A controversial trial to examine various impacts of the hepatitis B vaccine on newborn babies in Guinea-Bissau has been “suspended or cancelled”, the country’s Health Minister, Quinhim Nanthote, told a media briefing convened by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Thursday. This is despite recent assertions by the US Health […] Continue reading ->
STRASBOURG – The European Parliament backed the EU’s Critical Medicines Act (CMA) on Tuesday in a decisive move to secure Europe’s pharmaceutical supply chains from geopolitical shocks. With an overwhelming majority of 503 votes in favour, 57 against, and 108 abstentions, MEPs endorsed a sweeping industrial policy designed to re-shore the production of active ingredients […] Continue reading ->
Fears over the side effects of COVID-19 jabs, which led to initial vaccine hesitancy, mostly gave way to acceptance in the course of the pandemic, with only a small minority remaining unvaccinated due to deep-seated mistrust, a new major study published in The Lancet finds. For the first time, the study “Profiling vaccine attitudes and […] Continue reading ->
When and how the United States withdraws from the World Health Organization (WHO) is an “open question” for member states to discuss, according to Steven Solomon, the body’s legal officer. This is because the US has failed to pay its WHO membership dues of $260.6 million for the past two years (2024-2025) in violation of […] Continue reading ->
The German government is set to halve its funding for the Berlin-based WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence this year as part of a broader retreat from global health and aid financing under Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Funding for the pandemic surveillance hub will be reduced from €30 million yearly to €15 million, with only […] Continue reading ->
HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr makes good on promise to reduce the number of recommended vaccines. US health officials announced Monday an overhauled version of the vaccines recommended to infants and adolescents, shrinking the number of diseases for which vaccines should be administered from 17 to 11. The decision follows a December 5, 2025 […] Continue reading ->
This has been a brutal year for global health, with shock cuts in development aid to countries most in need; a knock-on budget crisis for United Nations (UN) agencies; widespread humanitarian crises, extensive disease outbreaks, and mounting climate-related health challenges. Health Policy Watch (HPW) has provided daily coverage of developments, and our reporters were often […] Continue reading ->
Sudden fever, a severe cough and acute respiratory distress are the familiar onset symptoms of seasonal flu, which has affected WHO’s European Region with unusual intensity and speed this year. As the Northern Hemisphere enters winter, health systems are struggling to manage an epidemic driven by an aggressive, genetically mutated influenza strain A(H3N2) subclade K. […] Continue reading ->
Two more senior WHO officials, Bruce Aylward and Ailan Li, who were among those dropped from WHO’s Senior Leadership Team during the first phase of an Agency shake-up, have now been appointed to leading roles elsewhere in the organisation, according to a memo from Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Li, a Chinese national and […] Continue reading ->
Kenya’s High Court suspended the implementation of the country’s Memorandum of Understanding with the United States on Thursday after two separate court challenges by the Consumer Federation of Kenya (COFEK) and local Senator Okiya Omtatah. COFEK argues that the agreement contravenes Kenya’s Data Protection Act, Digital Health Act, Health Act, and new data regulations that […] Continue reading ->