WHO said that it will launch a public online consultation involving governments, industry and civil society to try to come up with a broad consensus on what actually constitutes a “fair price” for essential medicines. This critical next step was announced Saturday in a WHO press release following the close of the 2nd Fair Pricing […] Continue reading ->
A diverse group of civil society, industry and government representatives convened today at the WHO-led 2nd Fair Pricing Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the quest for new solutions that can unlock people’s access to desperately needed drugs at more affordable prices. Image Credits: Allison Colbert, Yannis Natsis. Continue reading ->
From healthier diets to medicines access, an unusually broad array of issues were wrapped into this year’s World Health Day theme of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), directly or indirectly – reflecting the complexity of attaining a goal that has become the health sector’s singular call to action this year. Image Credits: WHO. Continue reading ->
A new State of Global Air/2019 report estimates that average life expectancy worldwide is reduced by about a year and eight months due to exposure to current levels of global air pollution. Image Credits: IHME, IHME/HEI, Rashed Shumon. Continue reading ->
Expanding access to costly cancer treatments and the high price of new generation insulin formulas were among the controversial topics of debate today as the WHO Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines convened for its biennial update of the list of over 400 drugs deemed most essential for treating public health needs […] Continue reading ->
Despite high public interest in severe air pollution episodes, the real long-term health impacts of air pollution are rarely discussed by news and social media in South and Southeast Asia, says a new study on public perceptions of the problem in one of the most dangerously polluted areas of the world. Image Credits: Vital Strategies. Continue reading ->
The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs appears set to delay any consideration this year of a recent World Health Organization recommendation to reschedule the status of cannabis and cannabis-related substances from “particularly dangerous” to a less dangerous category – with no timeline indicated for when the Commission might actually take up the contentious issue. Image […] Continue reading ->
Students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) renewed their protests today against a patent claim in an Indian High Court over a leading prostate cancer treatment, saying the claim, if successful, could make the drug unaffordable to millions of people in the developing world. Image Credits: Neda Ashtari. Continue reading ->
The global health benefits of reducing air pollution and reaching the climate targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement could be as “high as $54.1 trillion dollars, at a cost of only $22.1 trillion,” according a new UN Environment analysis, to be released in full tomorrow. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons. Continue reading ->
Switzerland, considered to be one of the richest countries in the world and home to significant medical research and development, has begun feeling the pressure of high drug prices for its citizens. This has led it to begin talking with other countries exploring joint procurement initiatives aimed at lowering prices, the Swiss global health ambassador told Health Policy Watch in a recent interview. Continue reading ->