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Apr182022 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Ebola virus hides out in brain

By: Kevin Zeng The Ebola virus can hide in the brains of monkeys that have recovered after medical treatment without causing symptoms and lead to recurrent infections, according to a study by a team I led that was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Ebola is one of the deadliest infectious disease threats known to humankind, with an average fatality rate of about 50%. Ebola is known for a high level of viral persistence, meaning the virus remains lurking in the body even after a patient has recovered. But where this hiding place is remains largely unknown. In 2021, there were three Ebola outbreaks in Africa, all linked to previously infected survivors. Ebola also reemerged in Guinea that same year, linked to a survivor of the 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak. W...

Apr132022 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Climate change a major threat to global health, says WHO

Climate Change

GHealth News - Climate change poses a serious threat to human health that calls for urgent action and global collaboration on scales seen in the COVID-19 response, says the World Health Organization (WHO). "If we don't take action today on planet health, we are putting our future health at risk. And when health is at risk, everything is at risk. That's what we have learned from COVID-19," Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific Region said addressing a virtual press conference from Manila on 7 April, World Health Day. "Climate crisis is also a health crisis since climate change affects health in many different ways," Kasai said, emphasizing the need to build sustainable, climate-resilient health systems. "Climate crisis is also a health crisis since climate ch...

Apr62022 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Highly Prestigious International Virchow Prize for Global Health launched

Global Health

At the 2021 World Health Summit (WHS) in Berlin, Professor Detlev Ganten, Co-Founder of the Virchow Foundation for Global Health, publicly announced the establishment of the Virchow Prize for Global Health. GHealth News - The nomination phase of the newly established Virchow Prize for Global Health has begun. This major international award honours outstanding achievements towards addressing today's complex health challenges. The Prize is awarded annually in Berlin, with the inaugural ceremony held 15 October 2022, on the eve of the World Health Summit. The Virchow Prize for Global Health aims to incentivize and spur great minds in their commitment to global health. Laureates will be awarded an endowment of €500,000 for their longstanding contributions towards improving...

Apr42022 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Covid cases rise in Shanghai as millions remain in lockdown

COVID19

GHealth News - Covid-19 cases in China’s largest city of Shanghai have risen again as millions remain isolated at home under a sweeping lockdown. Health officials on Sunday reported 438 confirmed cases detected over the previous 24 hours, along with 7,788 asymptomatic cases. Both figures were up slightly from the day before. While small by the standards of some countries, the daily case numbers are some of the largest since the virus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. Shanghai with its 26 million people last week began a two-stage lockdown, with residents of the eastern Pudong section supposed to be allowed to leave their homes Friday, while their neighbours in the western Puxi section underwent their own four-day isolation period.Advertisement Despit...

Mar272022 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

EU and WHO join forces to improve global health security in Africa

Global Health

GHealth News - On 23 March 2022, Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, met in Geneva to deliberate on the EU - WHO partnership in global health and the ongoing preparations for a global accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. The two senior representatives of the partner organizations signed a letter of intent for a € 24.5 million EU contribution to the World Health Organization, to support the local manufacturing of and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thanking Commissioner Urpilainen, Dr Tedros commented: ‘’One of the most obvious lessons of the pandemic is the urgent need to increase local production of vaccines, especially in low- and m...

Mar242022 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Global Health Is Broken, But Young People Plan To Repair It

Global Health

By: Madhukar Pai Young demonstrators hold placards as they attend a climate change protest organised by "Youth Strike 4 Climate", opposite the Houses of Parliament in central London on February 15, 2019. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images) How do you think the world is tackling crises like pandemics and climate change? Poorly, irresponsibly, recklessly, inequitably, and lacking in urgency and global solidarity, were the responses I got from 24 young people in global health from around the world. In fact, their responses were stunningly consistent and crystal clear. These young people are outraged with the short-sightedness and self-centeredness of leaders and governments. They are tired of waiting for grown-ups to grow up and do something. In...

Mar192022 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Novel Malaria Treatment for Children Receives First Approval

Communicable Diseases

By Apoorva Mandavilli UNICEF/UN0292287/DE WET Australian regulators have approved a simple drug combination as an effective cure for a form of malaria in children ages 2 to 16, opening the door to approvals in other countries and heralding a new weapon in the battle against a deadly disease. The drug is a single dose of tafenoquine (brand name Kozenis), administered along with the traditional chloroquine treatment. The approval was announced by the nonprofit Medicines for Malaria Venture, which helped develop the drug. Tafenoquine, made by GlaxoSmithKline, can cure a type of malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax, which is most common in South and Southeast Asia, South America and the Horn of Africa. The drug will be submitted for approval in nine countries, as well as to the Wo...

Mar192022 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Global health has improved for decades. Climate change could change that.

Global Health

A patient rests under a mosquito net at the dengue ward at Benazir Bhutto Hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Oct. 13. Without more action, a report found, billions more people worldwide could be at risk of contracting diseases like dengue fever, which is spread by mosquitoes that are expanding their range as temperatures warm. Muhammad Reza / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images By Evan Bush As temperatures warm, the health risks of climate change are expected to intensify in the U.S. and worldwide. The effects of climate change have already left millions of people hungry, caused deaths during heat waves and strained some people’s mental health as they are forced to leave their homes because of extreme weather, according to a major report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Pa...

Mar182022 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

WHO Predicts COVID Could Still ‘Echo Around the World’

COVID19

GHealth News - After several weeks of declines in new reported cases of COVID-19, the numbers are increasing globally once again, particularly in parts of Asia and Western Europe, the World Health Organization says. "These increases are occurring despite reductions in testing in some countries, which means the cases we're seeing are just the tip of the iceberg," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said at a news briefing Wednesday. As a result, local outbreaks and surges in COVID-19 cases are likely, "particularly in areas where measures to prevent transmission have been lifted," he said. And death rates remain high in many nations, particularly those with low levels of vaccination. "Each country is facing a different situation with different challenges, but t...

Mar162022 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Disrupting Global Health: From Allyship To Collective Liberation

Global Health

By: Madhukar Pai Global health is a field that was born out of colonialism and white supremacy. Even today, it is neither diverse nor truly global. Every aspect of global health is dominated by individuals and institutions in high-income countries (HIC). This includes funding, authorship of publications, leadership of agencies, composition of boards, editorial positions, awards, and even participation in conferences. So, if global health has to be reimagined, people that typically hold power and privilege must master the art of allyship, where they see their primary role as allies or accomplices rather than leaders. Data show that two-thirds of global health agencies are headquartered in just three countries: Switzerland, UK and USA. More than 80% of CEOs and ...