In past decades, Europe has achieved one of the world’s highest water and sanitation coverages, but it is often forgotten that one in ten schools in the 53 countries of WHO’s European region still lack basic hand washing facilities, leaving some 5 million pupils without access to soap and clean water. All in all, some 31 […] Continue reading ->
In the largest and perhaps most robust peer-reviewed study to date, A COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by pharma giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University has been shown to induce strong antibody and T cell responses in healthy volunteers, according to Phase 1/2 trial results published in The Lancet on Monday. Most studies so far have focused on […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations has requested US $10.3 billion to help lower income countries struggling to deal with the direct effects and aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, doubling its ask from May, according to a new UN Humanitarian Response Plan launched today. The ask comes just as Finance Ministers and heads of central banks of the […] Continue reading ->
A notorious hacking group with ties to Russia’s intelligence network has been targeting COVID-19 vaccine developers, according to the United States, United Kingdom, and Canadian government. APT29, also known as ‘The Dukes’ or ‘Cozy Bear,’ has been organizing cyber attacks in an effort to steal confidential information regarding COVID-19 vaccine development and research, according to […] Continue reading ->
Some 75 new countries have submitted expressions of interest to join the COVAX Facility, potentially supporting 90 other countries who have already joined the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment initiative created to pool demand and secure lower prices for bulk purchases of a COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, Moderna is pulling ahead in the COVID-19 vaccine rat race […] Continue reading ->
It is still too early to tell how long immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may last after infection, the World Health Organization’s Technical Lead for COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove said at Monday press briefing. Van Kerkhove’s comments came just after the publication of a new study by researchers from Kings College, London, […] Continue reading ->
Ibadan, Nigeria – The World Health Organisation (WHO) is advocating for equitable access to effective COVID-19 vaccines but developments surrounding the race to a vaccine suggest this may be extremely difficult. And health policy leaders in Africa and other low and middle-income countries are increasingly worried about their prospects for being pushed to the back […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization announced a new program on Friday to help more than 1 billion tobacco users – a group at high risk for coronavirus complications – quit smoking during the pandemic. The project, the Access Initiative for Quitting Tobacco, will be first rolled out in Jordan, where 82.5% of men over the age […] Continue reading ->
An independent evaluation of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, including steps taken by the World Health Organization, will be led by former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark and former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The former world leaders will co-chair and Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR), the […] Continue reading ->
First came the dry cough. Then the shortness of breath and fever. But what Noely, a 32 year old COVID-19 patient in Lima Peru, hadn’t expected, was her lost sense of taste, worsening anxiety, and impaired motor function. “At first, I had symptoms of atypical pneumonia, with a lot of chest pain, and I lost […] Continue reading ->