How drug industry is undermining WHO plans | TIMOTHY HUZAR | Since June 2021, the WHO has been coordinating a messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa. The hub is important because it will increase the availability of mRNA vaccines, including those for COVID-19, in Africa, …
Read More »WHO’s grant of mRNA vaccine technology to African countries supports fight against COVID-19
Cairo, Egypt | Xinhua | The World Health Organization (WHO)’s approval to grant six African countries the technology to manufacture mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines would boost international efforts to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, Egyptian experts and officials said. On Friday, WHO announced that Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and …
Read More »Six African nations to get mRNA vaccine technology
Brussels, Belgium | Xinhua | Six African countries will be the first on the continent to receive the technology needed to produce mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia will be part of a project that aims …
Read More »COVID-19: Uganda receives 1,000 oxygen cylinders
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health has received more than 1000 oxygen cylinders, thanks to the Danish International Development Agency-DANIDA. The Danish agency procured the oxygen cylinders through the World Health Organisation-WHO as part of their donations to Uganda’s response to COVID-19. Each of the cylinders …
Read More »Africa needs to ramp up COVID-19 vaccination six-fold: WHO
Brazzaville, Congo | Xinhua | With only 11 percent of the population fully vaccinated in Africa, the vaccination rate on the African continent needs to increase six times to meet the 70 percent target set for mid-2022, warned Thursday the World Health Organization (WHO). “The world has finally heard our calls. …
Read More »Involve pregnant women in clinical trials
International campaign launched over locking pregnant women out of clinical trials Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | You would think that with all the potential complications that affect women during and after pregnancy, thousands of drugs have been developed specifically for them, says Dr. Metin Gülmezoglu, the executive director of …
Read More »Cases drop for first time as Africa’s fourth COVID-19 wave ebbs: WHO
Brazzaville, Congo | Xinhua | Weekly COVID-19 cases in Africa have dropped significantly and deaths dipped for the first time since the peak of the fourth pandemic wave propelled by the Omicron variant, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday. Newly reported cases fell by 20 percent in the week …
Read More »WHO releases fact sheet on Omicron coronavirus variant
Copenhagen, Denmark | Xinhua | A fact sheet addressing “speculation, assumptions and misinformation being communicated about the Omicron variant” of COVID-19 was released by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe on Wednesday. According to the WHO, the latest epidemiological data shows a rapid rise in COVID-19 infection rates …
Read More »Kampala male sex workers missing recommended syphilis test – Study
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Most of the male sex workers operating in Kampala and Mbarara are not conducting the periodical syphilis test that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends to be done every three months. Syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection (STI), causes infected sores, blisters or ulcers on one’s genitals, …
Read More »COVID: WHO recommends two new ‘wonder’ drugs
Geneva, Switzerland | THE INDEPENDENT | WHO has recommended two new drugs for COVID-19, providing yet more options for treating the disease. The extent to which these medicines will save lives depends on how widely available and affordable they will be. The first drug, baricitinib, is strongly recommended for patients …
Read More »