Former US President Barack Obama openly criticized two of the world’s largest CO2 emitting countries – Russia and China, for their “dangerous lack of urgency” in discussing the pressing matters of climate change this past week during COP26. Both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to make an appearance with other […] Continue reading ->
Greening cities, investing in urban bike lanes rather than new roads, and making plant-based foods cheaper and easier to access than ultra-processed foods. This is a doctor’s prescription for a healthier planet.  As climate negotiators at Glasgow’s COP26 conference remain locked in debate over the big-picture ambition of targets for global CO2 emissions reductions, and […] Continue reading ->
  Signatories to the new African Medicines Agency Treaty have now reached 28 countries – more than half of the African Union’s 55 member states – with the balance tipping as Uganda signed the treaty instrument last week.   On Friday, 5 November, after more than a decade of preparations, the African Medicine Agency (AMA) treaty […] Continue reading ->
A US organisation that promotes transparency in health policy decisions, Right to Know, has asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to remove 10 of the 26 candidates it had recently named to a new Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) – due to alleged conflicts of interest – and replace them […] Continue reading ->
Disha Shetty, an Indian climate and health journalist, will be reporting for Health Policy Watch from the Glasgow Climate Conference (COP 26).  She provides a birds-eye view on the conference here: Climate and health activists fear that the bold action needed at the crucial United Nations climate conference, COP26, which began on Sunday, is unlikely […] Continue reading ->
Simply by promoting cycling, government officials could address a range of problems including non-communicable diseases (NCDs), car crashes, stress and air pollution. But officials in different sectors seldom factor health into planning transport and urbanisation, said public health experts at a discussion on public health systems hosted this week by Vital Strategies. “The future of […] Continue reading ->
A “Zero Draft” report by a WHO Working Group gives cautious endorsement to advancing negotiations over a new “Pandemic Treaty” among WHO’s 194 member states.  That endorsement by the Working Group of member states remains couched in highly nuanced, diplomatic language that makes it clear how big the lift may be to actually negotiate a […] Continue reading ->