WHO will have terminated, retired or separated by agreement an estimated 2371 staff worldwide by mid-2026 – shedding about 25% of a workforce that numbered 9,457 in December 2024 – a 15-year peak.  That’s according to a new report that is to be presented and discussed with WHO member states on Wednesday.  Despite the huge […] Continue reading ->
The United States government is moving rapidly to secure Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with African countries that offer limited health aid for five years in exchange for 25 years’ access to countries’ data about “pathogens with epidemic potential”. Some commentators have described the terms of the bilateral MOUs as “extractive” as they fail to offer […] Continue reading ->
African countries want information about pathogens with the potential to cause pandemics to be shared “exclusively” through a global system currently being negotiated at the World Health Organization (WHO) – yet at the same time, their governments are under pressure to agree to bilateral Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the United States that will trade […] Continue reading ->
The United States (US) aims to compel countries that receive its aid to fight HIV, tuberculosis and malaria to share all information about “pathogens with epidemic potential” in exchange. This is according to a US government document, the “PEPFAR [US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief] Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) template”, seen by Health Policy […] Continue reading ->
“Inadequate” and “unbalanced” were some of the complaints levelled against the first draft of a Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system when World Health Organization (WHO) member states met for text-based negotiations in Geneva on Monday. Once agreed, the PABS system will be an annex to the Pandemic Agreement, but several member states at the Intergovernmental […] Continue reading ->
Member states start text-based negotiations next week on the final outstanding piece of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) system. They will have had nine days to consider the seven-page first draft of the PABS system, which was distributed late Friday (24 October) by the administration Bureau […] Continue reading ->
At least $7 billion is needed to rebuild Gaza’s health system, which has no fully functioning hospitals, and critical shortages of essential medicines, equipment and health workers, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on Thursday. While Tedros welcomed the ceasefire negotiated by US President Donald Trump on […] Continue reading ->