The poorest people and countries suffer the most during pandemics, setting in motion a “vicious cycle” of inequality where those who suffer the most are least equipped to address disease outbreaks, according to the Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Pandemics in a report released on Monday (3 November). The COVID-19 pandemic pushed 165 million […] Continue reading ->
As the G-20 Health Ministers meeting takes place next week in Johannesburg, South Africa, a new global coalition is trying to put Alzheimer’s and dementia-related diseases on the priority list of the world’s major economies; and there’s one man who stands out as a driving force behind this movement. In his video “Leadership Lessons from […] Continue reading ->
Although 18% of the world’s population lives in Africa, only 3% of clinical trials are conducted on the continent – and the ambition is to increase this percentage to 15% by 2035. But this requires substantial improvements across several aspects – including more innovative trial designs and better use of digital tools – the subject […] Continue reading ->
Climate change is claiming millions of lives annually through extreme heat, air pollution, wildfires and the spread of deadly infectious diseases, according to the most comprehensive assessment to date of the links between climate change and health. The ninth annual Lancet Countdown report, authored by 128 experts from 71 academic institutions and UN agencies worldwide, […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) is “appalled and deeply shocked by reports of the tragic killing of more than 460 patients and their companions at Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher in Sudan”, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Gunmen attacked the hospital – the only one that is partially functioning in the town – […] Continue reading ->
At around midnight on the last night in August, a powerful earthquake destroyed homes and villages in Afghanistan – and the Taliban-controlled government’s restrictive policies exacerbated the suffering of women and girls caught in the disaster. Women and girls living in eastern Afghanistan are bearing the heaviest burden after the 6.0-magnitude earthquake killed and injured […] Continue reading ->
Member states start text-based negotiations next week on the final outstanding piece of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) system. They will have had nine days to consider the seven-page first draft of the PABS system, which was distributed late Friday (24 October) by the administration Bureau […] Continue reading ->
DURBAN, South Africa — The “Durban Promise”, the ambitious outcome document of the Conference of Public Health In Africa 2025 (CPHIA) will be on the menu when global leaders meet at various Group of 20 (G20) meetings, starting with the health working group meeting on 6 November. That was the message from the conference, […] Continue reading ->
Of the 62 countries who were assessed globally, only half have the basic capacity to monitor extreme weather events, and 16% of the countries have less-than-basic capacity, according to a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The report, ‘Early Warnings for All in Focus: Hazard Monitoring and Forecasting’ was released during last week’s […] Continue reading ->
Africa is continuing to make progress in meeting its Universal Health Coverage (UHC) targets (part of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals). Countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia are two examples of African countries making exemplary progress. Kenya, Ghana and South Africa are also among those making significant progress towards realising this dream. However, there is […] Continue reading ->