Women’s groups and human rights organisations have raised the alarm about an African anti-rights conference taking place this weekend in Uganda, followed by another next week in Nairobi, featuring prominent US conservatives, aimed at developing “an African charter on family sovereignty and values”.  Previous conferences have been used to mobilise for anti-LGBTQ laws and promote […] Continue reading ->
As countries dependent on United States aid for their HIV response report looming shortages of antiretroviral medicine, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is also fighting for survival. Meanwhile, more shocks may be ahead for the HIV sector as the US Health and Human Services plans to curtail research collaboration between US scientists and […] Continue reading ->
Calls for more resources to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs), higher taxes on unhealthy products and the decriminalisation of suicide were made at a multi-stakeholder hearing at the United Nations (UN) on Friday. The hearing was convened by UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang to enable stakeholders to identify priorities to address NCDs ahead of the […] Continue reading ->
Urgent measures are needed to curtail the rising “medicalization” of female genital mutilation (FGM) and to engage health workers to prevent the practice, according to a new guideline published by the World Health Organization (WHO). The guideline recommends professional codes of conduct that expressly prohibit health workers from performing FGM and stresses the need to […] Continue reading ->
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The healthcare sector in India produced 32 billionaires in 2022 – more than any other sector in an extraordinary demonstration of corporatisation, according to Abhay Shukla, co-convenor of Jan Swasthya Abhinyan, the People’s Health Movement in India. Massive investment in healthcare by private companies since the 1990s, particularly in “corporate, profit-driven […] Continue reading ->
New weekly cases of mpox across Africa have dropped to around 2,000 for the first time this year giving hope that the outbreak may be waning, according to Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). In the mpox epicentre of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), new cases […] Continue reading ->
At around 3am Wednesday, after three years of often intense negotiations, World Health Organization (WHO) member states agreed on a draft Pandemic Agreement, which sets out basic terms of engagement to prepare for, prevent and respond to pandemics. Bleary-eyed negotiators and co-chairs Precious Matsoso and Anne-Claire Amprou welcomed the final greening of the entire text […] Continue reading ->