ISLAMABAD – Pakistan health authorities are struggling to fully implement a World Health Organization (WHO) treaty to help reduce tobacco-related diseases in the country – some 17 years after they ratified it. Furthermore, the country’s health ministry recently announced the termination of the services of a number of staff members in its Tobacco Control Cell […] Continue reading ->
World Malaria Day is a reminder that, as the world battles with COVID-19, we still haven’t beaten a much older pandemic. Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that has plagued humanity for millennia and still kills over 400,000 people per year – mainly children under five.  In fact, that grim number will almost certainly have increased […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) and member states have an obligation to listen to stakeholders in a “sympathetic and respectful manner” as non-state actors (NSAs) play critical roles in supporting global health work generally – and more immediately addressing COVID-19 and its impacts on communities. That call was made by Mara Burr, director of multilateral […] Continue reading ->
Encouraged by how fast vaccines have been developed for COVID-19, tuberculosis advocates launched a “TB vaccine roadmap” on Tuesday and aim to use lessons from the pandemic to jumpstart the quest for a TB vaccine. The purpose of the roadmap, said Frank Cobelens of the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, is to provide […] Continue reading ->
Global funding to develop new drugs for some of the world’s leading infectious disease killers, such as HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria, was US $3.876 billion, with the drop of US $185 million from 2018 reflecting COVID-related difficulties in data collection, according to the G-Finder Report, which tracks annual global investments. However, once participation is accounted […] Continue reading ->
Despite growing awareness of the urgent threat of antibiotic resistance, the world is still failing to develop needed antibacterial treats, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO).  Of the 43 antibiotics and 27 non-traditional antibacterial agents in the current clinical antibacterial pipeline, none is sufficient to tackle the challenge of increasing […] Continue reading ->