Brazzaville – The independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) for Polio Eradication officially declared on Tuesday that the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region is free of wild poliovirus. This marks the eradication of the second virus from the face of the continent since smallpox 40 years ago.  And while vaccine derived polio is still circulating […] Continue reading ->
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) requires “critical” support to fend off a growing Ebola outbreak in the western Province of Équateur, warned WHO’s Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti on Friday. Her warnings came as Équateur’s Ebola cases have almost doubled to one hundred in the past five weeks, of which 96 are confirmed […] Continue reading ->
Italy has become the first nation to require pharmaceutical companies to disclose secret data about any public subsidies it may have received for the development of a new drug, during negotiations over drug pricing and reimbursement with national regulatory authorities, according to a decree published Friday in the nation’s official gazette. The decree, following on […] Continue reading ->
A new study by researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has documented how poor building ventilation plays a role in indoor transmission of Covid-19. The study looked at the air flow and infection dynamics from three important Covid-19 outbreaks in China and Japan, concluding that spread of the virus was “definitely favored by poor air […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations has requested US $10.3 billion to help lower income countries struggling to deal with the direct effects and aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, doubling its ask from May, according to a new UN Humanitarian Response Plan launched today.  The ask comes just as Finance Ministers and heads of central banks of the […] Continue reading ->