Human rights lawyers have threatened legal action against the governments of Canada, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom if they fail to support a waiver of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement in relation to COVID-19 healthcare products. The waiver will be discussed at the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) […] Continue reading ->
There is “broad consensus” on the need for a “binding pact” to address the threat of pandemics, said World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General on Wednesday – a few days before the World Health Assembly special session devoted exclusively to discussing what many refer to as a pandemic treaty. “The ongoing chaos of this pandemic only […] Continue reading ->
Other European countries may follow the example of Austria, which entered a nationwide lockdown on Monday, as COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the region. New COVID-19 cases increased by over 3,5 million in a single week, and deaths by over 50,000, according to the latest report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and […] Continue reading ->
The United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) on Friday gave its greenlight to the mass rollout of both Pfizer and Moderna COVID booster shots to all adults over the age of 18, from six months after a person’s second vaccine dose. J&J vaccine boosters would be authorized after just two months of the […] Continue reading ->
While the world was focused last week on the Glasgow Climate Conference (COP26), officials from 160 countries and the European Union gathered virtually to address another urgent global crisis – the crisis in tobacco consumption that is one of the largest causes of death worldwide, year after year. Otherwise known as COP9, the ninth Conference […] Continue reading ->
Some two-thirds of deaths of women from cervical cancer are happening in low- and middle-income countries that have not yet included human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines for girls and young women into their immunization regimes, said WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Gheybresus on Wednesday. He was speaking at a high level event that saw First […] Continue reading ->
In a bid to better respond to both domestic and global needs, as well as future threats, the Biden Administration plans to spend billions of dollars to expand US vaccine manufacturing capacity enabling production of 1 billion vaccine doses a year by mid-2022, two top White House officials told US media on Wednesday. The announcement […] Continue reading ->
While it pales in comparison to tobacco industry marketing, two new capital investment funds worth some $75 million to support low- and middle-income countries in their fight against tobacco are being created by signatories to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and a related Protocol on illegal sales. Together, the funds would yield an estimated […] Continue reading ->
The inflated costs of insulin and control of its price and supply – are barriers preventing people with diabetes from accessing this life-saving medicine, according to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO). Insulin is the basis of diabetes treatment, essential for nine million people with type 1 diabetes who cannot make […] Continue reading ->
Following World Health Organization approval last week, interim data from a phase 3 trial of BBV152, a COVID-19 vaccine developed in India, reports 77.8% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The study, published in The Lancet, indicated that BBV152 induced a robust antibody response, with the majority of adverse events, including headache, fatigue, fever, and pain at […] Continue reading ->