The Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has approved the establishment of a new African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), a financing instrument that is to make more than $1 billion available to support sustainable vaccine manufacturing in Africa. The board decision marks a historic reversal of past efforts which saw the agency’s massive budget for […] Continue reading ->
As donors withdraw from HIV, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has chosen to focus on the importance of community-led interventions to end the AIDS pandemic for World AIDS Day on 1 December. “There has been an unprecedented backsliding in financial commitments to community-led organisations, and it is costing lives,” according to UNAIDS […] Continue reading ->
There has been a two-fold increase in the number of suspected mpox cases reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo so far this year as compared to 2020, which marked the year for the most reports of the virus, WHO has said. Just as worrisome, DRC has been the first country globally to see confirmed […] Continue reading ->
One-third of people in 14 countries in the Western Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia used antibiotics without a medical prescription, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) European Region. The survey involved 8221 participants, half of whom reported taking oral antibiotics in the past 12 months. Participants came […] Continue reading ->
Almost all countries (91%) have included health considerations in their latest climate-mitigation plans – called nationally determined contributions (NDCs) – but those that have already felt the effects of extreme weather events appear more likely to have more detailed plans. This is according to an analysis of countries’ 2022 NDCs, the main policy instrument to […] Continue reading ->
Following seven months of fighting in Sudan, there are outbreaks of cholera, measles, malaria and dengue in the country. An estimated 6.2 million people – about one in eight – have been forced to flee from their homes since the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) started in […] Continue reading ->
Measles cases and deaths have skyrocketed worldwide, with 37 countries experiencing large or disruptive outbreaks in 2022 compared to 22 in 2021, according to a joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report, published on Wednesday, highlights the devastating impact of declining vaccination […] Continue reading ->
Clinical trial results presented at the Union World Conference on Lung Health in Paris on Wednesday provided evidence to support the use of four new, improved regimens to treat multi-drug resistant tuberculosis or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB). The endTB clinical trial found three new drug regimens that can deliver similar efficacy and safety to conventional treatments […] Continue reading ->
Fierce gun battles between Israeli and Hamas forces raged in the vicinity of several strategically located hospitals in northern Gaza over the weekend and into Monday – leaving the fate of the remaining patients hanging in the balance. At Al Shifa hospital, hospital staff were reportedly trying to keep some 37 premature babies warm by […] Continue reading ->
An effective pandemic agreement will need to include “accountability mechanisms” to ensure that countries implement the terms – and these will need to be independently monitored, according to new research published in BMJ. “Accountability mechanisms are used through a variety of methods across global treaties and governance mechanisms to varying degrees of effectiveness,” argue the […] Continue reading ->