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 ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an emergency use listing (EUL) for India’s Covaxin, making it the eighth COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the global body. “The emergency use listing expands the availability of vaccines, the most effective medical tools we have to end the pandemic,” said Dr Mariangela Simao, WHO […] 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 ->
The incumbent Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is the sole nominee for his position, which will be decided upon at the 75th World Health Assembly in May 2022. With the backing of 28 member states, Tedros is likely to be re-appointed unopposed as the deadline to submit nominations was […] 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 ->
Only five African countries are likely to reach a WHO global goal of vaccinating 40% of their populations by the end of the year, and the continent’s roll-outs may be slowed further by a global shortage of the syringes need to administer vaccines. UNICEF has reported an imminent shortfall of up to 2.2 billion syringes […] Continue reading ->
October is Liver Cancer Awareness month, and Europe has a liver cancer problem. Over the past two decades, there has been a 70% increase in liver cancer-related mortality in the region. In 2020, 87,000 Europeans were diagnosed with liver cancer while 78,000 died from the disease in the same year. Late diagnosis is a serious […] Continue reading ->