Four more African countries will be introducing pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) into their routine immunization schedules – as other countries across Africa said they would ramp up and revitalize childhood vaccination programmes that were hit hard by the COVID pandemic.  In commitments announced this week at the 2nd Global Forum on Childhood Pneumonia in Madrid […] Continue reading ->
Gaya Gamhewage, the agency’s lead official in prevention and response to sexual misconduct, describes WHO’s recent moves to bring justice to DRC’s victims.  In a long-awaited move, the World Health Organization (WHO) is preparing to share files with the Congolese courts on the sexual exploitation and abuse complaints of 13 women who are pursuing criminal […] Continue reading ->
Many challenges remain in negotiating an international pandemic treaty, experts tell a committee of the German Parliament. As COVID-19 cases decline, multilateral polarization and a weary public leaves countries at risk should another global pandemic strike, German MP Andrew Ullmann stated on Monday at the German Parliament (Bundestag).  The Bundestag’s Global Health Subcommittee held a […] Continue reading ->
IBADAN, Nigeria – There are high hopes that the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine recently approved by Ghana and Nigeria will be manufactured in Africa in the not-to-distant future – a brighter-than-usual prospect for this World Malaria Day (25 April). Earlier this month, Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) approved the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine manufactured by the […] Continue reading ->
The world’s largest global health organizations have announced a partnership to reverse the years-long backslide in global childhood vaccination rates caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.  An estimated 67 million children missed at least one essential vaccination between 2019 and 2021 and 50 million of these didn’t receive any vaccines – setting back childhood vaccination rates […] Continue reading ->
Negotiations to tighten up the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR) to make them pandemic-ready made “excellent progress” – but it still faces enormous obstacles. WHO member states spent four days last week addressing 100 of the 300 proposed amendments to the IHR, dealing particularly with compliance, implementation, and public health response.  In […] Continue reading ->