The working group negotiating amendments to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Health Regulations (WGIHR) has extended its seventh meeting, which was supposed to end last Friday, to include a special session on equity. The resumed WGIHR 7 will be held within the first two weeks of March, finally acceding to member state’s requests – […] Continue reading ->
Approximately 10 million Pakistanis are living with hepatitis C (HCV) with three people dying of HCV- related causes every minute – and this in the case of a disease that is now largely curable with treatment.  Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) also poses major public health burden on the country’s health system with an estimated 4 […] Continue reading ->
 Evergreening patents on medical products – extending the lifespan of patents that are about to expire – is an “abuse of the intellectual property system”, an HIV activist told the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Fair Pricing Forum on Thursday. Meanwhile, an industry representative laid out her company’s value-based, country-specific approach to improving access to medicines, […] Continue reading ->
Over 50 civil society groups have written to the leaders of the world’s biggest medicine procurement programmes urging them to reject “secrecy clauses” in their agreements with pharmaceutical companies.  The letter, which has been shared exclusively with Health Policy Watch, was sent to the heads of UNICEF, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), vaccine alliance […] Continue reading ->
The high price of medicines in many high- and middle-income countries and ensuring medical supply chains during crises were  some of the issues discussed at the Fair Pricing Forum, which opened on Monday. The three-day forum, hosted by the World Health Organization’s (WHO), brings member states and stakeholders together to  discuss how to ensure “optimal access […] Continue reading ->
With only 10 official negotiating days left, the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (WGIHR) is under pressure to reach agreement on changes to the rules that govern global health emergencies. The seventh WGIHR meeting which began on Monday officially kicked off the 2024 pandemic ‘season’ negotiations at the World Health Organization […] Continue reading ->
ISLAMABAD – As Pakistan heads towards general elections on Thursday, February 08, leaders of its polio programme are hoping that improved political stability and a more stable security situation could help make 2024 the year for final eradication of the crippling disease from the country. Pakistan and Afghanistan, neighbouring countries sharing a porous border, are […] Continue reading ->
In resource-restricted countries like Nigeria, parents of children with special needs, particularly mothers, bear the entire burden of care. In an unexpected turn of events in early 2015, Modupe Famodun’s baby son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. A neurologist at the Federal Neuropsychiatry Hospital (FNPH) in Lagos in South-West Nigeria, had been strolling down the […] Continue reading ->