“Whether or not there is an adequate supply of generic biological drugs available will be crucial to ensuring the economic viability of health systems in both developing and developed countries.” So writes the South Centre – an intergovernmental organisation that helps developing countries to combine their efforts and expertise to promote their common interests in the international arena – in a newly published Policy Brief dedicated to the international debate on generic medicines of biological origin. Continue reading ->
Some 8 million people living in remote areas in Liberia, Uganda and Kenya will get support to access lifesaving vaccines, as a result of a new partnership between Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Audacious Project, Last Mile Health and Living Goods. The aim is to use digital technology to boost the number of community health workers as well as to integrate immunization information and data-capture into their daily routines. Continue reading ->
As the 2018 International AIDS Conference kicks off in Amsterdam (23-27 July), Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of the HIV/AIDS Department and the Global Hepatitis Programme of the World Health Organization, discussed in a wide-ranging interview with John Zarocostas for Health Policy Watch the advances, setbacks, and challenges ahead in the global fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. On 18 July, a new report by UNAIDS warned that new infections are rising in around 50 countries, and that AIDS-related deaths are not falling fast enough and flat resources are threatening success. Dr Hirnschall leads the WHO's work in development and implementation of cutting-edge normative policies and guidance, and of technical support to countries to scale up national responses to HIV and hepatitis. He also oversees the Global Hepatitis Programme, which coordinates the organisation’s response to viral hepatitis. Hirnschall holds an MD from the University of Vienna, Austria, and an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Continue reading ->