Two weeks after a Texas judge stirred controversy by banning a popular US abortion pill, WHO’s Director General has explicitly re-affirmed the organization’s support for abortion rights, stating that “women should always have the right to choose when it comes to their bodies and their health”. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ comments came just a day […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – The most advanced biomedical research centre on the African continent has opened in South Africa, boasting state-of-the-art research and training facilities. Stellenbosch University’s Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI) houses over 500 researchers who are examining the genetic and biomolecular basis for diseases afflicting Africans – including Professor Tuilo De Oliveira, renowned for decoding […] Continue reading ->
Nearly a year after his appointment to a second term as WHO’s Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has finished a revamp of his senior leadership team – keeping key loyalists in place, while adding new faces that are a clear nod to powerful member states such as China, France and Japan. But the new team […] Continue reading ->
A South African group that promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories claims to have issued a high court application to challenge the authorisation of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by the country’s health minister and regulatory authority – but the health department has not been served with any legal papers. In a recent publicity drive, the Freedom Alliance […] Continue reading ->
CEOs from the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies issued a call to G7 leaders on Friday to oppose the inclusion of intellectual property rights waivers and pathogen benefit sharing in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) pandemic treaty. In meetings with Japanese Prime Minister and chair of next month’s G7 summit Fumio Kishida this week, a delegation […] Continue reading ->
When governments invest in drug research and development (R&D) with pharmaceutical companies, they should ensure upfront that these drugs are affordable and widely available – and a global pandemic accord needs to provide high-level guidance on how to do this. This is the view of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit group […] Continue reading ->
Seventy-five years ago on Friday – World Health Day – the World Health Organization’s (WHO) founding constitution became the first document to formally recognize health as a human right. Three-quarters of a century later, a WHO battered by the COVID-19 pandemic is juggling how to adapt to new health threats with achieving its most basic […] Continue reading ->
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) recommends that countries on the continent move rapidly to automated disease reporting systems across the continent to cope with disease outbreaks, as Nigeria grapples with Lassa fever and Malawi and Mozambique struggle with cholera. “There has been an expected slowdown [in COVID-19 reporting] because of […] Continue reading ->
Around half of the world’s health workers experienced burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, while 55 countries face serious shortages of health workers – exacerbated by the poaching of skilled staff by wealthier countries. Many countries are struggling to retain health workers, ensure they are equitably distributed, there is an adequate skills mix, and battling to […] Continue reading ->
The fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to draft a pandemic accord started on Monday with acknowledgement by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that it faces a very tight timeframe. “There is now only one year until the World Health Assembly in May 2024, which will consider the outcome […] Continue reading ->