Ghana’s Parliament passed one of the most extensive, repressive anti-LGBT laws in the world late Friday, introducing prison terms for people who simply identify as lesbian and gay – but human rights groups say there was no quorum when it did so. Only 32 of the 276 Members of Parliament were present when the Human […] Continue reading ->
International Ebola-related travel restrictions imposed on people from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and South Sudan – which has yet to record a single case – are “unacceptable” will have a detrimental effect on the economies of affected countries, said Dr Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention […] Continue reading ->
As the World Health Assembly opens on Monday in Geneva, it will have to grapple with shrinking global health budgets, new outbreak threats, including a new WHO declaration of a public health emergency in Africa over an Ebola virus strain that lacks any vaccine, and an increasingly fractured geopolitical space with deep disputes over Iran, […] Continue reading ->
Philanthropy can help make every dollar deliver more impact. I often think about a boy I met in Kajiado County, Kenya. He was the same age as my son, but half his weight. A World Health Organization (WHO) colleague measured the circumference of his arm to confirm what was already painfully clear: he was severely […] Continue reading ->
In January, India’s Supreme Court has ruled that menstrual health is a fundamental right, directing states and schools to take measures to facilitate menstrual health and sanitation. The laws of the world’s most populous country are now in line with the United Nations (UN) stand on menstrual health taken in 2024, and one that is […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization has ‘pre-qualified’ Coartem® Baby, the first-ever malaria treatment for young infants of 4.5 kilograms or less. The combination treatment, now being rolled out in Ghana, aims to fill a longstanding gap in treatments available for children under the age of 5, who constitute three quarters of the estimated 610,000 malaria deaths […] Continue reading ->
NEW DELHI – India faces thousands of medical negligence cases every year, but structural problems make it extremely difficult for patients’ families to find out what has happened to their loved ones – let alone win compensation when treatment has been botched. “A shadow of death is looming over us,” Ashwini Bajaj, a Haryana-based businessman, […] Continue reading ->
The White House has fired all 24 members of the National Science Board (NSB), the group that advises the National Science Foundation (NSF), in what some observers described as another example of the Trump Administration’s ‘blunt force approach’ to reshaping the nation’s science-based institutions. As of Monday evening, the White House still had not provided […] Continue reading ->
In an era of big global health budget cuts that often demand tough choices, identifying vaccine needs and priorities at national level is increasingly important. As we observe World Immunization Week, it’s time to recognize the pivotal role that National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) can play in guiding effective, evidence-based decisions – alongside global […] Continue reading ->
Resistance to a key drug used to treat malaria in Africa is spreading. Experts warn action is now urgent and any delay will cost lives and create economic misery. Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is the main first-line malaria treatment used in Africa and the best available option, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). ACT […] Continue reading ->