As G7 leaders meet in the coming days, we call on leaders at the Summit to make specific commitments to pandemic preparedness and response which will sustain political momentum between health emergencies. Past experience suggests that the world quickly forgets health crises and neglects the preparedness required to avert future ones. Given the multiple damages…
War against TB heightened as efforts to expand access to shorter TB prevention advances elimination
The Unitaid-funded IMPAACT4TB Consortium, led by the Aurum Institute, announced today that it will provide 250,000 patient courses of short-course rifapentine-based preventive treatment regimens to seven countries to help prevent tuberculosis (TB). The patient courses will include the three-month 3HP regimen, and the even shorter 1HP, which is only taken for 28 days. This contribution…
Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and Laos have received Oral Antiviral Treatments for High-Risk Patients through COVID Treatment Quick Start Consortium
The COVID Treatment Quick Start Consortium announced today that the governments of Zambia, Laos, Malawi, and Rwanda have received shipments of PAXLOVID™ (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir), Pfizer’s COVID-19 oral treatment. Partners involved in the Quick Start Consortium are supporting test-and-treat programs to improve access to antiviral treatments in low- and middle-income countries. As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its…
Academic programmes in HIV/Aids management are more relevant than ever
The world commemorates World Aids Day. Since it was first observed in 1988, the state of the pandemic has changed significantly. With widespread educational initiatives and effective treatment, people with HIV and Aids can now live long, productive lives and new infections have consistently been on the decline. Some would therefore argue that we can…
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recommits to Africa, to help accelerate progress in health, agriculture
Today, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reaffirmed the foundation’s long-term commitment to Africa and to working directly with countries to support breakthrough solutions in health, agriculture, gender equality, and other critical areas. In his first trip to Africa since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Bill Gates announced the foundation would spend…
Answering the challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance
Pascale Ondoa and Yewande Alimi Staphylococcus aureus is the source of a skin infection that can turn deadly if drug resistant. Estimates regarding the most common resistant variation, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), exceed 100,000 deaths globally in 2019. But up until recently, we did not have a solid grasp on how much of a…
Kenyan Farmers ripping big from small-scale agricultural irrigation-cum-value addition project
By Joseph Abuje, Charles Njeru and Henry Neondo With the outbreak of coronavirus in March of 2020, the agricultural sector got badly hit. The agricultural sector provides a livelihood for about 80 per cent of Kenya’s population, most of whom are subsistence farmers in rural areas. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the sector contributes about…
Africa records lowest COVID-19 deaths this year
An 83% surge in new COVID-19 cases during the past week in Africa, driven by the Delta and the Omicron variants, is causing fewer deaths than previous surges—but more waves could be building as updated forecasts warn that the continent may not reach 70% vaccine coverage until August 2024, a new World Health Organization (WHO)…