The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended shifting from a two-dose to one-dose vaccine regimen against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) – something that could help expand vaccine coverage amongst millions of girls and young women in lower-income regions where HPV is most prevalent, as well as saving costs. According to the new WHO recommendation, based […] Continue reading ->
When it becomes fully operational, the AMA will complement the Africa CDC especially in the area of pandemic preparedness. KIGALI, Rwanda – Advocates for the African Medicines Agency called on the African Union (AU) and its 55 member countries to speed up efforts to establish the African Medicines Agency (AMA), saying it will strengthen the […] Continue reading ->
Wellcome Trust director Dr Jeremy Farrar will become the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Chief Scientist in the second quarter of 2023, according to announcements by the WHO and Wellcome on Tuesday. Farrar’s second five-year term is ending next February and Wellcome Trust “have been planning the transition for some time, and a global search for […] Continue reading ->
This year, “Equalise” was chosen as the slogan for World AIDS day, observed 1 December. The theme is a call to action around the need to address the injustices that are fuelling the AIDS epidemic as pre-existing inequalities are exacerbated by the serious disruptions to health systems caused by the Ukraine war, COVID-19 pandemic and […] Continue reading ->
The US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office announced on Tuesday that it supports extending the deadline on whether the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement should be extended to COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics. Trade ministers adopted the Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement in June, giving members scope to diversify the production […] Continue reading ->
Indonesia’s parliament passed a new criminal code that bans extramarital sex and criminalises abortion except for rape survivors on Tuesday, Reuters reports. The code applies to both citizens and visitors, and those who have sex outside marriage face up to a year in prison. Indonesia’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism and its tourism industry […] Continue reading ->
In 2020, UNICEF estimated that “a stillbirth occurs every 16 seconds somewhere in the world.” A new study has linked air pollution to nearly half of them. The study of 137 countries is the first global analysis to assess the number of fetal deaths, putting into numbers the already documented link between fine particulate matter […] Continue reading ->
A candidate drug for people with early Alzheimer’s disease slowed cognitive decline by about 27% over 18 months, according to a report on a phase 3 trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday. Lecanemab is a monoclonal antibody that is given as an intravenous infusion every two weeks, and targets a […] Continue reading ->
South Korea became the first country in the world to achieve the highest level, “maturity level 4” (ML4), in regulating medicines and vaccines. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in the Republic of Korea is the only national regulatory authority to be recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) to have advanced oversight […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has announced the “interim” appointment of five new senior leaders to replace outgoing members of his senior team, whose departure was announced internally just last week, Health Policy Watch has learned. The new appointments were also revealed in a second internal email sent by Tedros to WHO staff […] Continue reading ->