A core group of WHO member states have agreed on a landmark move to boost their annual “assessed” contributions to the global health organization to cover 50% of its core budget needs by 2028-2029 – but contingent on internal WHO reforms to boost efficiency and transparency.   Partly in response to the reform call, a reshuffle […] Continue reading ->
A 79% rise in the reported measles cases in the first two months of 2022, compared to the same period last year, has raised concerns over the possibility of an outbreak that could affect millions of children this year.  Pandemic-related disruptions, increasing inequalities in access to vaccines, and the diversion of resources from routine immunization […] Continue reading ->
Following the purchase of Twitter by billionaire Elon Musk on Monday, the World Health Organization warned about the dangers of health and vaccine misinformation on social media, and expressed hope that the acquisition would lead to an ‘improvement of quality information’.  “There is misinformation and disinformation out there across whatever platform you wish to go […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization has announced an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its continued investigation of almost 200 cases of unexplained acute hepatitis in the US and Europe in a media briefing Tuesday afternoon.  Two cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, prompting health […] Continue reading ->
Discussions about the creation of a new global convention on pandemic preparedness and response have already become a bit like a Christmas tree.  Last week’s WHO-convened public hearings, saw a wide array of interest groups trying to attach a number of features to the proposed international pandemic instrument, ranging from stronger accountability and transparency measures […] Continue reading ->
Only 10 of Africa’s 54 countries have vaccinated more than a third of their citizens, although the continent has administered over two-thirds of the vaccine doses it has procured. The top 10 vaccinators are Seychelles (81%), Mauritius (76%), Rwanda (64%), Morocco (63%),  Cape Verde (55%), Botswana (54%), Tunisia (53%), Mozambique (43%), São Tomé and Príncipe […] Continue reading ->
Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft, a senior scientist at the Drugs for Neglected Disease Initiative (DNDi) has a vision that could be critical to halting the next pandemic – but is esoteric, difficult to organize and even more challenging to build the trust and buy-in needed to make it really work.  The vision is of a common clinical-trial […] Continue reading ->
Nearly ten years of air pollution data for dozens of Indian cities – among the most polluted in the world – was deleted from the latest World Health Organization Air Quality database just before WHO published the report on 4 April 2022, Health Policy Watch has learned.  The Indian air quality data, spanning the years […] Continue reading ->