GEITA, Tanzania —The first time 78-year-old Hadija Kisanji got lost on her way home, neighbors found her sitting under a baobab tree, staring blankly at the dusty road. When they asked where she was going, she whispered, “I think I live nearby.” That was three years ago. Today, Kisanji barely remembers her own name. She’s […] 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 ->
As Africa battles a relentless mpox outbreak, a sudden freeze in United States foreign aid is crippling containment efforts, threatening vaccine distribution, and leaving the hardest-hit regions scrambling for solutions, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned on Thursday. In conflict-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the outbreak, […] 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 ->
WASHINGTON, DC – The abrupt decision by the United States National Institutes of Health to slash funding for overheads to the nation’s research centers and universities has provoked a fresh outcry among leading US researchers, global health experts and even some Republican politicians – with leading one expert saying this latest move could “seriously jeopardize” […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – A coalition of South African civil society groups have urged South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa to “step up” and lead a coordinated national and regional response to prevent “mass healthcare disruptions, preventable deaths, and surges in new HIV infections and drug resistance,” in the wake of the US President Donald Trump’s cut off […] Continue reading ->
The disengagement of both USAID and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from the WHO-led global polio eradication initiative, threatens efforts in the world’s poorest countries with about $233 million more in a year in budget shortfalls, WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Hanan Balkhy, said on Friday. This, in a year […] Continue reading ->
The US Centers for Disease Control has not updated its bi-weekly bird flu (H5N1) situation summary since 17 January – even if it finally published a limited edition of its Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (MMWR) on Thursday, 6 February. In the wake of the CDC information flow shutdown and the US withdrawal from WHO, Dr […] Continue reading ->