Countries agreed to raise $200 billion a year by 2030 to help developing countries conserve biodiversity at the resumed Conference of Party (COP16) of the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in Rome last week. The deal marks a major breakthrough after negotiations over a finance package were suspended last November in the closing hours of […] Continue reading ->
Encephalitis “remains under-recognized, under-diagnosed, and underfunded”, according to a new policy report from the World Health Organization (WHO). Climate change, vaccine hesitancy, and the rising burden of vector-borne diseases are also fuelling an increased number of encephalitis cases, a rare but serious inflammation of the brain. The technical document urges coordinated global action to “confront […] Continue reading ->
Negotiators working to nail down the pandemic agreement have offered assurances that they can meet the May deadline – for the sake of global security and to restore faith in multilateralism. Despite only five formal days of talks remaining in April, Pakistan’s Umair Khalid said his country believes there is enough time to clinch the […] Continue reading ->
As African countries baulk at One Health requirements in the draft Pandemic Agreement being negotiated in Geneva, Rwanda’s success in containing its Marburg outbreak underscores the essential role of international partnerships and a strong health system in containing human-animal outbreaks KIGALI, Rwanda – The Egyptian fruit bats look like innocuous little furry grey umbrellas hanging […] Continue reading ->
A third mass polio vaccination campaign will be carried out next week in the embattled Gaza Strip, following the further detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples, WHO and UNICEF said in a surprise, joint announcement on Wednesday. “This campaign follows the recent detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples in Gaza, signaling ongoing circulation in the […] Continue reading ->
(The New Humanitarian) The International Rescue Committee, one of the oldest humanitarian aid organizations in the United States, is cutting thousands of staff, in another sign of the turmoil rippling across the humanitarian sector as the US aid funding freeze continues. “We have had to take immediate and significant cost-cutting measures, including laying off and furloughing […] Continue reading ->
“It’s now or never,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyussus told the start of the 13th round of talks on a pandemic agreement on Monday morning. Five days of talks are scheduled this week with another five days scheduled in April. Thereafter, the plan is for an agreement to be presented […] Continue reading ->
Civil society groups have urged World Health Organization (WHO) member states to “continue to advance a pandemic agreement that can lay the essential groundwork for equitable, collective preparedness and response” ahead of the 13th meeting of the negotiating forum on Monday (17 February). Only 10 negotiating days are left until the World Health Assembly in […] Continue reading ->
WASHINGTON, DC – The US Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services – with most Republicans setting aside concerns about his long record of vaccine hesitancy as well as skepticism of scientific research on infectious diseases. Republic Senator Mitch McConnell, himself a polio […] Continue reading ->
From the deadly mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the composition of the next seasonal flu vaccine, the collapse of USAID and the US CDC communications blackout are creating new challenges for WHO and its partners to respond in disease emergency hotspots – well beyond the direct loss of financial support. That […] Continue reading ->