Climate change poses an even greater threat to public health than the COVID-19 pandemic – and needs to be treated with equal urgency, Jagan Chapagain, Secretary-General of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told a virtual news conference on Tuesday. He was speaking at Tuesday’s launch of the IFRC’s […] Continue reading ->
In the early 2000’s, when Kenyan doctor Sally Agallo Kwenda was diagnosed with cervical cancer, it was a big shock given she was not experiencing any pain or symptoms. A bigger shock, however, was her husband’s decision to walk out on her. He claimed that he could not live with a woman who could not […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization is encouraged by early results of the efficacy of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine but its most immediate concern is the impact of the surge in cases in Europe and the Americas, threatening both health workers and health systems. “While we continue to receive encouraging news about COVID-19 vaccines and remain cautiously […] Continue reading ->
Moderna’s mRNA vaccine candidate has had a vaccine efficacy of 94.5%, the company announced today. unveiling the stunning, initial analysis of Phase 3 clinical trial results by an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board, appointed by the US National Institutes of Health. And news that the vaccine can be stored at 2° to 8°C (36° to […] Continue reading ->
BREAKING – World Health Organization Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has proposed the creation of a Swiss-based global repository for sharing pathogen materials and clinical samples related to potential outbreak threats – allowing for the more rapid development of medical interventions. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the urgent need for this kind of system, said […] Continue reading ->
The migration of health professionals to high-income countries should not lead to a dearth of healthcare workers and services low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the International Council of Nurses (ICN) has warned. Speaking at the World Health Assembly (WHA), the council flagged that the global shortage of six million nurses, in tandem with the burden […] Continue reading ->
Despite the big success this year in the eradication of wild poliovirus in the African region, the COVID-19 crisis has seen a temporary interruption of polio vaccine programmes. This has led to a rise in vaccine-derived polio cases which, are more likely to occur when vaccine coverage is weaker, WHO and African Region health officials […] Continue reading ->
A series of new COVID-19 drug and vaccine funding commitments worth just over US$300 million were announced on Thursday by the Gates Foundation, France and the European Commission – amidst a quickening pace of anticipation that at least one, if not two, COVID-19 vaccines may soon become available. Appearing at the Paris Peace Forum, Melinda […] Continue reading ->
Despite nearly two years of internal restructuring, WHO’s budget at its Geneva headquarters is still twice the amount spent in all 54 countries of the Organization’s African Region, said the African bloc of stated at Wednesday’s World Health Assembly. Speaking on behalf of the African bloc, Seychelles noted that the most recent WHO financial report […] Continue reading ->
Norway will contribute an additional 133 million USD (1.2 billion NOK) to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low-income countries from 2020 to 2024, the Ministry of International Development announced today. The announcement comes in the wake of last year’s path-blazing strategy for how to tackle the growing NCD burden in LMICs, “Better […] Continue reading ->