First-Ever Ebola Vaccine Gets World Health Organization “Pre-Qual” Seal of Approval

12/11/2019 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

The World Health Organization has “pre-qualified” a new Ebola vaccine in record time, just a day after the vaccine, Ervebo, received European regulatory approval. “This is the fastest vaccine prequalification process ever conducted by WHO,” said the organization in press release Tuesday evening. The WHO approval was described as a “critical step that will help […] Continue reading ->

Violence Against Ebola Responders Plagues Outbreak Response As Case Counts Plateau

08/11/2019 Grace Ren

The number of Ebola cases per week has plateaued at a low, but consistent, count of 19 per week in the past 21 days, but the violent death of a radio journalist who had won acclaim for his Ebola outreach work has responders remaining vigilant. One Ebola case was also detected this week at a […] Continue reading ->

World Health Organization And Sudan Ministry of Health Scale Up Response To Cholera Outbreak

06/11/2019 Grace Ren

As a cholera outbreak inches closer to Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum, the Sudanese Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization are scaling up the response. Two cholera cases were confirmed in the district of Khartoum State on October 19. As of Monday, November 3, the Ministry of Health had reported 332 suspected cases […] Continue reading ->

G20 Health Ministers Issue Detailed Declaration On Global Health Goals

22/10/2019 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

A G20 Health Ministers Declaration, issued after a two-day meeting of ministers in Okayama Japan, has endorsed rapid achievement of universal health coverage, a more effective support of healthy ageing, increased attention to health emergencies and their underlying causes such as poverty and weak health systems, and more forceful action on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The […] Continue reading ->

Ebola Public Health Emergency Still In Force, Despite Decline In Cases

18/10/2019 Grace Ren & Elaine Ruth Fletcher

The World Health Organization is not yet ready to declare that the Ebola public health emergency in the Democratic Republic of Congo is over – despite significant recent declines in the pace of new infections. WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday that he did not find it prudent to end the “Public […] Continue reading ->

We’re Learning More About Gaps In Epidemic Preparedness; Now We Must Act Rapidly To Close Them

18/10/2019 Amanda McClelland and Stella Chungong

In August, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) passed a milestone—surpassing 3,000 cases of Ebola since the outbreak began over a year ago. While the number of new infections has since slowed, there continue to be cases in hard to reach areas, posing challenges to response teams. The outbreak response has been complex, with […] Continue reading ->

Climate Change And Unsustainable Development Can Increase Risk Of Ebola Outbreaks

16/10/2019 Editorial team

The risk of future Ebola outbreaks could be greatly reduced by more aggressive climate mitigation measures along with rapid progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, according to a new paper published in Nature Communications. Led by researchers at University College London, the article is the first study to examine the potential effects of global warming […] Continue reading ->

1000th Ebola Survivor Returns Home As Operational & Security Challenges Hinder Response

04/10/2019 Grace Ren

The 1000th Ebola survivor of the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has just celebrated her return home. “Today, amid our unrelenting work to end this tenth outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we celebrate a bright spot, which is actually 1000 bright spots – […] Continue reading ->

Malta Looks For European Action On Medicines Price Transparency

02/10/2019 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

Bad Hofgastein, Austria – Malta is working with Italy and 8 other European countries to lay the groundwork for a formal European Union framework in which members could voluntarily share information about medicines prices, in order to advance more coherent pricing policies in regional markets, Malta’s Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister said on Wednesday. […] Continue reading ->

Antimicrobial Resistance Rising Fast In Livestock of Developing World

27/09/2019 Grace Ren

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is emerging fast in livestock in the developing world, with northeast India and northern China among the most worrisome “hotspots”, says a first-ever study mapping AMR in low and middle-income countries, published this week in Science. Parts of Turkey, Kenya, Brazil, Egypt, Vietnam and South Africa were also noted as areas of high […] Continue reading ->