“It’s not just about people with disabilities, this is about all of us,” stresses Pascal Bijleveld, the CEO of ATscale Global Partnership, an organization established in 2018 to advocate for assistive technologies (AT) access, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The first-ever global campaign to expand access, ‘Unlock the Everyday’, was launched on Tuesday at […] Continue reading ->
COVID-19 vaccines reduced deaths due to the pandemic by at least 57%, saving more than 1.4 million lives in the WHO European Region between December 2020 and March 2023, according to a report published in medRxiv, a pre-print platform for health sciences, on Tuesday. Most of the lives saved were those of people aged 60 […] Continue reading ->
Pakistan Senator Dr Sania Nishtar has been appointed new CEO of the global vaccine alliance, Gavi, and will take up the position on 18 March. This follows the previous appointee, Dr Muhammad Pate, pulling out last June – six weeks before he was due to take office, in order to serve as health minister of […] Continue reading ->
An ambitious Polish state policy that aims to replace 50% of the country’s coal and wood household furnaces/boilers with electric heat pumps or natural gas could dramatically improve air quality in a country with some of the worst ambient air pollution levels in the European Union, says a new assessment by the European Clean Air […] Continue reading ->
CAIRO, Egypt -Some 70% of countries globally have weak national medicines regulatory systems. But the launch of the African Medicines Agency should help address many of the shortcomings on the African continent, said speakers at the 6th Scientific Conference on Medicines Regulation in Africa (SCoMRA), convened here in mid-December. The conference, organized by the African Union […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first guidelines for addressing low back pain, a condition affecting an estimated 619 million people, or one in 13 worldwide. The new guidelines are designed to enhance care quality for millions suffering from the condition, offering healthcare professionals a range of non-surgical treatments applicable in primary and […] Continue reading ->
In the wake of COP28, WHO will press ahead with calls for fossil fuel phase out, stepped up commitments for health sector decarbonization, and a new resolution on Climate and Health, set to go before the World Health Assembly in May 2024. Those were key takeaways from an end-year WHO global press briefing by WHO […] Continue reading ->
In a fragile show of unity, the World Health Organization Executive Board approved a draft resolution calling for “immediate, sustained and unimpeded” humanitarian relief to beleaguered Gaza, including safe passage of health personnel and supplies, as well as ambulances and patients. The WHO EB move, which will clear the resolution for approval by the May World […] Continue reading ->
LUSAKA, Zambia – The silver lining to Africa being denied access to COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic is how it has galvanised continental leaders to focus on self-reliance – instead of depending on wealthy countries for assistance. The determination to build the continent’s health systems capacity was abundantly evident at this week’s Conference on Public […] Continue reading ->
LUSAKA, Zambia – Ensuring that Africa can manufacture its own vaccines will represent “the second independence of Africa”, Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said at the start of the Conference for Public Health in Africa 2023 (CPHIA) on Monday. “Many African countries got their […] Continue reading ->