China has suggested that the access pharmaceutical manufacturers get to information about dangerous pathogens should be “contingent” on their home country being a party to the Pandemic Agreement recently adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA). This will encourage World Health Organization (WHO) member states to ratify the agreement in their respective countries, but it […] Continue reading ->
ROHTAK (Haryana), India – When 22-year-old Sunita* rushed her father to a private hospital in for a cardiac emergency earlier this month, she expected her government health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (known as PM-JAY), which promises to cover hospital expenses up to ₹5 lakh (around $5,725) per family, would spare her family […] Continue reading ->
Afghanistan’s fragile healthcare system is at breaking point under the strain of hundreds of thousands of Afghans deported from Iran and Pakistan over the past few months, many in urgent need of medical care. This follows the decision by both Pakistan and Iran to repatriate Afghans, even those with refugee status in the case of […] Continue reading ->
US non-profit groups have vowed to fight on after losing their court bid this week to compel the Trump administration to restore Congress-approved foreign aid it had stopped in January. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to overturn a District Court ruling that compelled the US government to restore some […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA — Negotiations over a United Nations (UN) treaty to combat the plastic pollution crisis ended in failure early Friday morning, as 183 nations were unable to bridge vast divides over production limits, toxic chemicals and financing after three years of diplomacy. Norway officially announced the failure at 7am Geneva time after a final overtime […] Continue reading ->
African countries worst affected by mpox have rapidly expanded their diagnostic capacity, with more laboratories and better-trained health workers, said Dr Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the mpox outbreak, has increased its laboratories from two in January […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – A new draft of the global plastics treaty published Wednesday found a clever solution to answering the difficult questions facing nations seeking the historic treaty: delete them from the text. The long-awaited draft arrived at a tense moment in negotiations over what many hoped would be a watershed treaty to address the crisis […] Continue reading ->
The Trump administration’s approach to pesticides could determine whether it continues to enjoy the support of Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. Key MAHA leaders, including the leaders of Moms Across America and Children’s Health Defense, wrote a letter to President Donald Trump on Monday urging him not to support “broad […] Continue reading ->
Despite an uptick in food supplies reaching Gaza this month, critical medical equipment remains barred from entry while deaths from malnutrition continue to mount to 147 casualties as of August 5, said Rick Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization’s representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Tuesday at a UN press briefing in Geneva. On the same […] Continue reading ->
Africa’s population over the age of 60 will triple by 2050, bringing “a sharp rise in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, with profound health and economic costs”, according to a paper published in Nature last week. The paper highlights a five-year strategy, headed by a pan-African task force, to address this demographic shift on the continent, […] Continue reading ->