From barriers to treatment for people with hearing disabilities to preconceptions about albinism and inaccessible COVID testing for wheelchair users, participants in the Global Disability Summit took a fresh look at the wide range of discriminatory practices that an estimated 1 billion people – 15% of the world’s population – living with disabilities have to […] Continue reading ->
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Friday called on Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, and COVAX, the global COVID vaccine consortium to begin procuring African-made versions of vaccines for COVID and other diseases, as soon as a network of new African manufacturing facilities, now in the making, are in full production. He spoke in Brussels at an […] Continue reading ->
Urban noise pollution, wildfires, and disruptions of life cycles in natural systems are all growing environmental problems with ecological consequences that require greater attention, according to the new Frontier Report published Thursday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The fourth edition of the report, ‘Noises, Blazes and Mismatches: Emerging Issues of Environmental Concern’, was released […] Continue reading ->
European Union President Charles Michel congratulated African countries for their efforts to stimulate more vaccine manufacturing capacity on the continent, in a upbeat opening address at the European Union-African Union Summit, which began Thursday. But in a more sobering note Wednesday, Stella Kyriakides, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, called on global health […] Continue reading ->
The European Investment Bank said Thursday that it would commit €500 million to improving African health systems, as part of a new initiative with the World Health Organization and the European Union. The joint EIB-WHO-EU statement coincided with the start of an EU-African Union Summit, which is set to talk about how to improve health systems in […] Continue reading ->
The German-based BioNTech, which co-developed with Pfizer an mRNA COVID vaccine, said on Wednesday that it will set up modular “turnkey” mRNA vaccine facilities to produce the vaccine in Rwanda and Senegal in 2022 – with a fill-and-finish collaboration in Ghana as well. South Africa, which is the new hub for the WHO-supported mRNA vaccine […] Continue reading ->
With about half of people suffering from depression in high income countries untreated or undiagnosed, with this number rising to 80-90% in low- and middle-income countries, a Lancet and World Psychiatric Association Commission have called for a unified response against this global crisis to reduce the burden of depression. Depression is estimated to impact 5% […] Continue reading ->
More and more children are losing their lives to a measles outbreak in Afghanistan as the country struggles with a humanitarian crisis under the US sanctions on the country’s Taliban regime. Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the US Department of the Treasury froze Afghanistan Central Bank’s reserves, mostly held in US banks, as the […] Continue reading ->
The African Union could decide on the host country for the African Medicines Agency (AMA) as early as July, while the agency’s director-general should be appointed by the end of the year. This is according to Margaret Ndomondo-Sigonda, Head of the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation Initiative at AUDA-NEPAD, the African Union’s development agency. The AU […] Continue reading ->
Speaking during a tour by WHO’s Director General of Cape Town’s new mRNA vaccine R&D hub that replicated the Moderna COVID vaccine, South Africa’s Health Minister affirms support for the continental-wide medicines regulatory authority. CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s Health Minister signalled that his country intends to join the African Medicines Agency – but that […] Continue reading ->