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Nobel Prize awarded for COVID-19 mRNA vaccine development; The latest health stories from around the world

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been jointly awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2023/press-release/  The discoveries by the two Nobel Laureates were critical for developing effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 during the pandemic …

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New monovalent COVID-19 vaccines approved in US; The latest health stories from around the world

After the US Food and Drug Administration authorized new monovalent COVID vaccines on early last week, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices backed the decision a day later with a nearly unanimous vote in favour of universal XBB-containing shots. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/996378?  Reports of a mutating virus and COVID hospitalisations of about 17,000 people a …

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WHO declares end to global mpox emergency; The latest health stories from around the world

The World Health Organization (WHO) ended the global health emergency for mpox, on 11 May, 10 months after it was declared, as cases have fallen dramatically in Europe and the Americas. www.science.org/content/article/who-ends-mpox-emergency? Caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), the painful and occasionally fatal disease is endemic in Africa, but a new strain surged in other …

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WHO declares an end to COVID-19 emergency phase; The latest health stories from around the world

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, last Friday. The move is likely to usher the world into a new phase of disease monitoring with a scaling back of surveillance and available resources to fight COVID-19. https://www.science.org/content/article/who-ends-pandemic-emergency-covid-19-deaths-fall? WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a press …

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New global database highlights health inequality; The latest health stories from around the world

Billed as the world’s most comprehensive collection of statistics on the topic, the Health Inequality Data Repository allows users to compare how people of differing incomes, ages, genders and rural-versus-urban settings compare on more than 2,000 measures of health, ranging from access to key health services to child mortality rates – and even upload and …

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Jeremy Farrar, to take on chief scientist role at WHO

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, one of the largest nongovernmental science funders, will step down early next year to become the chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO). He will replace Soumya Swaminathan, the first person to hold the post. Swaminathan, a paediatrician, announced last month that she would be leaving to focus on …

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WHO to change name of monkeypox to mpox

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced this week it will start referring to monkeypox disease as “mpox” (pronounced “em-pox”) after the current name drew criticism as evoking racist stereotypes and inviting stigmatization. It is also a misnomer: The virus was first identified in laboratory monkeys but is most likely carried by rodents in the wild. …

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WHO to revise list of priority pathogens

The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to revise its current list of priority pathogens, or those pathogens theoretically capable of causing widespread outbreaks or even leading to a new pandemic-level event.The current list includes COVID-19, Crimean-Cong haemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease, Marburg virus disease, Lassa fever, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute …

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Dr Soumya Swaminathan to resign as chief scientist at the WHO

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the WHO, will resign from her post on November 30 after a five-year stint and return to India. The 63-year-old, who is two years short of the WHO’s mandatory retirement age, told The Indian Express that she felt an urge to do “more hands-on practical work” and that she …

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WHO notes cautious optimism regarding COVID-19

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Wednesday that there has been a 90% drop in global COVID-19 deaths since February, which he called a “cause for optimism” but still urged “caution” amid the ongoing pandemic. “Just over 9,400 COVID-19 deaths were reported to WHO last week — almost 90% less than in …

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