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Sixteen leading scientists and manufacturers involved in vaccine development and production worldwide issue an urgent call for a pandemic accord that can be a ‘win-win for all.’ The full list of authors is available below.

Health misinformation was not invented during COVID-19 but was certainly brought to a higher, more malevolent  and destructive pitch during the pandemic.  That hostile crusade has since been (mis)directed at two landmark agreements, the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Agreement (Pandemic Agreement), and amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), that are currently being negotiated by WHO’s 194 member states for approval at the World Health Assembly.  

The overarching goal of ensuring that the world will deal more equitably with the next pandemic appears to be elusive as we near the deadline of May 2024 for the close of the negotiations.

Several social media and news outlets have claimed that the WHO is negotiating two instruments that will afford the agency far-reaching powers in case of a future pandemic. 

CAPE TOWN – Moderna tried to extract a huge price for its COVID-19 vaccine from the South African government at the height of the pandemic, according to the local NGO, Health Justice Initiative (HJI), in revelations made public this week.

The US-based pharma company wanted to charge $42 per vaccine in mid-2021 when vaccines were scarce, reducing this to $32.30 in the third quarter and $28.50 by the fourth quarter.

In comparison, Pfizer offered its vaccines for $10 per dose over the same period – which, although less than a quarter of Moderna’s ask, was still higher than the price paid by the European Union.

Moderna also expected South Africa to pay to transport the vaccine from its European offices, and demanded broad indemnification clauses and a 15-year confidentiality agreement, according to HJI.

Ultimately, South Africa did not procure vaccines from Moderna.

Geneva, 21 May 2024:- Ahead of next week’s World Health Assembly (WHA 77, May 27-June 1), the Global Climate and Health Alliance is calling on World Health Organization (WHO) member states to adopt a proposed resolution on Climate Change and Health. The draft resolution clearly states that climate change is a major threat to global public health, and sets out a framework to promote health and build climate-resilient and sustainable health systems [1]. The key global health meeting takes place just ahead of next month’s UN Climate negotiations in Bonn (SB 60).

Date: Tue 21 May 2024
Source: Al-Omana [in Arabic, summ. & trans. Mod.MM, edited]
https://al-omana.net/news222272.html


The director of the Epidemiological Surveillance Department, Ministry of Health, Aden governorate, has revealed that they have registered 80 cases of cholera during 24 hours, which is the maximum number of cases within one day since this new outbreak of cholera started. He also mentioned that the number of registered cholera cases in the governorate has reached 1300 cases, with 9 deaths since the beginning of this year (2024), noting that the current available hospital capacities for the admitted cholera patients have been exceeded and are insufficient to meet the influx of cases.

Yemen has been hard hit by a prolonged and protracted outbreak of cholera over the past years. The combined efforts of health authorities and international partners have brought the disease to a halt for a while, but it seems to have reemerged again, especially in the southern governorates as mentioned above. - Mod.MM

Some of the most vocal global right-wing conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers are heading to Geneva at the end of this month (May) to agitate against the World Health Organization (WHO) and its pandemic agreement – including a Trump loyalist linked to the 6 January 2021 storming of the US Capitol.

An alliance of right-wing groups, conspiracy theorists and alternative health practitioners calling itself “The Geneva Project” has planned a closed meeting on 31 May, while on 1 June it hosts a 150-minute invitation-only press conference and a public protest to coincide with the end of the World Health Assembly (WHA).

The protest outside the United Nations headquarters aims to “declare independence from global institutions such as the World Health Organization and World Economic Forum while celebrating cultural and individual sovereignty”, according to a press release from the group.

In a powerful, hard-hitting letter, Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, also the African Union Champion on Pandemic Prevention Preparedness & Response, has laid down the most important priorities for the Africa Group in the negotiations for a new Pandemic Agreement currently underway at WHO in Geneva.

Geneva Health Files has learned that the letter, dated May 20th, 2024, was sent to key institutions and stakeholders on the African continent.

We publish the letter sent by the Presidency of South Africa on May 20, 2024, laying down the most important priorities for the continent.

This is what it says (also uploaded below):

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The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) adopted a decision that marks a pivotal shift in the operational framework of the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce (WPEC) of the organisation. This Policy Brief examines how this Decision can enhance the trajectory of the e-commerce discourse within the WTO, elaborates on its implications and makes recommendations aimed at facilitating developing countries’ engagement in the WPEC.

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Analysts studying the contracts South Africa concluded for the Pfizer vaccine and negotiations with Moderna for the Spikevax vaccine have found many instances of corporate bullying and draconian and one-sided contracts — but also of South African officials standing up and demanding more transparency, the Health Justice Institute said on Tuesday.

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The local manufacture of advanced pharmaceutical products has been a long-standing objective of health and industry policy in many developing countries, including in Latin America. This strategy has been applied to fight epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we still know little about the politics and governance that enable such arrangements, especially when there is no consent from the originator company. This study focuses on the case of Brazil, a country that is well-known for its health-industry policy, which includes the local production of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), a new treatment for hepatitis C. We seek to explain the factors that have contributed to Brazil’s successful production of generic versions of DAAs, and, later, to the decision by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to procure drugs from multinational pharmaceutical companies rather than from local laboratories.

Right-wing African Members of Parliament (MPs), including some of the continent’s most vociferous anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ lawmakers, united with anti-vaxx conspiracy theorists for the first time at a conference in early May.

Aside from the expected rhetoric against abortion and LGBTQ people, the African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty gave a platform to a speaker who claimed that a range of vaccines were unnecessary or designed to reduce African fertility – including the COVID-19, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), malaria and even tetanus vaccines.

Others agitated against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) pandemic agreement currently being negotiated, describing it as a “power grab” aimed at imposing abortion, same-sex marriage and lockdowns on the world.

The anti-vaxx charge was led by Kenyan doctor Wahome Ngare and South African Shabnam Mohamed, who describes herself as a lawyer and journalist.

Ngare is chairperson of the African Sovereignty Coalition and a director of the rightwing Kenya Christian Professionals Forum (KCPF).