A $15 million initiative to address the harms of alcohol consumption through policy change was launched Tuesday, roughly doubling the total global spending on mitigating the effects of alcohol. Alcohol is one of the top-ten drivers of death, illness and injury, with wide-ranging social and economic harms, many disproportionately affecting young adults, according to Vital […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the alarm over drug-resistant fungi as it released its first-ever priority list of fungal pathogens at risk from antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Nineteen species of fungi have been identified by the global health agency as representing “the greatest threat to public health” due to their growing drug resistance.   Meanwhile, […] Continue reading ->
A precedent-setting agreement to permit an expensive cancer drug to be produced more affordably by generic manufacturers has been signed between the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and pharmaceutical company Novartis, enabling much wider access to a medicine that treats a rare blood cancer. Nilotinib is a twice-daily oral medication used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia […] Continue reading ->
Under the leadership of Dr Bernard Pécoul, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative became one of the flagship programmes for research and development into diseases affecting the world’s most forgotten people. He has contributed to the betterment of the lives of millions, yet few outside global health circles know his name. This is his story.  […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan, a respected voice in WHO’s senior leadership is expected to resign within the next month – in the first major leadership shuffle by Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Health Policy Watch has learned.   Conversely, Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s […] Continue reading ->