The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the alarm over drug-resistant fungi as it released its first-ever priority list of fungal pathogens at risk from antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Nineteen species of fungi have been identified by the global health agency as representing “the greatest threat to public health” due to their growing drug resistance. Meanwhile, […] Continue reading ->
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers’ Network (DCVMN) have thrown their weight behind the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) proposal to improve access to vaccines in future pandemics. The proposal, known as the Berlin Declaration, outlines how the pharmaceutical industry would reserve an allocation of real-time production of […] Continue reading ->
Hospitals in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince face the threat of shutting down if fuel supplies for diesel power generators and vital medical supplies aren’t made available soon, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned Friday. “We will not be able to operate our medical facilities for more than a few weeks if we do not have access […] Continue reading ->
With more cholera outbreaks overstretching the world’s limited vaccine supply, WHO recommends temporarily suspending the standard two-dose regimen to vaccinate more people. Meanwhile, Africa aims to re-energize its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, despite steady decline in public turnout for vaccination. A shortage in the global supply of cholera vaccines has forced the World Health Organization to […] Continue reading ->
BERLIN – Nearly 20 years ago, Ricardo Baptista Leite began his work as a young medical doctor in an infectious disease ward in Portugal – an experience that changed his life. “I met patients who couldn’t make it to the hospital because they couldn’t afford public transportation,” he said. “I diagnosed patients infected with multi […] Continue reading ->
A shortage of cholera vaccines and a number of outbreaks have prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to advise countries to administer single doses of the vaccine instead of the usual two doses. So far, 29 countries have reported cholera outbreaks, with Haiti, Syria and Malawi dealing with large outbreaks. The standard preventive approach to […] Continue reading ->
Amid criticism that the World Health Summit was ‘speed-dating for consultants’, panellists lamented a lack of practical plans to empower local service delivery A more empowered World Health Organization (WHO), stronger health local systems and better surveillance are some of the weapons that will protect the world against future pandemics, according to panellists at the […] Continue reading ->
Midway through last year, the head of the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, Strive Masiyiwa, angrily accused the global COVID-19 vaccine acquisition platform, COVAX, of misleading African countries about its ability to procure vaccines for them. Masiyiwa’s bitter remarks came after months of Africans watching Europeans and North Americans being vaccinated against COVID-19 while no […] Continue reading ->
A nature-based solution that could help reduce the rising global burden of disease from dengue fever is looming on the research horizon. But more studies are needed before the World Health Organization could recommend a broad scale-up of the approach, WHO’s chief scientist said on Wednesday. WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan summed up her conclusions […] Continue reading ->
The spread of a cholera outbreak to an overcrowded Haitian prison, of Ebola virus to Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, and increased incidence of malaria, dengue, measles and cholera in flood-swamped Pakistan were among the long list of health emergencies needing urgent attention and investments – as compared to the trillions being invested right now […] Continue reading ->