Dr. Peter Ben Embarek from the World Health Organization (WHO) was speaking during a press conference in Wuhan, China, at the end of a four-week mission to the city where the new coronavirus first emerged in December 2019.  “Our initial findings suggest that the introduction through an intermediary host species is the most likely pathway and one that will require more… Read More

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was speaking one day after South Africa announced it was temporarily suspending rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a relatively small study revealed it provided reduced protection against the variant first identified in the country.  A role for the public and manufacturers  Tedros described the development as “concerning news”, though noting important caveats related to… Read More

“In one sense, that’s good news, and a remarkable achievement in such a short timeframe”, World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists at a regular press briefing in Geneva.   However, he noted that “more than three quarters of those vaccinations are in just 10 countries that account for almost 60 per cent of global GDP”.  This amounts… Read More

The aim of Wednesday’s announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, is to help Governments to prepare their vaccine distribution programmes, by providing details about which vaccine they can expect to receive, between now and the end of June. UN Children’s Fund UNICEF – which plays a key role in immunisation campaigns worldwide – welcomed the development, describing COVAX as… Read More

More than a year since the new coronavirus crisis began, its impact on cancer care has been stark, with “50 per cent of governments (having) cancer services partially or completely disrupted because of the pandemic”, said Dr André Ilbawi, from WHO’s Department of Noncommunicable Diseases.  “Delays in diagnosis are common. Interruptions in therapy or abandonment have increased significantly,” he continued, adding that this would likely have an impact in the total… Read More

“There are still many countries with increasing numbers of cases, but at the global level, this is encouraging news”, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking during the agency’s bi-weekly briefing from Geneva.  The development and approval of safe and effective vaccines less than a year after the emergence of a new virus is providing a much-needed source of hope.… Read More

“We should learn from the history of leprosy. To better fight against an epidemic or a pandemic, we must eliminate discrimination and double standards for those who have been systematically left behind”. This is the message from Alice Cruz, an independent UN rights expert, and Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family… Read More

“More vaccines are being developed, approved and produced. There will be enough for everyone”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, speaking in Geneva.  “But for now, vaccines are a limited resource. We must use them as effectively and as fairly as we can. If we do that, lives will be saved.”  New ‘window of opportunity’  Saturday will mark… Read More