African nations need to pivot to prevention in their fight against disease by “addressing its root causes” through a greater focus on improved diets, healthier environments, and better road safety, among other factors, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the 72nd WHO Regional Committee for Africa meeting, at the opening of the weeklong session of […] Continue reading ->
To mark World Mosquito Day, 20 August, the Global Health Priority Box has been launched to provide free access to 240 compounds to stimulate research into new drugs and insecticides.  The initiative, launched by the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC), provides scientists with starting points to advance the […] Continue reading ->
In its first guidelines ever for Ebola treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) advises using two monoclonal antibodies — mAb114 (Ansuvimab®, also known as Ebanga®) and REGN-EB3 (Inmazeb®) — that were first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use against the Zaire ebolavirus species in 2020. WHO says its “strong recommendations” for […] Continue reading ->
When Dr. Magaly Blas, an Associate Professor at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru, was researching the association between the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer and the human T-lymphotropic virus that causes leukaemia, she found herself travelling often to the Amazon region of Ucayali, home to an indigenous community among whom the disease […] Continue reading ->
As the first monkeypox case involving a human-to-dog transmission reported, the World Health Organization (WHO) said more than 35,000 recently confirmed cases of monkeypox were accompanied by 12 deaths in 92 nations and territories, including almost 7,500 from last week alone. That made for the second consecutive week with a 20% increase, WHO Director-General Dr […] Continue reading ->
Top executives at Bavarian Nordic, which makes the world’s only monkeypox vaccine, avoided news media in the face of a worldwide shortage of their product. But SIGA, the company behind the antiviral treatment Tecovirimat (TPOXX™), has not been so shy. In an exclusive interview, SIGA’s CEO, Phillip Gomez, says the small, speciality firm is  prepared […] Continue reading ->
Recent reforms to the World Health Organization “prequalification” program that certifies the safety and efficacy of health products procured in bulk by donors for low and middle-income countries have speeded up the process and thus accelerated access to lifesaving medicines and diagnostic tools in low- and middle-income countries. However, long lead times for product approvals, […] Continue reading ->
LEIDEN – Pandemic preparedness rests on having a robust surveillance system to identify health threats – something that is still “rudimentary” in many African countries, says Professor Salim Abdool Karim, a South African infectious diseases epidemiologist. Describing monkeypox as a threat to health security in Africa, Karim said that it was important that health services […] Continue reading ->
The United States is considering shifting to intradermal injections of Monkeypox vaccine that could potentially stretch one dose of the approved MVA-BN vaccine, available only in limited quantities, into five doses, said US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf on Thursday. He was speaking at a press briefing minutes after Xavier Becerra, US Secretary […] Continue reading ->