The World Trade Organization (WTO) approved a politically important deal Friday to water down intellectual property restrictions for the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines after an almost two-year effort involving scores of high-level meetings and much political arm twisting. During the early morning hours in Geneva, WTO ministers approved a package of agreements that included the […]
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China reiterates commitment to “zero-COVID”; The latest health stories from around the world
Xi Jinping reiterated China’s commitment to zero-COVID, declaring “persistence is victory”, as Shanghai and Beijing were hit with new lockdowns, shutdowns, and mass testing drives just a week after the cities celebrated the easing of restrictions. (www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/10/xi-jinping-says-persistence-is-victory-as-covid-restrictions-return-to-shanghai-and-beijing) In response to China’s worst outbreak of the pandemic, Shanghai spent months under an arduous and strict citywide […]
All nations must benefit from monkeypox research urge scientists; The latest health stories from around the world
As cases of monkeypox in wealthier Western nations spark a flurry of scientific research to combat the outbreak, scientists are urging the world to make sure lower-income nations benefit from the fruits of that labour as well. More than 550 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported by at least 30 countries outside of Africa, […]
Monkeypox cases continue to increase; The latest health stories from around the world
The global tally of monkeypox cases has surpassed 200 and continues to increase daily, reaching across 21 countries, according to the latest report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. On Wednesday, the agency reported 219 confirmed cases worldwide, including 9 in the United States (US) and 71 in the United Kingdom(UK). Later […]
Unusual global spread of monkeypox continues; The latest health stories from around the world
Public health officials announced more monkeypox cases in the United Kingdom (UK) on Monday, as efforts ramp up to contain the first multinational outbreak of the virus that has led to cases in at least 14 countries according to a report in www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/22/monkeypox-uk-health-security-agency-to-announce-more-cases? The unusual outbreak of the rare disease has sparked a wave of contact […]
North Korea officially announces COVID-19 outbreak; The latest health stories from around the world
Even as most of the world rises to a slowly receding COVID wave, North Korea on Sunday reported 15 additional deaths from “fever” after the country recently announced its first-ever cases of COVID-19 and ordered nationwide lockdowns, television channel NDTV citing AFP reports said. www.ndtv.com/world-news/north-korea-coronavirus-north-korea-covid-north-korea-coronavirus-cases-north-koreas-explosive-covid-outbreak-820-620-cases-in-3-days-2977028 State media KCNA said a total of 42 people had […]
Global Elite are Bored with Health, Just When It’s Getting Really Exciting
For the first time since 2019, the glitterati of geopolitics gathered recently at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi. Why, I asked a senior Indian diplomat, did most of them fail to even mention health. Had they learned nothing from the pandemic? The pandemic, he thought, was the problem. “They’ve had over two years of being forced […]
WHO estimates 15 million death toll due to COVID-19; The latest health stories from around the world
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that nearly 15 million people—about one in every 500 globally—died from causes related to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021 (the first two years of the pandemic), putting the toll from COVID-19 at nearly three times the number that had been officially recorded by countries. India suffered […]
Could climate change aid the spread of viruses? The latest health stories from around the world
Earth’s warming climate is expected to change the habitat of many animal species, which a new modelling study predicts may spell trouble: Species on the move will mingle with many others they have never encountered before, allowing the various animals to exchange viruses. That could spark new disease outbreaks in many wildlife populations—and in humans […]
A third of the world have not had a single COVID-19 vaccination; the latest health stories from around the world
Sixteen months since the COVID-19 vaccination drive began and a third of the world’s population hasn’t yet received a single dose of the vaccine. A shocking 83 percent of all Africans are in the same boat, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 March. Meanwhile last week the total number of […]