Indonesia could manufacture 550 million COVID-19 vaccine doses a year if pharmaceutical companies were prepared to share the know-how, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a World Health Organization event Friday. Sadikin was addressing the first anniversary of the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), set up to encourage countries and manufacturers of COVID-19 products […] Continue reading ->
The US reaffirmed its support for COVID-19 vaccine intellectual property waivers Friday as World Health Assembly delegates and experts discussed how to promote local production of medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). An Ethiopia-led resolution to stimulate local production of medicines and health technologies has the support of WHO’s African Region, the European Union, […] Continue reading ->
A paradigm shift towards health systems and societies that emphasize health promotion, disease prevention and environmental protection could prevent and reduce 50% of the global disease burden worldwide, experts at an informal session on the margins of the 74th World Health Assembly  said on Thursday. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the inextricable relationships between environments […] Continue reading ->
Amidst fresh calls from US President Joe Biden ordering the science and intelligence community to come up with a more detailed account of how the SARS-CoV2 virus emerged – it’s unclear how much action the World Health Assembly will really see on the issue. Language in the the final-agreed draft of a WHA resolution, Strengthening […] Continue reading ->
While the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in huge setbacks for health systems – it has also highlighted the needs. And one of the biggest is the need for greater investment in basic primary health care systems as a pathway for ensuring  Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Delegates speaking during a high-level strategic session on the third […] Continue reading ->
China told the World Health Assembly on Wednesday it will continue to support developing countries’ access to affordable COVID-19 vaccines – but it stopped short of any commitment to supplying its recently-approved Sinopharm vaccine to the WHO co-sponsored Global COVAX vaccine facility.  WHO officials had said they hoped China would join the COVAX facility, following […] Continue reading ->
Controlling a disease outbreak requires cooperation both behind borders and between countries, experts said at a Wednesday event co-organised by the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Global Health Centre.  And one key, neglected area of international cooperation has been travel restrictions, where countries worldwide have created a cacophony of different measures to control COVID.   “Travel measures are […] Continue reading ->