A nature-based solution that could help reduce the rising global burden of disease from dengue fever is looming on the research horizon. But more studies are needed before the World Health Organization could recommend a broad scale-up of the approach, WHO’s chief scientist said on Wednesday.   WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan summed up her conclusions […] Continue reading ->
Measles outbreaks are escalating in large parts of the world thanks to “backsliding” in national immunisation programmes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization warned on Tuesday. “There were 25 million children un- or under-vaccinated in 2021,” said Dr Kate O’Brien, WHO’s director of immunization, […] Continue reading ->
Under the leadership of Dr Bernard Pécoul, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative became one of the flagship programmes for research and development into diseases affecting the world’s most forgotten people. He has contributed to the betterment of the lives of millions, yet few outside global health circles know his name. This is his story.  […] Continue reading ->
Sharp disagreements emerged about the role of intellectual property (IP) during a pandemic at a panel convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), which is charged with developing a pandemic treaty. Komal Kalha, associate director of IP at the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), insisted that the fast […] Continue reading ->
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) has signed a voluntary licence agreement with Japanese pharmaceutical company, Shionogi, to enable generic companies to produce its COVID-19 antiviral treatment pill candidate, provided it gets regulatory approval. The pill, ensitrelvir fumaric acid, has already shown efficacy in a phase 2/ 3 trial involving 1,821 COVID-19 patients from Japan, South […] Continue reading ->
A new initiative to introduce COVID-19 oral antivirals and national test-and-treat programmes in 10 countries in Africa and Southeast Asia was launched on Wednesday by the COVID Treatment Quick Start Consortium. The consortium will support governments to introduce and scale up access to antivirals, starting with Pfizer’s Paxlovid, in high-risk populations in Ghana, Kenya, Laos, […] Continue reading ->