Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Experts: Climate Change Is Leading To More Malaria Infections
Climate change is increasing malaria infections, the executive director of the world's biggest health fund said in Davos on Monday. Huge surges in malaria infections followed recent floods in Pakistan and cyclones in Mozambique in 2021, said Peter Sands, the executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. (de Kretser, 1/16)
In other global news —
The Sabin Vaccine Institute announced yesterday that it has been awarded a multiyear contract from the US government to advance the development and production of vaccine candidates for the Ebola Sudan and Marburg viruses. Under the agreement, the US Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will initially invest approximately $35 million to produce up to 100,000 doses of Sabin's Ebola Sudan virus vaccine (ChAd3-SUDV). (Dall, 1/13)
The stories the mothers tell when they gather at the Awendo Health Centre in western Kenya are a catalog of small failures, missed opportunities and devastating consequences. What unites the two dozen or so women who meet periodically, on wooden benches in a bare clinic room or under a tree in the courtyard, is their children: All have H.I.V. It has been two decades since efforts to prevent the transmission of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, from mother to child during pregnancy and birth began in earnest in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet some 130,000 babies are still becoming infected each year because of logistical problems, such as drug shortages, and more pernicious ones, such as the stigma that makes women afraid to seek tests or treatment. (Nolen, 1/17)
One of the World’s strictest anti-tobacco laws has been imposed in Mexico, setting in force a total ban on smoking in public places, including hotels, beaches and parks. The new law, which is part of the country's General Law for Tobacco Control reform, came into force on Sunday. It will also see the total ban on the promotion, advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products. The sale and use of e-cigarettes and vapes are also due to face new restrictions. (Ogao, 1/16)
Drugmakers Eli Lilly & Co. and AbbVie Inc. have pulled out of a voluntary drug-pricing agreement with the UK in a blow to the country’s attempts to control costs for medicines. Opposition is rising amid the industry against the country’s attempt to control prices, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry said Monday. (Pham, 1/16)
