African countries like Uganda and South Africa are rewriting the rules of emergency response. The rest of the world must follow – or fall behind. Every April, World Immunisation Week is observed with predictable rhetoric: health leaders celebrate progress, governments make declarations, and global agencies issue reports highlighting gains and gaps in vaccination. But as […] Continue reading ->
Self-care can be a key strategy in tackling the global crisis of non-communicable diseases that are responsible for three-quarters of premature deaths globally and 86 percent of early deaths (before age 70) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Moreover, dentists, pharmacists and community health workers are trained professionals who can provide innovative forms of self-care […] Continue reading ->
Nearly half of national nursing associations (48.4%) report a significant increase in nurses’ migration or exodus from the profession altogether since 2021 – against stagnant salaries, poor health system performance, and growing violence directed at nurses along with a continually increasing workload. These are among the key findings in a new report by the International […] Continue reading ->
At around 3am Wednesday, after three years of often intense negotiations, World Health Organization (WHO) member states agreed on a draft Pandemic Agreement, which sets out basic terms of engagement to prepare for, prevent and respond to pandemics. Bleary-eyed negotiators and co-chairs Precious Matsoso and Anne-Claire Amprou welcomed the final greening of the entire text […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization (WHO) member states are very close to agreeing on the entire pandemic agreement – and may even have been able to clinch a deal on Saturday had they not been exhausted after negotiating from Friday morning right through until 9am on Saturday morning, according to sources. Anne-Claire Amprou, co-chair of the Intergovernmental […] Continue reading ->
By sunrise on Saturday morning, the entire draft pandemic agreement had been agreed on – bar the vexing question of whether technology transfer related to the production of pandemic products should always be voluntary. Negotiators talked into the early hours of Saturday morning, trying to find a way around the deadlock, according to sources close […] Continue reading ->
Maternal mortality rates have dropped by 40% since 2000, largely due to improved access to essential health services. But WHO officials warn that the recent, deep cuts to international aid could be as disruptive as the COVID-19 pandemic, if not more so, to a woman’s chances of surviving pregnancy and childbirth. And in 2023, more […] Continue reading ->
Countries keep increasing their military budgets yet seem unwilling to prepare for an “invisible enemy” – a pandemic-causing pathogen that can be more damaging than a war, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyessus warned at the start of the final negotiations for a pandemic agreement on Monday. The COVID-19 pandemic killed up […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization (WHO) member states have entered their final week of scheduled negotiations on the pandemic agreement (PA), amid renewed urgency following the United States withdrawal from the organization and widespread aid cuts that carry serious implications for global health. With limited time before the May World Health Assembly, when a final version of […] Continue reading ->
On the eve of the final round of pandemic agreement negotiations ahead of the World Health Assembly (WHA), 30 legal experts have cautioned against using “voluntary” to describe technology transfer. The latest draft of the pandemic agreement (text agreed by end of 21 February) states that technology transfer for the production of pandemic-related health products […] Continue reading ->
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