they want. An open letter […] Continue reading ->
Some 21 countries have now ratified the African Medicines Agency treaty – well beyond the 15 ratifications reached in November 2021, which allowed the AMA treaty instrument to formally take effect. Egypt, Africa’s third most populous country, is the most recent state to have both ratified and deposited the treaty – marking a significant milestone […] Continue reading ->
In a long and winding discussion Thursday at The World Health Organization’s Executive Board, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) pledged to redouble their efforts against noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes and obesity, which are having increasing impacts on health and well-being – in addition to infectious diseases that have been at the forefront of […] Continue reading ->
Despite a severe lack of COVID test and serological data in Africa, most people on the continent have probably already been exposed to SARS-CoV2, said the director of the influential Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation on Thursday.  And in light of that, and the fact that COVID vaccines do not prevent infection, but rather […] Continue reading ->
IDABAN, Nigeria – The decision of the World Health Organization (WHO) to drop its opposition for COVID-19 vaccination booster shots has raised concerns in Africa about the potential depletion of COVID-19 vaccine doses available to African countries.  On Friday, Health Policy Watch reported WHO recommended the wider administration of a third shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech […] Continue reading ->
Thirty-nine of the African Union’s 55 member states have now signed and/or ratified the African Medicines Agency Treaty, as of 6 July 2024, with Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cape Verde amongst the latest to swing behind the treaty. As the countdown for other nations to sign continues, Health Policy Watch is tracking […] Continue reading ->
  Signatories to the new African Medicines Agency Treaty have now reached 28 countries – more than half of the African Union’s 55 member states – with the balance tipping as Uganda signed the treaty instrument last week.   On Friday, 5 November, after more than a decade of preparations, the African Medicine Agency (AMA) treaty […] Continue reading ->
Africans are a step closer to speedier access to newer, safer medicines following this week’s notification by 15 African Union (AU) member countries that they have formally ratified and deposited their accord to create a new African Medicines Agency (AMA). Although the AU adopted the treaty to set up the AMA back in February 2019, […] Continue reading ->