BA.2 Now Dominant in South Africa: Could New ‘Stealth’ Sub-Variant Delay Hoped-For Pandemic Reprieve? 11/02/2022 Maayan Hoffman The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron is now the dominant COVID-19 variant in South Africa, the head of Africa’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed on Thursday – raising questions about whether the continued global creep of the new SARS-CoV2 sub-variant could dash hopes of a much-needed COVID-19 reprieve. “We have data from South […] Continue reading -> China, not COVAX, Led Vaccine Exports to the World’s Middle Income Countries in 2021 10/02/2022 Xiaoyi Wang While China’s rigorous management of virus risks at home has received considerable attention, particularly as it hosts the 2022 winter Olympics, it’s massive vaccine effort abroad has been underreported. In fact, as of end 2021, Beijing had supplied more COVID vaccines to low- and middle-income countries than the WHO co-sponsored COVAX facility. Against the constant […] Continue reading -> The BMJ: BioNTech Consultancy Sought to Undermine WHO Efforts to Create African mRNA Vaccine Tech Hub 10/02/2022 Editorial team A Maltese-based foundation representing BioNTech, the German company that co-produced with Pfizer a highly successful mRNA COVID vaccine, has been accused of seeking to undermine the World Health Organization’s new initiative to promote an open-source African-based COVID vaccine manufacturing hub – while proposing to ship European-fitted mRNA vaccine facilities to Africa in sea containers as […] Continue reading -> Roche Faces Prosecution for ‘Excessive Pricing’ of Breast Cancer Drug 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan South Africa’s Competition Commission is pursuing prosecution against Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche for “alleged excessive pricing” of its breast cancer treatment drug, Trastuzumab (marketed as Herceptin). It estimates that some 10,000 women were unable to get the treatment they needed between 2011 and 2019 because of Trastuzumab’s cost. It has asked the country’s Competition Tribunal […] Continue reading -> Global COVID Vacccine Campaign Asks for $16.8 Billion; Report Says 35% of Already Donated Doses Have Yet To Be Administered 09/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The WHO co-sponsored Act Accelerator Initiative, which aims to get 70% vaccine coverage to all countries by mid-2022, as well as more equal distribution of tests and treatments, tabled its latest ask to donors – for some $16.8 billion in new funds – out of what it says would be a total cost of $48 […] Continue reading -> Reversing Years of Opposition, Taliban Initiate Polio Vaccination Campaign; Tedros Meets Afghan Health Minister in Geneva 09/02/2022 Shadi Khan Saif As Afghanistan’s fragile health system battles for survival, hard-earned gains of the past 20 years in the tenacious battle against polio are under threat. But on a hopeful note, the new Taliban regime has just launched its first national polio vaccine campaign – reversing years of opposition to the life-saving intervention. Afghanistan witnessed the lowest […] Continue reading -> Despite Moderna Withholding Tech Transfer, Afrigen Makes mRNA COVID Vaccine 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The COVID-19 mRNA candidate vaccine, developed in two months flat by South African scientists based on Moderna’s “recipe”, might be too late for this pandemic, officials leading the project told Health Policy Watch, on the eve of a high-level WHO visit to the Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines facility where the vaccine formula […] Continue reading -> Two Years into COVID Pandemic, 92 % of Countries Still Face Significant Health Service Disruptions 08/02/2022 Maayan Hoffman Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, over ninety percent of countries continue to face ongoing disruptions to their health systems, according to a survey published Monday evening by the World Health Organization. The WHO Global Pulse Survey, the third of its kind since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, analysed responses from 129 countries, […] Continue reading -> Mexico City Officials in Row Over ‘Misleading’ Paper to Justify its Ivermectin Drive 08/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan Mexico City officials have been dishing out the animal worm treatment, ivermectin, to citizens with COVID-19 – and published a paper in which they apparently attempted to manufacture evidence that the treatment could reduce COVID-19 hospitalisation to justify their actions. The paper was removed from the social science platform, SocArXiv, last week for trying to provide […] Continue reading -> Africa CDC is Elevated to Status of Continental Public Health Agency 07/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The African Union has decided to elevate its African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to the status of an autonomous public health agency for the continent – rather than operating simply as technical arm of the AU. “Africa CDC will now be an autonomous health agency for the continent. Until now, Africa […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
China, not COVAX, Led Vaccine Exports to the World’s Middle Income Countries in 2021 10/02/2022 Xiaoyi Wang While China’s rigorous management of virus risks at home has received considerable attention, particularly as it hosts the 2022 winter Olympics, it’s massive vaccine effort abroad has been underreported. In fact, as of end 2021, Beijing had supplied more COVID vaccines to low- and middle-income countries than the WHO co-sponsored COVAX facility. Against the constant […] Continue reading -> The BMJ: BioNTech Consultancy Sought to Undermine WHO Efforts to Create African mRNA Vaccine Tech Hub 10/02/2022 Editorial team A Maltese-based foundation representing BioNTech, the German company that co-produced with Pfizer a highly successful mRNA COVID vaccine, has been accused of seeking to undermine the World Health Organization’s new initiative to promote an open-source African-based COVID vaccine manufacturing hub – while proposing to ship European-fitted mRNA vaccine facilities to Africa in sea containers as […] Continue reading -> Roche Faces Prosecution for ‘Excessive Pricing’ of Breast Cancer Drug 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan South Africa’s Competition Commission is pursuing prosecution against Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche for “alleged excessive pricing” of its breast cancer treatment drug, Trastuzumab (marketed as Herceptin). It estimates that some 10,000 women were unable to get the treatment they needed between 2011 and 2019 because of Trastuzumab’s cost. It has asked the country’s Competition Tribunal […] Continue reading -> Global COVID Vacccine Campaign Asks for $16.8 Billion; Report Says 35% of Already Donated Doses Have Yet To Be Administered 09/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The WHO co-sponsored Act Accelerator Initiative, which aims to get 70% vaccine coverage to all countries by mid-2022, as well as more equal distribution of tests and treatments, tabled its latest ask to donors – for some $16.8 billion in new funds – out of what it says would be a total cost of $48 […] Continue reading -> Reversing Years of Opposition, Taliban Initiate Polio Vaccination Campaign; Tedros Meets Afghan Health Minister in Geneva 09/02/2022 Shadi Khan Saif As Afghanistan’s fragile health system battles for survival, hard-earned gains of the past 20 years in the tenacious battle against polio are under threat. But on a hopeful note, the new Taliban regime has just launched its first national polio vaccine campaign – reversing years of opposition to the life-saving intervention. Afghanistan witnessed the lowest […] Continue reading -> Despite Moderna Withholding Tech Transfer, Afrigen Makes mRNA COVID Vaccine 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The COVID-19 mRNA candidate vaccine, developed in two months flat by South African scientists based on Moderna’s “recipe”, might be too late for this pandemic, officials leading the project told Health Policy Watch, on the eve of a high-level WHO visit to the Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines facility where the vaccine formula […] Continue reading -> Two Years into COVID Pandemic, 92 % of Countries Still Face Significant Health Service Disruptions 08/02/2022 Maayan Hoffman Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, over ninety percent of countries continue to face ongoing disruptions to their health systems, according to a survey published Monday evening by the World Health Organization. The WHO Global Pulse Survey, the third of its kind since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, analysed responses from 129 countries, […] Continue reading -> Mexico City Officials in Row Over ‘Misleading’ Paper to Justify its Ivermectin Drive 08/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan Mexico City officials have been dishing out the animal worm treatment, ivermectin, to citizens with COVID-19 – and published a paper in which they apparently attempted to manufacture evidence that the treatment could reduce COVID-19 hospitalisation to justify their actions. The paper was removed from the social science platform, SocArXiv, last week for trying to provide […] Continue reading -> Africa CDC is Elevated to Status of Continental Public Health Agency 07/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The African Union has decided to elevate its African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to the status of an autonomous public health agency for the continent – rather than operating simply as technical arm of the AU. “Africa CDC will now be an autonomous health agency for the continent. Until now, Africa […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
The BMJ: BioNTech Consultancy Sought to Undermine WHO Efforts to Create African mRNA Vaccine Tech Hub 10/02/2022 Editorial team A Maltese-based foundation representing BioNTech, the German company that co-produced with Pfizer a highly successful mRNA COVID vaccine, has been accused of seeking to undermine the World Health Organization’s new initiative to promote an open-source African-based COVID vaccine manufacturing hub – while proposing to ship European-fitted mRNA vaccine facilities to Africa in sea containers as […] Continue reading -> Roche Faces Prosecution for ‘Excessive Pricing’ of Breast Cancer Drug 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan South Africa’s Competition Commission is pursuing prosecution against Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche for “alleged excessive pricing” of its breast cancer treatment drug, Trastuzumab (marketed as Herceptin). It estimates that some 10,000 women were unable to get the treatment they needed between 2011 and 2019 because of Trastuzumab’s cost. It has asked the country’s Competition Tribunal […] Continue reading -> Global COVID Vacccine Campaign Asks for $16.8 Billion; Report Says 35% of Already Donated Doses Have Yet To Be Administered 09/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The WHO co-sponsored Act Accelerator Initiative, which aims to get 70% vaccine coverage to all countries by mid-2022, as well as more equal distribution of tests and treatments, tabled its latest ask to donors – for some $16.8 billion in new funds – out of what it says would be a total cost of $48 […] Continue reading -> Reversing Years of Opposition, Taliban Initiate Polio Vaccination Campaign; Tedros Meets Afghan Health Minister in Geneva 09/02/2022 Shadi Khan Saif As Afghanistan’s fragile health system battles for survival, hard-earned gains of the past 20 years in the tenacious battle against polio are under threat. But on a hopeful note, the new Taliban regime has just launched its first national polio vaccine campaign – reversing years of opposition to the life-saving intervention. Afghanistan witnessed the lowest […] Continue reading -> Despite Moderna Withholding Tech Transfer, Afrigen Makes mRNA COVID Vaccine 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The COVID-19 mRNA candidate vaccine, developed in two months flat by South African scientists based on Moderna’s “recipe”, might be too late for this pandemic, officials leading the project told Health Policy Watch, on the eve of a high-level WHO visit to the Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines facility where the vaccine formula […] Continue reading -> Two Years into COVID Pandemic, 92 % of Countries Still Face Significant Health Service Disruptions 08/02/2022 Maayan Hoffman Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, over ninety percent of countries continue to face ongoing disruptions to their health systems, according to a survey published Monday evening by the World Health Organization. The WHO Global Pulse Survey, the third of its kind since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, analysed responses from 129 countries, […] Continue reading -> Mexico City Officials in Row Over ‘Misleading’ Paper to Justify its Ivermectin Drive 08/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan Mexico City officials have been dishing out the animal worm treatment, ivermectin, to citizens with COVID-19 – and published a paper in which they apparently attempted to manufacture evidence that the treatment could reduce COVID-19 hospitalisation to justify their actions. The paper was removed from the social science platform, SocArXiv, last week for trying to provide […] Continue reading -> Africa CDC is Elevated to Status of Continental Public Health Agency 07/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The African Union has decided to elevate its African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to the status of an autonomous public health agency for the continent – rather than operating simply as technical arm of the AU. “Africa CDC will now be an autonomous health agency for the continent. Until now, Africa […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Roche Faces Prosecution for ‘Excessive Pricing’ of Breast Cancer Drug 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan South Africa’s Competition Commission is pursuing prosecution against Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche for “alleged excessive pricing” of its breast cancer treatment drug, Trastuzumab (marketed as Herceptin). It estimates that some 10,000 women were unable to get the treatment they needed between 2011 and 2019 because of Trastuzumab’s cost. It has asked the country’s Competition Tribunal […] Continue reading -> Global COVID Vacccine Campaign Asks for $16.8 Billion; Report Says 35% of Already Donated Doses Have Yet To Be Administered 09/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The WHO co-sponsored Act Accelerator Initiative, which aims to get 70% vaccine coverage to all countries by mid-2022, as well as more equal distribution of tests and treatments, tabled its latest ask to donors – for some $16.8 billion in new funds – out of what it says would be a total cost of $48 […] Continue reading -> Reversing Years of Opposition, Taliban Initiate Polio Vaccination Campaign; Tedros Meets Afghan Health Minister in Geneva 09/02/2022 Shadi Khan Saif As Afghanistan’s fragile health system battles for survival, hard-earned gains of the past 20 years in the tenacious battle against polio are under threat. But on a hopeful note, the new Taliban regime has just launched its first national polio vaccine campaign – reversing years of opposition to the life-saving intervention. Afghanistan witnessed the lowest […] Continue reading -> Despite Moderna Withholding Tech Transfer, Afrigen Makes mRNA COVID Vaccine 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The COVID-19 mRNA candidate vaccine, developed in two months flat by South African scientists based on Moderna’s “recipe”, might be too late for this pandemic, officials leading the project told Health Policy Watch, on the eve of a high-level WHO visit to the Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines facility where the vaccine formula […] Continue reading -> Two Years into COVID Pandemic, 92 % of Countries Still Face Significant Health Service Disruptions 08/02/2022 Maayan Hoffman Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, over ninety percent of countries continue to face ongoing disruptions to their health systems, according to a survey published Monday evening by the World Health Organization. The WHO Global Pulse Survey, the third of its kind since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, analysed responses from 129 countries, […] Continue reading -> Mexico City Officials in Row Over ‘Misleading’ Paper to Justify its Ivermectin Drive 08/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan Mexico City officials have been dishing out the animal worm treatment, ivermectin, to citizens with COVID-19 – and published a paper in which they apparently attempted to manufacture evidence that the treatment could reduce COVID-19 hospitalisation to justify their actions. The paper was removed from the social science platform, SocArXiv, last week for trying to provide […] Continue reading -> Africa CDC is Elevated to Status of Continental Public Health Agency 07/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The African Union has decided to elevate its African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to the status of an autonomous public health agency for the continent – rather than operating simply as technical arm of the AU. “Africa CDC will now be an autonomous health agency for the continent. Until now, Africa […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Global COVID Vacccine Campaign Asks for $16.8 Billion; Report Says 35% of Already Donated Doses Have Yet To Be Administered 09/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The WHO co-sponsored Act Accelerator Initiative, which aims to get 70% vaccine coverage to all countries by mid-2022, as well as more equal distribution of tests and treatments, tabled its latest ask to donors – for some $16.8 billion in new funds – out of what it says would be a total cost of $48 […] Continue reading -> Reversing Years of Opposition, Taliban Initiate Polio Vaccination Campaign; Tedros Meets Afghan Health Minister in Geneva 09/02/2022 Shadi Khan Saif As Afghanistan’s fragile health system battles for survival, hard-earned gains of the past 20 years in the tenacious battle against polio are under threat. But on a hopeful note, the new Taliban regime has just launched its first national polio vaccine campaign – reversing years of opposition to the life-saving intervention. Afghanistan witnessed the lowest […] Continue reading -> Despite Moderna Withholding Tech Transfer, Afrigen Makes mRNA COVID Vaccine 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The COVID-19 mRNA candidate vaccine, developed in two months flat by South African scientists based on Moderna’s “recipe”, might be too late for this pandemic, officials leading the project told Health Policy Watch, on the eve of a high-level WHO visit to the Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines facility where the vaccine formula […] Continue reading -> Two Years into COVID Pandemic, 92 % of Countries Still Face Significant Health Service Disruptions 08/02/2022 Maayan Hoffman Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, over ninety percent of countries continue to face ongoing disruptions to their health systems, according to a survey published Monday evening by the World Health Organization. The WHO Global Pulse Survey, the third of its kind since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, analysed responses from 129 countries, […] Continue reading -> Mexico City Officials in Row Over ‘Misleading’ Paper to Justify its Ivermectin Drive 08/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan Mexico City officials have been dishing out the animal worm treatment, ivermectin, to citizens with COVID-19 – and published a paper in which they apparently attempted to manufacture evidence that the treatment could reduce COVID-19 hospitalisation to justify their actions. The paper was removed from the social science platform, SocArXiv, last week for trying to provide […] Continue reading -> Africa CDC is Elevated to Status of Continental Public Health Agency 07/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The African Union has decided to elevate its African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to the status of an autonomous public health agency for the continent – rather than operating simply as technical arm of the AU. “Africa CDC will now be an autonomous health agency for the continent. Until now, Africa […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Reversing Years of Opposition, Taliban Initiate Polio Vaccination Campaign; Tedros Meets Afghan Health Minister in Geneva 09/02/2022 Shadi Khan Saif As Afghanistan’s fragile health system battles for survival, hard-earned gains of the past 20 years in the tenacious battle against polio are under threat. But on a hopeful note, the new Taliban regime has just launched its first national polio vaccine campaign – reversing years of opposition to the life-saving intervention. Afghanistan witnessed the lowest […] Continue reading -> Despite Moderna Withholding Tech Transfer, Afrigen Makes mRNA COVID Vaccine 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The COVID-19 mRNA candidate vaccine, developed in two months flat by South African scientists based on Moderna’s “recipe”, might be too late for this pandemic, officials leading the project told Health Policy Watch, on the eve of a high-level WHO visit to the Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines facility where the vaccine formula […] Continue reading -> Two Years into COVID Pandemic, 92 % of Countries Still Face Significant Health Service Disruptions 08/02/2022 Maayan Hoffman Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, over ninety percent of countries continue to face ongoing disruptions to their health systems, according to a survey published Monday evening by the World Health Organization. The WHO Global Pulse Survey, the third of its kind since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, analysed responses from 129 countries, […] Continue reading -> Mexico City Officials in Row Over ‘Misleading’ Paper to Justify its Ivermectin Drive 08/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan Mexico City officials have been dishing out the animal worm treatment, ivermectin, to citizens with COVID-19 – and published a paper in which they apparently attempted to manufacture evidence that the treatment could reduce COVID-19 hospitalisation to justify their actions. The paper was removed from the social science platform, SocArXiv, last week for trying to provide […] Continue reading -> Africa CDC is Elevated to Status of Continental Public Health Agency 07/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The African Union has decided to elevate its African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to the status of an autonomous public health agency for the continent – rather than operating simply as technical arm of the AU. “Africa CDC will now be an autonomous health agency for the continent. Until now, Africa […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Despite Moderna Withholding Tech Transfer, Afrigen Makes mRNA COVID Vaccine 09/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The COVID-19 mRNA candidate vaccine, developed in two months flat by South African scientists based on Moderna’s “recipe”, might be too late for this pandemic, officials leading the project told Health Policy Watch, on the eve of a high-level WHO visit to the Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines facility where the vaccine formula […] Continue reading -> Two Years into COVID Pandemic, 92 % of Countries Still Face Significant Health Service Disruptions 08/02/2022 Maayan Hoffman Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, over ninety percent of countries continue to face ongoing disruptions to their health systems, according to a survey published Monday evening by the World Health Organization. The WHO Global Pulse Survey, the third of its kind since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, analysed responses from 129 countries, […] Continue reading -> Mexico City Officials in Row Over ‘Misleading’ Paper to Justify its Ivermectin Drive 08/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan Mexico City officials have been dishing out the animal worm treatment, ivermectin, to citizens with COVID-19 – and published a paper in which they apparently attempted to manufacture evidence that the treatment could reduce COVID-19 hospitalisation to justify their actions. The paper was removed from the social science platform, SocArXiv, last week for trying to provide […] Continue reading -> Africa CDC is Elevated to Status of Continental Public Health Agency 07/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The African Union has decided to elevate its African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to the status of an autonomous public health agency for the continent – rather than operating simply as technical arm of the AU. “Africa CDC will now be an autonomous health agency for the continent. Until now, Africa […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Two Years into COVID Pandemic, 92 % of Countries Still Face Significant Health Service Disruptions 08/02/2022 Maayan Hoffman Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, over ninety percent of countries continue to face ongoing disruptions to their health systems, according to a survey published Monday evening by the World Health Organization. The WHO Global Pulse Survey, the third of its kind since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, analysed responses from 129 countries, […] Continue reading -> Mexico City Officials in Row Over ‘Misleading’ Paper to Justify its Ivermectin Drive 08/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan Mexico City officials have been dishing out the animal worm treatment, ivermectin, to citizens with COVID-19 – and published a paper in which they apparently attempted to manufacture evidence that the treatment could reduce COVID-19 hospitalisation to justify their actions. The paper was removed from the social science platform, SocArXiv, last week for trying to provide […] Continue reading -> Africa CDC is Elevated to Status of Continental Public Health Agency 07/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The African Union has decided to elevate its African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to the status of an autonomous public health agency for the continent – rather than operating simply as technical arm of the AU. “Africa CDC will now be an autonomous health agency for the continent. Until now, Africa […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Mexico City Officials in Row Over ‘Misleading’ Paper to Justify its Ivermectin Drive 08/02/2022 Kerry Cullinan Mexico City officials have been dishing out the animal worm treatment, ivermectin, to citizens with COVID-19 – and published a paper in which they apparently attempted to manufacture evidence that the treatment could reduce COVID-19 hospitalisation to justify their actions. The paper was removed from the social science platform, SocArXiv, last week for trying to provide […] Continue reading -> Africa CDC is Elevated to Status of Continental Public Health Agency 07/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The African Union has decided to elevate its African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to the status of an autonomous public health agency for the continent – rather than operating simply as technical arm of the AU. “Africa CDC will now be an autonomous health agency for the continent. Until now, Africa […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Africa CDC is Elevated to Status of Continental Public Health Agency 07/02/2022 Paul Adepoju The African Union has decided to elevate its African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to the status of an autonomous public health agency for the continent – rather than operating simply as technical arm of the AU. “Africa CDC will now be an autonomous health agency for the continent. Until now, Africa […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts