2021 Could Be Humanitarian ‘Catastrophe,’ U.N. Officials Warn December 7, 2020 News Summary Reuters: U.N. warns 2021 shaping up to be a humanitarian catastrophe “Next year is shaping up to be a humanitarian catastrophe and rich countries must not trample poor countries in a ‘stampede for vaccines’ to combat the coronavirus pandemic, top U.N. officials told the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Friday.…
Experts Hope Coronavirus R&D Response Can Spur More Malaria Vaccine Research; Oxford To Start Final Stage Of Human Malaria Vaccine Trials December 7, 2020 News Summary Devex: Just over $600M a year goes to malaria R&D. Can COVID-19 change that? “The accelerated phase of vaccine development for the novel coronavirus has experts hopeful that it could have knock-on effects for other diseases, such as malaria. On average, malaria research and development have seen just over $600…
WHO Appoints Anil Soni As CEO Of New WHO Foundation; Soni Speaks With Devex About Foundation’s Future December 7, 2020 News Summary AP: WHO tries to bolster fragile funding with new foundation CEO “Hoping to strengthen its funding, the World Health Organization is appointing a CEO to a foundation intended to bring in more private donations, which should leave the global health body less vulnerable if a country withdraws or cuts funding…
Conflict In Ethiopia’s Tigray Region Impacting Country’s Coronavirus Efforts; U.N. Preparing To Access Region With Humanitarian Aid December 7, 2020 News Summary AP: Ethiopia’s conflict stokes humanitarian and virus crisis “Ethiopia’s month-long war in its northern Tigray region has severely hampered efforts to fight one of Africa’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, as the fighting has displaced almost 1 million people and strained local humanitarian services to the breaking point. Tens of thousands of…
New Humanitarian Reports On Delayed Circulation Of Inter-Agency Review Of DRC Ebola Response December 7, 2020 News Summary New Humanitarian: Exclusive: U.N. criticized for holding back review of troubled Congo Ebola response “A review by leading aid agencies of Ebola operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo was not widely circulated to organizations involved in the response until several months after the epidemic was declared over, despite containing…
U.N. Officials, Scientists Express Optimism Over Coronavirus Vaccines, Call For More Preparedness, Solidarity At U.N. General Assembly Session December 7, 2020 News Summary U.N. News: Scientists optimistic about COVID-19 vaccines for all “Scientists developing COVID-19 vaccines are optimistic that by the end of next year, all people everywhere will have access to safe and effective treatments against a disease which has disrupted the entire planet. Principals from BioNTech and Oxford University — both…
More COVID-19 & Global Health News December 7, 2020 News Summary AP: Hundreds ill, 1 dead due to unidentified disease in India (12/7). Financial Times: What HIV taught Matshidiso Moeti about Covid-19 (Gross, 12/5). Health Policy Watch: Economic Benefits Of ACT Accelerator Outweigh Costs, Says Eurasia Group (Santos, 12/4). New York Times: Why Melinda Gates Spends Time ‘Letting My Heart Break’…
Many Countries Can Expect Vaccine Delivery In Early 2021, WHO Says, Warning Pandemic Not Over December 7, 2020 News Summary Health Policy Watch: Most Countries Can Expect Vaccine Supply in Early 2021 — But The Pandemic is Far From Over, Warns WHO “While the U.K. and U.S. are likely to start vaccinating its citizens against COVID-19 before the end of the year, the 189 countries that are part of the…
Opinion Piece Discusses COVID-19 Vaccine Accessibility, Argues For Suspension Of Intellectual Property Rights December 7, 2020 News Summary New York Times: Want Vaccines Fast? Suspend Intellectual Property Rights Achal Prabhala, coordinator of the AccessIBSA project and fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation; Arjun Jayadev, professor of economics at Azim Premji University and senior economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking; and Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center…
