Nearly two-thirds of Africans have already been infected with SARS-CoV-2 — the virus responsible for COVID-19, WHO said, announcing the release of a new assessment of virus seroprevalence on the continent.  The analysis, a systematic review of some 150 studies, was published on the pre-print server, medRXiv.org. Addressing a press briefing on Thursday, Dr Matshidiso […] Continue reading ->
In some of his most forceful remarks to date, WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other senior WHO officials slammed both Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Ethiopia’s blockade of Tigray for both withholding vital health and humanitarian aid – as well as deliberately targeting civilians or putting them in harms way. Speaking from […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on how human health and ‘planetary health’ are inextricably linked – through deforestation, urbanization and climate change, all of which increase future disease risks. This year’s Geneva Health Forum explores these and other critical global health challenges, as well as emerging solutions,  just ahead of the World Health Assembly.    […] Continue reading ->
The Ukrainian refugees are crossing the border with only their coats on their backs. The women are holding their children’s hands. The children’s eyes are wide and their jaws clenched in fear. “They come here exhausted and cold,” said Dr Dorit Nitzan, former Health Emergencies Coordinator for the World Health Organization´s European region. Nitzan only […] Continue reading ->
From increasing disease surveillance and developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine to ‘eco-health’ and public trust, participants in the COVID-19 Global Research and Innovation Forum considered ways to globally prepare for future pandemics and end the current one. The third such forum, hosted by the World Health Organization, brought together over 100 research scientists, experts, policy makers, […] Continue reading ->
The past 10 days have seen a flurry of new US initiatives to meet the World Health Organizations target of vaccinating 70% of the global population – including a new Global Action Plan; involvement of PEPFAR networks to strengthen health system response; and most recently, a special US thrust in Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation. […] Continue reading ->
In the wake of the chaotic, and often failed, global response to the COVID pandemic, the United States is not waiting for an elaborate international treaty or convention on future pandemics, which will take years to negotiate.  Instead, Washington wants to fast track a series of nitty-gritty, but far- reaching changes in the existing International […] Continue reading ->
ISLAMABAD – The timing couldn’t have been worse.  On the same day that Bill Gates, completed his maiden visit to Pakistan to cheer on the country’s progress towards polio eradication, WHO and Malawi health authorities announced that a small child thousands of kilometers away in Malawi had been ill with polio – infected by a […] Continue reading ->