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 ->
Russia’s war in Ukraine is draining resources to build better health systems, while Sino-American rivalry is undermining the global solidarity needed to address future pandemics. But the massive under-investment in new antibiotics to combat drug-resistant “superbugs” and weak primary health systems might be the biggest enemies of global health. This was according to global health […] Continue reading ->
Infectious diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and malaria have long been the biggest public health challenges in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) but over the past decade, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have risen at an alarming rate. While every country faces a growing NCD burden, low- and middle-income countries are seeing the fastest increase. This epidemiological shift […] Continue reading ->
The Global Fund goes into its pledging conference on Wednesday substantially short of its $18 billion minimum target to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over the next five years. Hosted by US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the seventh replenishment conference is the culmination of a months-long […] Continue reading ->
As the push for adequate funds to address HIV, tuberculosis and malaria reaches its climax with next week’s replenishment meeting of the Global Fund, the fund’s latest report reveals it has saved 50 million lives between 2002 and 2021. The Global Fund raises money in three-year cycles and seeks $18 billion for its seventh replenishment, […] Continue reading ->