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Jan82021 by GHealth News1 Comment

WHO issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine and emphasizes need for equitable global access

COVID19, Vaccines

The World Health Organization (WHO) today listed the Comirnaty COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for emergency use, making the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine the first to receive emergency validation from WHO since the outbreak began a year ago. The WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine. It also enables UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization to procure the vaccine for distribution to countries in need. “This is a very positive step towards ensuring global access to COVID-19 vaccines. But I want to emphasize the need for an even greater global effort to achieve enough vaccine supply to meet the needs of priority populations everywhere,” said Dr Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant-Dire...

Jan42021 by GHealth News1 Comment

The leading causes of death and disability worldwide: 2000-2019

NCDs

Noncommunicable diseases now make up 7 of the world’s top 10 causes of death, according to WHO’s 2019 Global Health Estimates. This is an increase from 4 of the 10 leading causes in 2000. The new data cover the period from 2000 to 2019 inclusive. The estimates reveal trends over the last 2 decades in mortality and morbidity caused by diseases and injuries. They clearly highlight the need for an intensified global focus on preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, as well as tackling injuries, in all regions of the world, as set out in the agenda for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. “These new estimates are another reminder that we need to rapidly step up prevention, diagnosis and treatment of noncommunicable diseases,” sa...

Jan42021 by GHealth News1 Comment

The threat of antibiotic resistance — in charts

AMR

Andrew Jack and Chris Campbell Overuse of antibiotics by humans and in the farming of meat and fish is driving increased microbial resistance and threatening the availability of life-saving treatments. The World Health Organization calls antibiotic resistance one of the top 10 public health threats and the UN predicts up to 10m deaths a year from drug-resistant infections by 2050. Yet until recently there has been only a limited effort to measure trends in antibiotic use, their effects and to hold countries and companies to account. Governments, non-profits and investors alike are now starting to collect information to identify good and bad practices. Drug-resistant infections are a bigger problem in lower income countries The Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics...

Dec132020 by GHealth News51 Comments

Asia Today: Japan, S.Korea set new daily records, mull steps

COVID19

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s daily coronavirus cases have exceeded 3,000 for the first time while the government delays stricter measures for fear of hurting the economy ahead of the holiday season. The 3,030 new cases, including 621 in Tokyo, took Japan’s national tally to 177,287 with 2,562 deaths, the Health Ministry said Sunday. Experts say serious cases are on the rise around the country, putting an extra burden on hospitals and affecting the daily medical treatment for other patients. They urged authorities to take measures such as suspending out-of-town trips and requesting stores to close early. Source: AP News

Dec132020 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Italy’s staggering virus toll poses uncomfortable questions

COVID19

ROME (AP) — Italy is reclaiming a record that nobody wants — the most coronavirus deaths in Europe — after the health care system again failed to protect the elderly and government authorities delayed imposing new restrictions. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Italy was the first country in the West to be slammed by COVID-19 and, after suffering a huge wave of death in spring, brought infections under control. Italy then had the benefit of time and experience heading into the fall resurgence because it trailed Spain, France and Germany in recording big new clusters of infections. Yet the virus spread fast and wide, and Italy has added nearly 29,000 dead since Sept. 1. Source: AP News

Dec132020 by GHealth News1 Comment

Latest Ebola outbreak in DR Congo is declared over, with lessons for COVID-19

Communicable Diseases

“This great achievement shows that together we can overcome any health challenge”, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, wrote in a tweet.  The outbreak in DRC’s northwestern Equateur Province emerged in early June and caused 130 Ebola cases and 55 deaths. Vaccinations key A key part of the response – with potential lessons for the global fight against COVID19 – was the vaccination of more than 40,000 people at high risk of falling sick from the frequently fatal haemorrhagic disease, the WHO said in a statement. Like one of the COVID-19 candidate vaccines, the Ebola vaccine needs to be kept at super-cold temperatures to keep it from spoiling. “Overcoming one of the world’s most dangerous pathogens in remote and hard to access communities demonstrat...

Dec132020 by GHealth News16 Comments

Pfizer’s Covid Vaccine: 11 Things You Need to Know

COVID19

Kena Betancur/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images By Carl Zimmer and Katie Thomas As coronavirus cases surge in the United States and elsewhere, with little relief in sight, the world got good news on Monday. Pfizer and its partner, the German company, BioNTech, announced preliminary results that suggested their vaccine was more than 90 percent effective. The news — the first results from any late-stage vaccine trial — buoyed stock markets and spirits as the public saw a glimmer of hope. But it’s worth noting that the news is still preliminary, and there is much that is still not known about how well the vaccine works. And one thing remained clear: The vaccine will not come in time to rescue the world from the next several months, when the virus will take many more lives unless...