The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent diversion of resources toward battling SARS-CoV2 has also set back global efforts to eliminate the world’s second most deadly infectious killer: Tuberculosis, by 2030.  Only a doubling of investments next year can pave the way to attainment of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to eliminate the disease, […] Continue reading ->
A new social contract between European governments and their citizens is needed to lay the foundation for a resilient and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with health at the center, said panelists at the closing session of the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) on Friday. A focus on ensuring social protection and equitable access […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization published the latest edition of its Model Lists of Essential Medicines (EML) on Friday, making a sweeping move this time to include long-lasting insulin analogues as essential drugs that national health systems should incorporate into their services.  The decision reverses the EML Expert Committee’s 2019 decision, rejecting the inclusion of insulin […] Continue reading ->
IBADAN – Following new travel policies that discriminate against vaccinated travellers from African countries, as compared to their European, Asian and Middle Eastern counterparts, African health officials have demanded clarifications, and accused the UK government of potentially festering vaccine hesitancy on the continent. A British government’ plan to drop a 10-day quarantine requirement for fully-vaccinated […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – A drug discovery and development centre based at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has joined forces with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) to strengthen health innovation in Africa. The three-year partnership announced this week will focus on driving capacity-strengthening for drug discovery and development in Africa by […] Continue reading ->
A WHO independent commission concluded  that 83 emergency responders to DR-Congo’s 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak, including some 21 WHO employees and consultants, had likely abused dozens of Congolese women, obtaining sex in exchange for promises of jobs – also raping nine women outright.   But the panel’s findings, which validate reports first published in September 2020 in […] Continue reading ->
Multilateralism has “failed” to help Africa solve the COVID crisis and regional approaches to solving common problems could help the continent forge a “new public health order” said Africa Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, speaking at the opening of the European Health Forum- Gastein.  His statement at at the traditionally “Eurocentric” […] Continue reading ->
US President Joe Biden has reaped praise for convening a Global COVID-19 Summit on the margins of this year’s United Nations General Assembly that placed vaccine shortfalls in low- and middle-income countries front and center of GA debates. But it remains to be seen if the big commitments repeated once more this week can break […] Continue reading ->