CAPE TOWN – Sustainability is the priority for vaccine manufacturers that are part of the mRNA technology transfer programme established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). The programme was launched in 2020 to equip low and middle-income countries (LMIC) to make their own COVID-19 vaccines to address the inequity […] Continue reading ->
After experiencing the distress of caring for a loved one with advanced cervical cancer, Edna Maloya vowed to take proactive measures to ensure that her family and friends would be protected. “I was my cousin’s caregiver. I can’t take chances with cervical cancer,” says Maloya, who lives in Blantyre, Malawi’s second largest city. She happily […] Continue reading ->
The COVID pandemic brought into focus the life-saving role of medical oxygen – but the stock of oxygen is still severely limited in low- and middle-income countries, and many don’t know how much oxygen they need. Despite wide-ranging efforts to improve access to oxygen and oxygen delivery devices over the past four years, services in […] Continue reading ->
The COVID pandemic has wiped off a decade of steady gain in life expectancy at birth and healthy life expectancy at birth (HALE), according to the World Health Statistics 2024 report by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the light of the findings the world health body has urged countries to redouble their efforts towards […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – Moderna tried to extract a huge price for its COVID-19 vaccine from the South African government at the height of the pandemic, according to the local NGO, Health Justice Initiative (HJI), in revelations made public this week. The US-based pharma company wanted to charge $42 per vaccine in mid-2021 when vaccines were […] Continue reading ->
The overall benefits of COVID-19 vaccines far outweigh potential risks, according to a recent study of 99 million vaccinated people – despite a number of misleading and sensational reports about the study. The study, published in the journal Vaccine in mid-February, aimed to get more precise estimates of the risk of adverse events following vaccination. […] Continue reading ->
A much higher percentage of the population has experienced “persistent” COVID-19 infections lasting more than 30 days than initially assumed, according to new research by the University of Oxford. The study, published on February 21 in Nature, found that one to three of every 100 infections may last a month or longer. The scientists, using […] Continue reading ->
Improving disease surveillance, strengthening primary healthcare, and being able to expand quickly during a crisis are some of the important lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic that can be applied to ‘Disease X’, according to health experts speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. “Disease X is a placeholder for unknown diseases,” […] Continue reading ->
COVID-19 vaccines reduced deaths due to the pandemic by at least 57%, saving more than 1.4 million lives in the WHO European Region between December 2020 and March 2023, according to a report published in medRxiv, a pre-print platform for health sciences, on Tuesday. Most of the lives saved were those of people aged 60 […] Continue reading ->
The JN.1 COVID-19 variant is completing its global takeover, with the number of new cases having increased by 52% during the 28 days leading up to the end of the year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In the United States, JN.1 accounts for more than 60% of COVID-19 cases, according to the Centers […] Continue reading ->