Acting director of the Africa CDC, Dr Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, on Thursday confirmed that he is leaving the agency at the end of the month. He denied, however, earlier reports that his departure was tied to African CDC age or geographic restrictions in the recruitment of a permanent candidate, but rather attributed the decision to […] Continue reading ->
The European Parliament has been challenged to amend a proposed law to enable countries outside the European Union (EU) to benefit from medical products produced under compulsory licences during crises. The proposed regulation aims to ensure that, “during specific crises or emergencies”, the EU can issue a compulsory licence to enable the production of certain […] Continue reading ->
COPENHAGEN – In Lebanon, international donors are supporting a network of public primary health care centers to test for diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), offering treatment equally to Lebanese nationals and Syrian refugees who are unlikely to return anytime soon to their war-torn homeland. In Kenya, a new national insurance law aims to make […] Continue reading ->
Outbreaks of measles have affected parts of the United States, coinciding with the lowest child immunisation rates the country has seen in 10 years, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By 22 February, 35 measles cases had been reported by 15 states, namely Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, […] Continue reading ->
As pressure intensifies on World Health Organization (WHO) member states to finalise a pandemic agreement by May, insiders are concerned by the snails’ pace of negotiations – primarily because they believe the negotiators have spent an inordinate amount of time on contentious issues while neglecting more procedural issues. After two years of negotiations, the eighth […] Continue reading ->
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) needs at least five million cholera vaccines to address the worst outbreak of the disease on the African continent – but it has received none so far. Meanwhile, Zambia has received half the cholera vaccines it needs and less than a third of Zimbabwe’s vaccine needs have been met, […] Continue reading ->
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), has announced the creation of a pooled African medicines procurement mechanism at the 37th African Union Summit, which ended yesterday. The mechanism aims to spearhead “a new era of predictable demand for African manufacturers, empowering them to plan for the long-term and establish a robust […] Continue reading ->
PUNE, INDIA – Commerce minister Sunil Barthwal has clarified that India will not sign a new trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) that would limit access by the country’s thriving generic medicine industry to new drug formulations for critical diseases. India is currently negotiating a new trade deal with the EFTA, which […] Continue reading ->
After months of protesting about the lack of space for civil society in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) pandemic agreement negotiations, the Pandemic Action Network (PAN) is hosting two community meetings next week – and it expects member states to show up and listen. The meetings take place next Wednesday and Thursday (21 and 22 […] Continue reading ->
A wide array of stakeholders are looking toward the upcoming World Health Assembly this May to conclude negotiations on a new pandemic accord that seeks to make the world more prepared for the next pandemic. And most would agree that the primary task of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), established by the World Health Assembly […] Continue reading ->