As predictions of a difficult winter pour in, projecting rapid increases in COVID-19 infections, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged countries in the northern hemisphere to test for influenza alongside coronavirus. WHO reassrerted today that surveillance systems are in place to help identify which influenza viruses are circulating, and suggested that countries be proactive […] Continue reading ->
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals suspended enrollment of critically ill and hospitalized patients in its COVID-19 antibody cocktail treatment clinical trial on Friday, due to what it said was a safety concern.  The pharma company’s independent data monitoring committee (IDMC) recommended this pause “based on a potential safety signal and an unfavorable risk/benefit profile,” advising on the collection […] Continue reading ->
Third in a series – Cities are major drivers of public health and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought increasing and urgent necessity for effective, innovative leadership and collaboration within and between cities. “The COVID-19 pandemic has upended lives around the globe and nowhere has the impact of this virus been more evident than in urban areas, […] Continue reading ->
Two competing approaches to promote access to medicines were born during the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the year 2000. Today, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, these same approaches are once more on a collision course.  On the one side is the ‘international’ COVID response, led in name by WHO, but in fact by what […] Continue reading ->
It is “imperative” that governments recognize the long-term effects of COVID-19 and ensure that affected people can access health services, including primary health care as well as rehabilitation, emphasized the World Health Organization on Friday. “Although we are still learning about this virus, what’s clear is that this is not just a virus that kills […] Continue reading ->
University of Basel. Researchers from Basel and Spain have identified a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant that has spread widely across Europe in recent months, according to an un-peer-reviewed preprint released this week in medRixv. While there is no evidence of this variant being more dangerous, its spread may give insights into the efficacy of travel policies […] Continue reading ->
Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline, two drugmakers, announced that they would provide 200 million doses of their potential COVID-19 vaccine to the WHO and Gavi Alliance co-sponsored COVAX procurement facility, which more than 180 countries have joined.   “To address a global health crisis of this magnitude, it takes unique partnerships. The commitment we are announcing today for […] Continue reading ->