Research into traditional medicines for COVID-19 should be welcomed, so long as it is held to the same standards as research into other drug candidates, the World Health Organization Africa Regional Office expressed in a statement issued Monday. The diplomatically-framed WHO statement came after widespread media coverage of Madagascar’s president and other African leaders over […] Continue reading ->
Countries from around the world committed 7.36 billion Euro for the global coronavirus pandemic response Monday, nearly reaching the ambitious 7.5 billion Euro initial goal that had been set out only a week ago in a press conference with heads of state from Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the World Health Organization. The United […] Continue reading ->
In a mild statement touching on a politically wired issue, World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the agency would step up its investigations of the original animal source of the SARS CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. His comment came in response to a recommendation of the WHO Emergency Committee that met […] Continue reading ->
COVID-19 deaths per capita are twice as high in The Bronx, New York City’s poorest and most racially diverse borough, as compared to the predominantly white and more affluent borough of Manhattan, reported a new study published in JAMA on Wednesday. The study’s findings draw out the potentially stark differences in the way the virus […] Continue reading ->
Routine vaccine campaigns, suspended worldwide in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns, must be resumed immediately or else some countries could face a big surge in deaths from other preventable diseases, said Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Berkley warned that routine immunizations for other infectious diseases such […] Continue reading ->
For the first time ever, the World Health Assembly appears set to meet in a one-day virtual session on May 18, which would be devoted largely to debate the global COVID-19 pandemic, sources told Health Policy Watch on Tuesday. European Union member states are hopeful that a draft WHA resolution to create a voluntary patent […] Continue reading ->
“Epidemics, such as this one or any other, by their very nature, feed off existing inequalities and make them worse. And that’s what we see COVID-19 doing to inequalities between countries and within countries.” – Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS. As the COVID-19 crisis unfolds and the global economy grinds to a halt, how […] Continue reading ->
When the World Health Organization sounded the alarm by declaring a ‘public health emergency of international concern‘ on 30 January, “the world should have listened,” said WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in his strongest response to date, to repeated allegations by the United States that WHO failed to act quickly enough in the […] Continue reading ->
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, it continues to reveal and reinforce deep inequalities within and between countries, where low income and marginalized populations pay the highest price and suffer the most. On Tuesday 28 April, a Panel discussion on ‘COVID-19 And Global Inequality’ will zoom into the issues even more deeply, with featured speakers including […] Continue reading ->
“I am not celebrating the fact that people can see the Himalayas or that the air quality is better in Madrid coming out of this virus, but what might come out of it is an awareness of how much human beings have contributed to the ongoing damage to people’s lungs, to our ability to drink […] Continue reading ->