Egypt confirmed its first COVID-19 case on Friday, the first on the African continent, Egyptian media said, a report also confirmed by the World Health Organization’s Egypt office in a tweet. A Health Ministry statement said that it had informed WHO of the infection in a foreign national, who had been tested and then placed […] Continue reading ->
After two days of more hopeful signs that new cases of the novel coronavirus in China might be stabilizing, a sharp increase of 14,840 new COVID-19 infections was reported Thursday by the Province of Hubei, more than 10 times the previous day. Meanwhile, Vietnamese authorities had reportedly imposed a mass quarantine on a number of […] Continue reading ->
The novel coronavirus has been officially named by the World Health Organization as COVID-19, in the first day of a global consultation with about 400 researchers and public health experts charged with designing a coherent way forward to confront the expanding epidemic. However, as the case count rose by Tuesday afternoon to 42,747 people with […] Continue reading ->
“We all have a vested interest to stop this epidemic,” says Thomas Cueni, Director General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA). As WHO on Tuesday convenes a Global Research & Innovation Forum to rapidly ramp up R&D, Cueni spoke with Health Policy Watch about what he describes as “the extraordinary willingness […] Continue reading ->
WHO issued a call to the global community to come forward with US$ 675 million in funding to help some 60 low- and middle-income countries that are at significant risk of infection with the novel coronavirus that originated in Wuhan China prepare for possible outbreaks. The call was issued by WHO Director General Dr. Tedros […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “solidarity, solidarity and solidarity” amongst WHO member states to meet the new challenge of a novel coronavirus epidemic – at Monday’s opening of a week-long meeting of WHO’s Executive Board in Geneva. “The rule of the game is solidarity, solidarity, solidarity. But we see […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s head of Universal Health Coverage, Dr. Peter Salama, has died suddenly at the age of 51. The Australian-born medical epidemiologist was known as an eloquent global health advocate, who dedicated his career to combatting the world’s most difficult and dangerous diseases and strengthening fragile health systems in states weakened by war and civil unrest. […] Continue reading ->
“Creaking health systems” are among the leading risks faced by the global community, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2020 Report. People live longer, but health gains have also plateaued in recent decades. Threats from longstanding infections as well as those from emerging diseases pose a double set of challenges. Along with that, […] Continue reading ->
Measles deaths are on the rise for the second year in a row, killing more than 140,000 people worldwide in 2018 according to estimates released Thursday by the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also on Thursday, a massive measles vaccination campaign was announced in North Kivu, […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization and African Union have signed a sweeping Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on improving access to medicines, strengthening epidemic preparedness, and expanding universal health coverage across the African continent. These are the three main pillars of the MOU signed Monday by the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and African Union Chair […] Continue reading ->