From Bedside to Boardroom – Parliamentarians Claim their Place in Global Health Debates

20/10/2022 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

BERLIN – Nearly 20 years ago, Ricardo Baptista Leite began his work as a young medical doctor in an infectious disease ward in Portugal – an experience that changed his life. “I met patients who couldn’t make it to the hospital because they couldn’t afford public transportation,” he said. “I diagnosed patients infected with multi […] Continue reading ->

WHO Advises Rationing Cholera Shots Amid Global Vaccine Shortage

19/10/2022 Megha Kaveri

A shortage of cholera vaccines and a number of outbreaks have prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to advise countries to administer single doses of the vaccine instead of the usual two doses. So far, 29 countries have reported cholera outbreaks, with Haiti, Syria and Malawi dealing with large outbreaks. The standard preventive approach to […] Continue reading ->

Parliamentarians Unite Forces Globally to Advance Pandemic Treaty

18/10/2022 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

BERLIN – If a new treaty that rewrites the global rules for pandemic response is really approved by the World Health Assembly by May 2024, as planned, that will still only be the beginning of the journey. The new international accord will still have to be ratified by a critical mass of WHO´s 194 member […] Continue reading ->

Climate Protests Grab Center Stage at Opening of Berlin´s World Health Summit

17/10/2022 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

BERLIN – The first World Health Summit co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) started off with a siren call to climate action – literally – as activists disrupted the ceremonial plenary attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz by repeatedly setting off fire alarms Outside the posh Hotel Berlin venue, activists plastered the doors with […] Continue reading ->

Indian Government Halts Production at Pharma Firm that WHO Says Produced Tainted Cough Medicines

13/10/2022 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

The Indian government has halted the Maiden Pharmaceuticals plant that produced the cough and cold syrups that WHO says were tainted with toxic chemicals – possibly linked to the recent deaths of some 66 children in The Gambia. A senior WHO official confirmed that Indian government health authorities had shut down the plant after WHO […] Continue reading ->

Cholera Outbreak in Haiti, Ebola in Uganda’s Capital Stir WHO Concerns

12/10/2022 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

The spread of a cholera outbreak to an overcrowded Haitian prison, of Ebola virus to Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, and increased incidence of malaria, dengue, measles and cholera in flood-swamped Pakistan were among the long list of health emergencies needing urgent attention and investments – as compared to the trillions being invested right now […] Continue reading ->

South Africa’s Cabinet Approves African Medicines Agency Treaty

11/10/2022 Paul Adepoju

In a major step forward for the new regulatory alliance, Africa’s third-largest economy, South Africa is now moving to join the African Medicines Agency. South Africa’s Cabinet has approved the signing of the African Union treaty establishing the African Medicines Agency (AMA) and submitted it to Parliament for ratification, according to a government statement on […] Continue reading ->

A ‘Simple Career’: The Untold Story of Bernard Pécoul and a Paradigm Shift in Global Health

10/10/2022 Stefan Anderson

Under the leadership of Dr Bernard Pécoul, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative became one of the flagship programmes for research and development into diseases affecting the world’s most forgotten people. He has contributed to the betterment of the lives of millions, yet few outside global health circles know his name. This is his story. […] Continue reading ->

Anticipation Mounting Over Expected WHO Senior Leadership Reshuffle

07/10/2022 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

World Health Organization Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan, a respected voice in WHO’s senior leadership is expected to resign within the next month – in the first major leadership shuffle by Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Health Policy Watch has learned. Conversely, Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s […] Continue reading ->

WHO’s African mRNA Hub to Begin Animal Trial on COVID Vaccine

05/10/2022 Megha Kaveri

The mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub in South Africa will start animal studies on its first COVID-19 vaccine candidate in October, a senior World Health Organization official said Wednesday. If all goes according to plan, human clinical trials will begin towards the end of 2023. “We did start this (mRNA vaccine hub) with a longer […] Continue reading ->