More stable funding for WHO, but only incremental progress on reforms in global pandemic response are expected out of the upcoming World Health Assembly, where member states also will debate and discuss over two dozen other critical health issues that don’t always make the headlines. The 75th World Health Assembly, WHO’s annual meeting of member […] Continue reading ->
[NAIROBI] Kenya is preparing to join the African Medicines Agency alongside thirty-one other African Union member states following the Kenyan cabinet’s decision to approve the ratification of the African Union Treaty last Thursday. The move by the cabinet, chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta, would be a major boost to the AMA’s establishment given that Kenya […] Continue reading ->
Within a matter of days, over 50 cases of suspected and confirmed infection with the monkeypox virus have now been reported across Europe and North America, including the first reported case in the United States yesterday, said Massachusetts state officials; the case involved a man who had recently traveled to Quebec, Canada. That adds the […] Continue reading ->
[NAIROBI] While deaths from some traditional pollution sources, like domestic cookstoves and unsafe water and sanitation are declining, increased exposures to “modern” sources of pollution, such as chemicals and outdoor air pollution, mean that pollution-related mortality remains steady at about 9 million a year. This is a key finding of a new report on “Pollution […] Continue reading ->
There are now seven confirmed cases of monkeypox in the United Kingdom, and all but one case of the virus appears to have been transmitted locally in the UK, including among men having sex with men, the World Health Organization confirmed in a media briefing on Tuesday. The smallpox-related virus, which circulates widely in central […] Continue reading ->
Nearly 1.4 million people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPR Korea) are suspected of having been infected with COVID-19 in just the past three weeks, WHO officials said today. The global health agency has offered diagnostics, vaccines, medicines and other support, but with no clear response to date from the isolated Asian nation […] Continue reading ->
China has defended its strict “no-COVID” strategy and called WHO “irresponsible” following critical remarks from the head of the World Health Organization. WHO Secretary-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing Tuesday that China’s strategy was no longer sustainable in the face of the more infectious but less lethal Omicron. “When we talk about […] Continue reading ->
African leaders have applauded the US move to appoint John Nkengasong as head of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Reliefs (PEPFAR) – saying he’ll reinvigorate the programme that has been a flagship for the global battle against the AIDS pandemic for nearly decades. But they also said the loss of Nkgengasong as head […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the level of worldwide investment in respiratory care and now that cases are on the decline, countries need to develop long-term strategies to use oxygen, according to health experts. “Severe pneumonia, sepsis, trauma complications – there are many patients that would benefit from oxygen,” explained Janet Diaz, a team lead […] Continue reading ->
In DR Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak, the two people with confirmed cases are dead and response is focusing on identifying and vaccinating contacts – because of insufficient doses to conduct a mass vaccination campaign in the outbreak area. Meanwhile, public health officials are trying to reboot Africa’s mainstream immunization programmes, which saw setbacks during the […] Continue reading ->