The latest draft of the pandemic agreement, while deferring many operational issues, keeps equity hopes alive in many aspects – including by cementing in-principle agreements on a pathogen access and benefit-sharing (PABS) system, a global supply chain and logistics network and geographically diverse “capacities and institutions” for research and development. READ: WHO Pandemic Agreement draft_16 […] Continue reading ->
“Disappointed” is how the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention phrased its response to pharmaceutical company Moderna “pausing” its Kenyan mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility.  Moderna’s decision is yet another example of how complex it is to kickstart vaccine manufacturing on the continent – an essential component to safeguard Africans against future pandemics on the […] Continue reading ->
Nestlé’s shareholders have a golden opportunity to call on the food giant to promote healthier lives in almost two hundred countries by backing a bold resolution at the multinational’s Annual General Meeting this week. Doing so can protect their profits in the long-haul. Backed by a coalition of five institutional investors with $ 1.68 trillion […] Continue reading ->
Health stories are not just about medical facts; they are intricate tapestries woven with economic, political, and social threads, according to two international health journalists. Stephanie Nolen, a global health reporter for The New York Times, and Paul Adepoju, a Nigeria-based freelance health journalist and scientist who writes for Health Policy Watch, were guests on […] Continue reading ->
The new Deputy Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) is Dr Mike Ryan, who will assume the position alongside his current post as the executive director of Health Emergencies, Preparedness and Response. Ryan, who succeeds Zsuzsanna Jakab, who retired in February, assumed the position on 1 April according to an internal staff communique […] Continue reading ->
Each woman in the health workforce is powerful, capable of transforming individual lives, communities, and nations when supported in her role. Women health workers deliver care to approximately five billion people, mostly as nurses, midwives, and community health workers. They contribute $3 trillion to global health annually, half in unpaid work.  Despite constituting 70% of […] Continue reading ->
At a time when the world is negotiating the best way forward for sustained preparedness to address pandemics, it is still exhibiting collective failure to learn from past outbreaks and a glaring gap in global health security. Mpox is one case in point – and a test case for global intent on pandemic preparedness.  In […] Continue reading ->
The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), famous for busting Volkswagen’s Dieselgate, has a new ambition: Taking immediate action to shift to zero-emissions vehicles, significantly cutting ozone (O3) nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and PM2.5 pollution, and avoiding millions of cases of early death and paediatric asthma. Business-as-usual vehicle scenarios will lead to an increase.  Because they […] Continue reading ->