The African Union could decide on the host country for the African Medicines Agency (AMA) as early as July, while the agency’s director-general should be appointed by the end of the year. This is according to Margaret Ndomondo-Sigonda, Head of the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation Initiative at AUDA-NEPAD, the African Union’s development agency. The AU […] Continue reading ->
A Maltese-based foundation representing BioNTech, the German company that co-produced with Pfizer a highly successful mRNA COVID vaccine, has been accused of seeking to undermine the World Health Organization’s new initiative to promote an open-source African-based COVID vaccine manufacturing hub – while proposing to ship European-fitted mRNA vaccine facilities to Africa in sea containers as […] Continue reading ->
South Africa’s Competition Commission is pursuing prosecution against Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche for “alleged excessive pricing” of its breast cancer treatment drug, Trastuzumab (marketed as Herceptin). It estimates that some 10,000 women were unable to get the treatment they needed between 2011 and 2019 because of Trastuzumab’s cost. It has asked the country’s Competition Tribunal […] Continue reading ->
Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, over ninety percent of countries continue to face ongoing disruptions to their health systems, according to a survey published Monday evening by the World Health Organization. The WHO Global Pulse Survey, the third of its kind since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, analysed responses from 129 countries, […] Continue reading ->
Dr John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has told Health Policy Watch that the continent is not in short supply of COVID-19 test kits. According to him, every African country that is in need of the test supplies can get it if they want. An open letter […] Continue reading ->
Representatives from Brazil, Egypt, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, and Thailand are to make up the World Health Organization (WHO) Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) on a future pandemic instrument, according to Knowledge Ecology International.  The countries each represent a different region of the WHO, namely Africa (South Africa),  the Americas, known as the Pan-American Health Organisation […] Continue reading ->
An innovative WHO “Health for Peace Initiative” that aims to build bridges in conflict zone and humanitarian settings through global health initiatives ran into some rough waters at last week’s Executive Board meeting – with the United States saying that it should include a human rights element – while Russia warned WHO against “politicizing” its […] Continue reading ->