A slew of new and repurposed public health technology has been rapidly developed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. But in the whirlwind of contact tracing apps, artificial intelligence, and location tracking being used for public health surveillance, old ethical dilemmas have resurfaced around who is actually benefiting from these technologies.  “The question remains; […] Continue reading ->
About 1.7 billion people, or 22% of the world’s population, has at least one underlying health condition that puts them at increased risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19, according to a new modelling study published in Lancet Global Health.   Based on the new assessment, about 4% of the world’s population, in total, is at […] Continue reading ->
A major clinical trial ongoing in the United Kingdom has fingered dexamethasone, a common anti-inflammatory drug used to treat arthritis and asthma, as the “first” treatment to actually reduce mortality among COVID-19 patients – by as much as one-third.  The preliminary findings were announced by the trial’s principal investigators, Martin Landray and Peter Horby, both […] Continue reading ->
France rolled back recommendations on the use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, for severe COVID-19 patients, just two days after the World Health Organization suspended its large multinational hydroxychloroquine trial. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has authorized the use of remdesivir for severe cases of COVID-19. The drug showed modest potential to shorten the length of […] Continue reading ->
Low and middle-income countries urgently need affordable personal protective equipment, diagnostics, treatments and vaccines to ward off even bigger waves of COVID-19 infection and mortality – and global production capacity is failing to ensure timely supply even of those products now on the market. Now, more than ever, producers in poor countries need to be […] Continue reading ->
From a small and modest gathering of booths and stands in 2006, the ​Geneva Health Forum​ has grown into an international event with a strong array of scientific sessions. ​Although the GHF was forced to postpone its eighth annual conference, from March to 16-18 November due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that has not prevented the […] Continue reading ->