The World Health Organization has declared an international public health emergency for mpox, its highest level of alarm, as the virus experiences a resurgence across Africa less than two years after ending the previous emergency. The declaration comes as the case total in Africa this year has already surpassed the total from 2023. Over 2,500 […] Continue reading ->
The recent CARICOM summit of Caribbean leaders has endorsed a new Afro-Caribbean Health and Development  (HeDPAC) initiative aimed at stimulating South-South collaboration on resilient health systems, health worker capacity building, and local medicines and vaccines manufacture.  The formal CARICOM Communiqué at the close of the Summit in Grenada invited its 15 member states and five […] Continue reading ->
“Words must now be matched with deeds,” Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said after the official declaration. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has officially declared the surging mpox outbreak a “public health emergency of continental security” – the first time it has made such a declaration on its own. […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the risks of over-reliance on global supply chains for essential health products. Disruptions led to severe delays and shortages of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, with low- and middle-income countries bearing the brunt. Vaccine inequality starkly highlighted Africa’s vulnerability. Yet this crisis unveiled a unique opportunity for the continent: a chance to […] Continue reading ->
As climate change drives disease outbreaks, the world remains ill-prepared for another pandemic – lacking in collaborative surveillance, diagnostic tools and finance, speakers told the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit (GPPS) in Brazil. The two-day summit, attended by a global who’s who of pandemic experts, aimed to “reinvigorate the momentum for pandemic preparedness and response” – […] Continue reading ->
The Argentina-based biotech firm,  Sinergium Biotech, has agreed to share know-how on the production of an mRNA vaccine for Avian influenza (H5N1) with WHO’s  Tecnology Transfer Hub so that an affordable vaccine could rapidly be produced for developing countries, WHO said Monday. The agreement marks the first time that a vaccine developer has actually volunteered […] Continue reading ->
Global levels of hunger remain stagnant at the highest rates seen in over a decade, as one in 11 people worldwide (8.9%) faced hunger, or undernourishment, in 2023, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition (SOFI) report, released on Wednesday. The report, a collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International […] Continue reading ->
Anne-Claire Amprou, French Ambassador for Global Health, has replaced Roland Driece of the Netherlands as the co-chair of the World Health Organization (WHO) Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) that is hammering out the pandemic agreement. However, Amprou, who coordinated the French response to COVID-19 and was a member of the international Ebola task force, is interim […] Continue reading ->