As World Health Organization (WHO) member states bang heads in Geneva over a pandemic agreement to keep the world safe, a group of scientists has challenged global decision-makers to pay far more attention to humans’ relationship with animals. “Although preparedness and response have received significant focus, prevention, especially the prevention of zoonotic spillover, remains largely […] Continue reading ->
Discussion about disease outbreaks dominated the biannual meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) – which its chairperson described as  “alarming” as the aim of the group is to ensure early vaccination to prevent outbreaks. “The outbreak-related recommendations is a sign that normalcy is starting to be living with outbreaks,” warned Dr Hanna […] Continue reading ->
As pressure intensifies on World Health Organization (WHO) member states to finalise a pandemic agreement by May, insiders are concerned by the snails’ pace of negotiations – primarily because they believe the negotiators have spent an inordinate amount of time on contentious issues while neglecting more procedural issues. After two years of negotiations, the eighth […] Continue reading ->
The Tenth Conference of Parties (COP10) of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) sidestepped a controversial debate on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products – effectively kicking the can on any decisions related to regulation of that swelling market to the next meeting in two years time. However, the parties at the conference, […] Continue reading ->
As we approach the final months of member-state negotiations over a World Health Organization Pandemic Accord, due to come before the World Health Assembly in May, the efforts to forge a consensus have witnessed modest progress. However, the original divide between developed and developing countries on key issues such as finance, access and benefit sharing, […] Continue reading ->
Improving disease surveillance, strengthening primary healthcare, and being able to expand quickly during a crisis are some of the important lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic that can be applied to ‘Disease X’, according to health experts speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. “Disease X is a placeholder for unknown diseases,” […] Continue reading ->