The Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has set parameters for a new five-year strategy for the public-private partnership that should not only expand delivery of priority vaccines but also strengthen primary health care systems that are a cornerstone to effective vaccine delivery. Continue reading ->
As world leaders attending this year’s Group of 20 (G20) Summit face off on thorny issues of trade, migration and climate change – health was likely to remain on the margins of the maelstrom, observers said. The two-day Summit of the 20 largest global economies opened today in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization has issued a first-ever set of global “Housing and Health Guidelines” intended to guide national governments as well as development actors in shaping healthier housing policies, standards and codes. Continue reading ->
High prices for cancer medicines are “impairing the capacity of health care systems to provide affordable, population wide access,” states the summary of a new World Health Organization report published this week. Continue reading ->
SHANGHAI, China - A surge in demand for better healthcare coverage and outcomes and widespread calls for a reduction in high medical treatment costs are driving structural reforms and market-opening initiatives in China's rapidly expanding healthcare market, industry executives, officials and experts have said. The market is forecast to increase from $761 billion in 2017 to nearly $2.4 trillion by 2030. Continue reading ->
A global index on access to medicine has found that the majority of the medicines needed by the world’s poor are developed by only five companies, and that these medicines are focused primarily on just five diseases. The group behind the index calls on more pharmaceutical companies to join efforts for increased access and to expand the list of medicines, in order to build resilience in treating diseases that affect the poor. Continue reading ->
A World Health Organization report released today has found that global malaria cases are around the same level as last year, confirming that progress to address the disease has stalled. Rates of malaria are up in high-burden countries, while rates have decreased in other countries due to country-led efforts, the report found. To bring progress back on track to meet global targets, the WHO and partners today announced a new response led by high-burden countries to scale up malaria prevention and treatment. Continue reading ->
NAIROBI, Kenya -- “I got married at the age of 20 years seven years ago, just a year after finishing secondary school. My intention was to give birth to only two kids but my husband and his parents could hear none of it. Matters got worse when my second born turned out to be a girl like the eldest kid. My in-laws who live in rural Western Kenya said my husband was their only son so he was supposed to sire sons to inherit their land,” says Judy Akinyi (not her real name), a resident of Korogocho slum in the east of Nairobi. Continue reading ->
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania -- “What on earth have I done to deserve this suffering?” weeps Joha* a gay transgender woman, tears blurring her eyeshadows after she was refused a dose of life-prolonging antiretroviral medicine for HIV/AIDS at a local clinic because of her ambiguous gender identity. Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization published new data today that it says “reveals wide differences in consumption of antibiotics in different countries,” suggesting overuse and misuse of these life-saving medicines, which contributes to antibiotic resistance. Continue reading ->