Browsing: WHO

• Tanzania has officially introduced Prof. Mohamed Janabi for WHO Africa Director candidacy.
• Prof Janabi is a member of faculty at Medical University of South Carolina, USA, and has over 83 medical publications.
• He speaks at least four languages including Russian, and Japanese.

Professor Mohamed Janabi has been selected by Tanzania as the country’s candidate for the post of World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa Region Director.

Prof Janabi is a member of faculty at the Medical University of South Carolina, USA, and is currently a special envoy to the Tanzanian President, as Senior Advisor on Health and Nutrition matters.

Following his nomination, he will be in the race to become the new WHO Africa Director following the death of regional director elect, Dr Faustine Ndugulile, on November 27, 2024.

The medic is a distinguished public health expert with  several decades of experience, and has held various senior positions in both …

• WHO Chief faults Trump’s suspension of funding to PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, noting that it has caused immediate stop to HIV treatment, testing and prevention services in 50 countries.
• With the immediate halt of U.S. aid plan, ongoing prevention programmes for at-risk groups disrupted as clinics close, sending thousands of health workers home.
• For decades, economies across Sub-Saharan Africa have pivoted on USAID to drive critical health interventions and humanitarian relief.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm over looming negative impact on several critical health initiatives in Africa including HIV, malaria, and Tuberculosis (TB) across the world following the withdrawal of financing by the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s new administration.

In an update on Tuesday, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that economies across Africa and beyond risk plunging into disruptions to ongoing HIV treatment plans, while also suffering setbacks on …

• The UAE will host the third World Local Production Forum from April 7–9, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, focusing on advancing health equity, global health security, and sustainable development.
• The event, organized in partnership with the WHO, will gather over 4,000 participants to discuss innovation, technology transfer, and strategies for resilient healthcare systems.
• Forum highlights the UAE’s leadership in healthcare innovation and its commitment to fostering sustainable health solutions.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to host the third edition of the World Local Production Forum (WLPF) from April 7 to 9, 2025, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).

Under the theme “Advancing Local Production for Health Equity, Global Health Security, and Sustainable Development,” the forum aims to bring together global leaders, policymakers, and industry experts to develop practical strategies for enhancing local production capacities in healthcare.

Hosting the WLPF underscores the UAE’s strategic role as a global …

• The trio’s collaboration focuses on a joint response that will help countries better prepare and respond to public health threats.
• Trio says their alliance will leverage each other’s expertise to help countries strengthen pandemic preparedness and enhance resilience during pandemics.
• According to the WHO, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for new sources of financing to bolster health systems.

The leaders of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group (WBG), and the World Health Organization (WHO) have agreed on a broad-based cooperation to boost the world’s pandemic preparedness.

In a statement to the press, the three global institutions said this cooperation will allow a scaling up of support to countries to prevent, detect, and respond to the next global health crisis.

“The stepped-up collaboration with the World Bank Group and the World Health Organization will help our institutions complement and leverage each other’s expertise to help our members …

• The bulk of the financing will go toward tackling mpox in 14 most affected African countries, and enhancing readiness efforts in 15 others.
• Other funds will go into operational and technical support, ensuring that the plan is executed through a network of partners.
• Africa CDC and WHO hope to reduce the virus’s impact and curb its spread.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have teamed up to counter the spread of Mpox across the continent in a new plan estimated at $600 million. This initiative, which is set to run between September 2024 and February next year, is poised to firm up Africa’s capacity to check the spread of the virus, cushion the populations at most risk and curb the spread of the disease.

Across the continent, mpox is spreading, and although calls for vaccines continue to intensify, the need …

• Tanzania to earn $400 million annually from tobacco export/sells.
• The country now ranks second largest tobacco producer in Africa after Zimbabwe.
• Tobacco has no known health benefit. On the contrary, it causes disease, disability and premature death. Over 6 million people die globally every year from tobacco-related illnesses.

Tanzania has been ranked as the second-largest producer of tobacco in Africa, falling behind only neighboring Zimbabwe, even as tobacco’s toll worsens globally. The ranking comes after a bumper harvest in the year 2022/2023, as announced by Tanzania’s Minister for Agriculture, Hussein Bashe.

According to the minister, the country’s tobacco production has more than doubled over the last year alone to 122,858 tonnes in FY2023/2024 from 50,000 tonnes earlier.

As of December last year, the export value of tobacco stood at $316 million, and with the increase in output, the minister is confident that this year the country will attain its …

• WHO, CDC launch joint unit to improve disaster preparedness.
• JEAP has a mandate for disaster response across Africa.
• JEAP prioritises readiness, and collective efforts to fight public health emergencies.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have launched a partnership to tackle challenges arising from humanitarian crises associated with disasters.

Dubbed Joint Emergency Preparedness and Response Action Plan (JEAP), the unit is a five-year strategic collaboration to boost the continent’s overall emergency preparedness and response.

JEAP has the mandate to operate across Africa to ensure among other things, disease outbreaks during humanitarian crises are managed efficiently.

Power of partnerships in global health

“The JEAP underscores the shared vision of Africa’s two leading public health institutions – to strengthen the emergency preparedness and response and health systems on the continent,” reads a press communique shared at the turn of the week.

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mRNA-1644 utilizes Moderna’s messenger RNA (mRNA) technology to deliver a specific class of B cells needed to develop broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) to fight HIV infection. Inducing bnAbs is considered the primary goal of an HIV vaccine, and this requires B-cell activation.

The primary trial endpoints are safety and immunogenicity. The IAVI-sponsored clinical trial, IAVI G003, will test the safety and efficacy of vaccination with the HIV immunogen eOD-GT8 60mer, delivered via Moderna’s mRNA platform. eOD-GT8 60mer was developed by IAVI and Scripps Research teams and was initially tested in phase 1 clinical trial IAVI G001.

According to Contagion Live, IAVI G003 is expected to enroll 18 healthy, HIV-negative adults. The participants will receive 2 doses of eOD-GT8 60mer mRNA, which contains a portion of the viral sequence but cannot cause HIV infection. They will be monitored for safety for 6 months after their second dose, and their immune responses …

Stavros Nicolaou, a Senior Executive at Aspen Pharmacare Group said in the absence of orders or commitments, Aspen is considering the repurposing of two COVID-19 production lines for the manufacture of other products.

“The continent would lose its only existing COVID vaccine manufacturing capacity, It would be a massive setback for Africa’s plans to localize and reduce its dependency on imported vaccines,” he said.

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said global health security would be undermined if companies like Aspen were not backed.…

• A sense of well-being encompasses a wide range of factors, including access to education and employment, as well as the lack of armed combat or threats
• Digitization has provided a cheap, secure source of finance to populations in need and improved government transparency in countries where graft and corruption are a huge concern.
• Technological change has also resulted in increased productivity which has in turn improved African’s standards of living