As ceremonies opened in Sharm El-Sheik’s grand plenary hall on Monday, only one word came to mind in trying to sum up the scene: surreal. World leaders paraded into the hall to music seemingly taken from a Star Wars film. The cast of speakers taking the stage consisted of a petro-state monarch, a friendly host […] Continue reading ->
Two of the World Health Organisation’s top leadership team in Geneva – Dr Soumya Swaminathan and Dr Ren Minghui – are on the brink of leaving as Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s long-anticipated leadership shake-up starts to take shape. Swaminathan is WHO’s Chief Scientist, while Ren serves as assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage, Communicable […] Continue reading ->
The SARS-CoV2 virus just won’t give up. As the northern hemisphere heads into its third pandemic winter, experts say the continued evolution of Omicron’s sub-variants indicates a fresh wave is coming, but no one knows which variant will fuel it. Scientists have catalogued 390 Omicron lineages and 48 recombinants of the virus – which occur […] Continue reading ->
Six schoolchildren in the Ugandan capital of Kampala are the latest to be infected with Ebola, according to the country’s health minister on Wednesday – and with 15 cases in the densely populated city, some want the government to impose a lockdown. So far, there have been 109 confirmed cases, including 30 deaths, of the […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the alarm over drug-resistant fungi as it released its first-ever priority list of fungal pathogens at risk from antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Nineteen species of fungi have been identified by the global health agency as representing “the greatest threat to public health” due to their growing drug resistance.   Meanwhile, […] Continue reading ->
With more cholera outbreaks overstretching the world’s limited vaccine supply, WHO recommends temporarily suspending the standard two-dose regimen to vaccinate more people. Meanwhile, Africa aims to re-energize its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, despite steady decline in public turnout for vaccination.  A shortage in the global supply of cholera vaccines has forced the World Health Organization to […] Continue reading ->