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Before COVID-19 came along, the two most lethal infectious diseases were HIV and tuberculosis (TB). Even though HIV still lingers, with 1.5 million people contracting the infection every year, epidemiologists point to the availability of many HIV prevention options as a primary reason for the decreasing caseload.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over the past two decades, new HIV infections decreased by 49%, HIV-related deaths decreased by 61% and an estimated 18.6 million lives were saved because of new treatments that minimise the infection and prevent its spread.

The Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC) is submitting report on recent progress on Emerging Policy issues and Other Issues of Concern, identified under SAICM. These issues are part of the 19 Issues considered in the Assessment report on issues of concern, and are for which UNEP was asked to seek views on priorities for further work and on potential further international action, by UNEA resolution 5/7.

That definitive conclusion has energized a major HIV/AIDS conference this week

Thirty-seven countries have received grants worth $338 million from the Pandemic Fund to boost their resilience to pandemics in the first round of the fund’s disbursements. Three disbursements involve multi-country grants: to 12 Caribbean countries to strengthen their early warning surveillance, build laboratory systems and workforce development; to seven Latin American countries to engage communities […]

That definitive conclusion has energized a major HIV/AIDS conference this week

Twenty-six megatonnes of chemicals were illegally traded between 2004 and 2019, despite UN treaties meant to limit their transport and use. The substances, that can have harmful impacts on people and the environment, ranged from tetraethyl lead for fuels to tributyltin compounds for anti-fouling paint.

The new Swiss study has highlighted that there is a highly organised global trade of chemicals known to be hazardous to people and the environment. The researchers made their discovery by analysing over 66,000 trade records from the UN Comtrade database to identify the illicit trade taking place. Environmental experts are concerned as this new data shows that many chemicals that were previously thought to have been phased out globally are still being traded. These include pesticides such as 1,2-dibromoethane (EDB), a known carcinogen, and fuel additives, such as tetraethyl and tetramethyl lead, despite their neurotoxic effects.

In today’s edition we bring you an interview with Roland Driece and Precious Matsoso - the Co-Chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body. The INB bureau, that this duo lead, is the cynosure of crucial global health negotiations that bring together 194 member states of WHO in an attempt to agree on a unified set of rules to govern future health emergencies. In a free-flowing conversation, they articulate their concerns and perspectives on these discussions.

For Africa, mRNA vaccines are beneficial and could be used to combat various bacterial and viral infections other than COVID-19 in the continent. mRNA vaccines can be produced in large quantities and are efficient and safe. Moreover, these vaccines can also be produced quickly, with minimal effort and without previous knowledge of biological pharmacological agents. With mRNA technology, malaria and tuberculosis vaccines can be developed, giving African nations good chances to fight these diseases endemic to the region.

With the fate and nature of the pandemic accord currently being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states still uncertain, global health experts are calling for “realistic” backup plans to protect the world against the next pandemic.

“We need an ambitious but implementable pandemic accord – that is the Holy Grail,” Javier Guzman, Director of Global Health at the Center for Development (CDG) told a CDG panel on Thursday convened to discuss the lessons of the pandemic, particularly in relation to the global COVID-19 vaccine access platform, COVAX.

“Now, will it materialize? Will it be enforceable? Would it be ambitious enough? Will it be ratified? I’m not very optimistic, based on what I’ve seen,” said Guzman. “So if that doesn’t happen – or if that happens, but it’s not enforceable, or it’s not what we all need as the globe – then we need to move to the second best option, which is realistic options.”

The worst outcome of the two World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic negotiations currently underway would be the adoption of contradictory definitions and processes, warned Dr Mike Ryan, the head of health emergencies at the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday. “At the very minimum, the two instruments will need to be very aligned on the […]