Dr John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has told Health Policy Watch that the continent is not in short supply of COVID-19 test kits. According to him, every African country that is in need of the test supplies can get it if they want. An open letter […] Continue reading ->
Some 21 countries have now ratified the African Medicines Agency treaty – well beyond the 15 ratifications reached in November 2021, which allowed the AMA treaty instrument to formally take effect. Egypt, Africa’s third most populous country, is the most recent state to have both ratified and deposited the treaty – marking a significant milestone […] Continue reading ->
Cancer services remain backlogged in many parts of the world due to the effects of the two-year-long COVID pandemic – even as Europe hopes a pandemic “ceasefire that could bring us enduring peace” , said WHO’s European Regional Director Hans Kluge Thursday on the eve of World Cancer Day.   Meanwhile, in Latin America, routine childhood […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) is considering changing how it relates to non-state actors (NSAs), but some of these organisations are concerned that the changes envisaged by the global body may weaken their voices. In 2016, the WHO’s World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted a Framework for Engagement with NSAs – known as FENSA –  to […] Continue reading ->
An innovative WHO “Health for Peace Initiative” that aims to build bridges in conflict zone and humanitarian settings through global health initiatives ran into some rough waters at last week’s Executive Board meeting – with the United States saying that it should include a human rights element – while Russia warned WHO against “politicizing” its […] Continue reading ->
As the 150th Executive Board Meeting of the WHO closed Saturday, attention focused on the inability of the WHO governing board to reach consensus on critical issues that it had debated – including a more sustainable financing framework as well as a clear way forward on a proposed new pandemic legal accord, reforms of global […] Continue reading ->
WHO needs to reform lines of authority and responsibility across all aspects of its emergencies response operations in order to effectively prevent, report, and take measures against sexual exploitation and harrassment.   Those were the highlights of a final report by an Independent Oversight Advisory Committee (IOAC) of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, examining the claims […] Continue reading ->
In a long and winding discussion Thursday at The World Health Organization’s Executive Board, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) pledged to redouble their efforts against noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes and obesity, which are having increasing impacts on health and well-being – in addition to infectious diseases that have been at the forefront of […] Continue reading ->
Despite a severe lack of COVID test and serological data in Africa, most people on the continent have probably already been exposed to SARS-CoV2, said the director of the influential Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation on Thursday.  And in light of that, and the fact that COVID vaccines do not prevent infection, but rather […] Continue reading ->