TEL AVIV – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will likely have long-lasting impacts on public health in Europe, both directly and in terms of global challenges related to food security and climate. That was among the key messages from the World Health Organization’s Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge at […] Continue reading ->
The number of people on tuberculosis treatment rebounded to 5.3 million in 2021 and is nearing pre-pandemic levels of 5.5 million, according to a new Global Fund report. That’s an encouraging sign of progress after treatment plummeted to just 4.5 million people in 2020, the report, released on Monday, notes. Overall, the new report shows […] Continue reading ->
A new R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine shows 75% efficacy in a Phase2b trial – a potentially game-changing result compared to the WHO-approved RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) vaccine. The WHO has said it will continue with the rollout of its approved RTS,S vaccine, despite the promise of a new malaria vaccine candidate, the R21/Matrix-M, that shows an efficacy of […] Continue reading ->
In one of the first concrete measures to attempt to redress huge inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Washington-based World Bank formally established a new billion-dollar financial intermediary fund (FIF) to invest in helping the world – particularly low- and middle-income countries – strengthen defenses against pandemics and epidemics. FIF’s governing board officially set […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed plans to vaccinate more than 50 million African children with doses of MenAfriVac, a vaccine designed for the African meningitis belt. That could undo the progress in controlling a lethal form of meningitis in Africa, the World Health Organization warns. Until 12 years ago, meningitis type A made up 90% of […] Continue reading ->
More than a month after declaring Monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), WHO’s Africa Region has only received 39,000 test kits for the virus – while vaccines and treatments remain unavailable on the continent where the disease is endemic and often more deadly. That was the key message emerging out of a […] Continue reading ->
The upcoming Global Fund Replenishment drive, 19-21 September, will be critical to holding onto and advancing progress against infectious diseases in multiple ways – among them ensuring the flow of quality-assured medicines to low-income countries and fighting falsified and substandard medicines that can comprise up to 70% of drugs on the market in some parts […] Continue reading ->
In an effort to prevent the spread of monkeypox, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) signed an agreement with Bavarian Nordic to obtain 100,000 vaccine doses for Latin America and the Caribbean. That will allow PAHO to start delivering the doses to the 12 countries that requested them in September. The agreement will make the […] Continue reading ->
Authorities in China’s southwestern city of Chengdu are sticking to the nation’s “zero-COVID” policy demanding a lockdown on the city’s 21 million inhabitants even in the face of a major earthquake that has killed at least 66 people in the region. Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan province, has been beset by a heatwave and […] Continue reading ->
The Ethiopian ambassador to the European Union has spoken sharply against World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, calling his criticisms against the Ethiopian government and its role in the Tigray conflict in northern Ethiopia “unprofessional” and that he was using his position “degrading” and “abusing”. “The way he’s handling the matter is completely […] Continue reading ->