As the 73rd World Health Assembly approaches, the European Union-sponsored draft resolution on the COVID-19 response is gathering steam and storm as it rolls closer to the planned opening of the Assembly on 18 May – with far less clarity about how it might actually hit the shores of the public debate. The resolution aims […] Continue reading ->
For the first time ever, the World Health Assembly appears set to meet in a one-day virtual session on May 18, which would be devoted largely to debate the global COVID-19 pandemic, sources told Health Policy Watch on Tuesday. European Union member states are hopeful that a draft WHA resolution to create a voluntary patent […] Continue reading ->
As the COVID-19 crisis seeps into financial markets, corporate board rooms, and global health systems, there may be one silver lining in an otherwise dark cloud. The 21st century era of digital health, virtual meetings and teleworking is upon us. Countries as far-flung as the Republic of Korea, Israel and even some forward-looking US health […] 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 ->
A new plan to dramatically accelerate global efforts to end tuberculosis, one of the world’s deadliest and oldest known infectious diseases, was launched Tuesday by the Stop TB Partnership in Jakarta. The fully-costed plan is based on commitments made at a 2018 United Nations High-Level Meeting on Ending TB (UNHLM) to reduce TB deaths by […] Continue reading ->
Berlin, Germany (29 October 2019) – Experts called on policy-makers to put human health and wellbeing at the centre of climate action decisions at the World Health Summit, which entered its third and final day Tuesday. “There is a need for urgent action to reduce greenhouse emissions to protect health, because we have less than […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization has launched a plan to accelerate the use of digital technologies to meet global public health needs, following the first-ever meeting of a WHO Technical Advisory Group on digital health. “All governments are facing increasing demands to provide health services to their citizens, and many digital technologies offer solutions to help meet […] Continue reading ->
A request by South Africa to the World Trade Organization (WTO) TRIPS Council to “address the transparency of R&D costs and pricing of medicines and health technologies” is expected to be reviewed Friday, 18 October 2019 as the TRIPS Council meets this week for its third session this year. The TRIPS Council, the administrative body […] Continue reading ->
NEW YORK CITY – Globally, governments are spending nearly $US 300 billion in price supports and other pre-tax subsidies for fossil fuels – which are costing national governments a whopping $US 2.7 trillion in health costs from air pollution-related mortality, disease and lost productivity—not to mention fueling climate change. As just one stunning example of […] Continue reading ->
If Fernando Arnaiz of Roche Pharmaceuticals had his way, the power of Kenyan mobile phone banking might soon be harnessed to health insurance schemes to finance treatment for cancer and other noncommunicable (NCDs) diseases, treatments accessible to only a tiny proportion of people in Africa today. Arnaiz is part of a unique team at Roche […] Continue reading ->