[Reprinted from the World Economic Forum, which closed today here in Switzerland:]

A human embryo’s DNA is “edited” to take out a disease. Surgeons practice complicated procedures on models created by 3-D printers. A pre-programmed drone collects blood samples from residents of a rural village and travels back to the capital.

These awe-inspiring scenarios have all recently unfolded in what is undoubtedly a golden era of innovation in healthcare.

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Image Credits: World Economic Forum.

By Nicoletta Dentico, director of Health Innovation in Practice (HIP)

[Note: translated from the original article in Italian which appeared in La Repubblica.]

Surely, the topic of human mobility has been the stumbling block in the common agenda of European countries for the last few years. In fact, the very existence of the European Union as we have known it so far is at stake, on this political issue. A certain degree of prudence would seem understandable, then, a few months ahead of the May EU elections. Surely, the intergovernmental nature of the UN agencies force them to interact with Member States, that is why exacerbating the political arena is a risky operation that may not pay off at all, in the long run. Moreover, for WHO Europe, the report on the health of refugees and migrant people in the 53 countries of the region is the first one of its kind, which may explain the hesitance of the beginner. But it is difficult to deny a bitter aftertaste, especially after the press conference. Continue reading ->

Image Credits: Gregorio Borgia / AP.

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Dr Tedros) today explained details of fundamental changes being set in motion at the UN agency, including greater impact, increased staff work and training at the country level, producing ‘world class’ work, more transparency, and digital health and innovation. In his opening remarks to the WHO Executive Board, he listed recent accomplishments and devoted significant attention to staffing issues at a time when unconfirmed reports of alleged misconduct have been circulating. Continue reading ->

Image Credits: William New.

When historians look back, will this year mark a turning point in global health? Certainly some of the big issues on the agenda in 2019 might suggest that we are at a crossroads. We can expect to see an intensification of the push for universal health coverage (UHC), culminating with a first-ever high-level United Nations meeting, and a shift away from disease-specific interventions towards more integrated approaches. Health Policy Watch spoke with a range of leading global health policy experts from the World Health Organization, NGOs, industry and foundations to get their take on the top issues, and here is what they said to watch for in 2019 in five priority areas. Continue reading ->

Image Credits: WHO, WHO/Christopher Black.

First in a two-part series.

Tafenoquine, the first new drug to be developed in over 60 years to treat relapsing malaria, has in fact been around since the late 1970s, when researchers with the US Walter Reed Army Institute of Research first took note of its antimalarial properties. But the drug’s potential to cure relapsing malaria caused by the Plasmodium vivax parasite, the less deadly but most widespread malaria species, has only been recently been recognised. Continue reading ->

Image Credits: MMV/Vivian Zanata, MMV/Damien Schumann.

[Second in a two-part series]

“The main challenge we have in the management of vivax malaria is adherence to treatment, which is only 62% at the moment. Tafenoquine’s great advantage [is] that it can be administered in a single dose. This would significantly increase adherence, consequently increasing the cure rate in endemic areas, and reducing the relapse rate.” – Professor Alejandro Llanos Cuentas, Alexander von Humbold Institute of Tropical Medicine, Cayetano Heredia University, Lima, Peru.

Alejandro Llanos-Cuentas has been fighting P vivax malaria in Peru throughout most of his professional life. For many years, he failed to see significant inroads in control of the disease, which is most prevalent in the remote communities of the country’s Amazon region. Continue reading ->

Image Credits: Alejandro Llanos Cuentas.