U.S. FDA Approves First Ebola Treatment October 15, 2020 News Summary AP: U.S. regulators approve 1st treatment for Ebola virus “U.S. regulators Wednesday approved the first drug for the treatment of Ebola. The Food and Drug Administration OK’d the drug developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for treating adults and children with the Zaire Ebola virus strain, the most deadly of six known…
More Action Needed To Sustain TB Progress, COVID-19 Disruptions Impacting Disease Efforts, WHO Report Says October 15, 2020 News Summary Reuters: Pandemic Puts Global Progress Against Tuberculosis at Risk: WHO “The COVID-19 pandemic is derailing global efforts to tackle tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease, with cases likely to rise without urgent action and investment, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. The WHO’s annual TB report found…
New Study Shows Some Countries With Robust COVID-19 Responses Avoided Large Numbers Of Additional Deaths October 15, 2020 News Summary AP: Study: Health systems, govt responses linked to virus tolls “Scientists say a comparison of 21 developed countries during the start of the coronavirus pandemic shows that those with early lockdowns and well-prepared national health systems avoided large numbers of additional deaths due to the outbreak. In a study published…
Africa’s Youth Must Continue To Advance Progress Against Malaria, Says Opinion Piece October 15, 2020 News Summary Global Health NOW: It’s Time for African Youth to Advance the Fight against Malaria Winter Okoth, founder of the Pamoja Kenya Mentorship Alliance Organization and Nothing but Nets malaria champion “Growing up in a rural area near Kisumu, Kenya, I never realized that malaria, one of the world’s oldest and…
Opinion Pieces Address Topics Related To COVID-19, Including Importance Of Science, Scientific Process; Role Of Development Aid In Recovery Efforts October 15, 2020 News Summary The Lancet: Scientific consensus on the COVID-19 pandemic: we need to act now Nisreen A. Alwan, associate professor in public health for medicine at the University of Southampton, and colleagues (10/15). Project Syndicate: The Recovery Needs Development Aid Kevin Rudd, member of the International Monetary Fund’s External Advisory Group, chair…
Devex Examines Trump Administration’s Bolstering Of Faith-Based Organizations In Global HIV/AIDS Efforts October 14, 2020 News Summary Devex: What happened with PEPFAR’s faith-based initiative? “On World AIDS Day in 2018, Vice President Mike Pence announced a new U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief initiative that would provide an additional $100 million to faith-based organizations. It was a flashy announcement that raised concerns over where the funding…
WHO Releases New Global TB Report, Estimates Impact Of COVID-19 Disruptions On TB Efforts October 14, 2020 News Summary Devex: 1.8M people could die from tuberculosis in 2020: WHO “Last month, global deaths from the coronavirus pandemic reached over 1 million. Disruptions caused by the pandemic could also lead to more deaths from other diseases, such as tuberculosis. An estimated 1.8 million people could die from tuberculosis in 2020…
New WSJ Ranking Examines Private Sector’s Efforts In Social Responsibility, To Improve Health, Poverty Around World October 14, 2020 News Summary Wall Street Journal: Pharmaceutical, Biotech and Banking Companies Lead the Way in Social Responsibility “It might seem counterintuitive that Merck KGaA, a German science and technology company with a market value of about $67 billion, would pay attention to a neglected tropical disease called schistosomiasis that mostly affects poor and…
Facebook Bans Anti-Vaccination Ads, Does Not Address Pages, Groups With Vaccine Misinformation October 14, 2020 News Summary STAT: Facebook rolls out a new vaccine misinformation policy — but leaves out pages where falsehoods thrive “Facebook rolled out a new policy on Tuesday aimed at cracking down on vaccine falsehoods, a ballooning problem for the social network as a growing number of users with neutral views about vaccines…