Read more … 1202 NEWS on HEALTH and MEDICINES - FEBRUARY 2012

Read more … 1201 NEWS on HEALTH and MEDICINES - JANUARY 2012

Read more … 1110 NEWS ON MEDICINES and HEALTH - SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2011

Read more … 1106 NEWS ON HEALTH AND MEDICINES - JUNE 2011

Read more … 1105 NEWS ON MEDICINES and HEALTH - May 2011

Read more … 1104 NEWS ON MEDICINES and HEALTH - April 2011

Read more … 1103 NEWS on MEDICINES and HEALTH - March 2011

Each year, there are more than 225 million cases of malaria around the world, of which nearly 1 million are fatal, 90% of them in Sub-Saharan Africa where children and pregnant women are the main victims. In recent years the opportunities for fighting and containing malaria have increased. The Global Fund has offered free malaria treatments to many countries in Africa. The resistance problem has been solved by changing to artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) in most sub-Saharan  African countries. 

Read more … 110309 Free malaria treatment

On 1st march WTO members debated how current global intellectual property rules affect access to medicine and biodiversity protection, but made little progress on either issue, both of which are priorities for developing countries. The WTO-TRIPS Council discussed the use of a system intended to smooth poor countries’ access to patented drugs, as well as whether WTO rules need to be amended to require patent applicants to disclose the use of any genetic materials in an invention to prevent biopiracy.

Read more … 110301 Debate on Access to Medicines and Biodiversity at the WTO

Read more … NEWS on MEDICINES and HEALTH - February 2011

Read more … PROGRESS in the ACESS to ESSENTIAL QUALITY MEDICINES in 2010

Read more … 1101 NEWS on MEDICINES and HEALTH - January 2011

Read more … NEWS on MEDICINES and HEALTH - December 2010

Read more … NEWS on MEDICINES and HEALTH - November 2010

Read more … News on Health - July 2010

1012 Campaign Europe Hands Off our Medicine- MSF

Read more … 1012 Campaign Europe Hands Off our Medicine- MSF

101130 Talks revive hope of India

Read more … 101130 Talks revive hope of India

101203 EU steps up generic pharma anti-trust probe

Read more … 101203 EU steps up generic pharma anti-trust probe

101203 ZIMBABWE - Low morale erodes public health gains

Read more … 101203 ZIMBABWE - Low morale erodes public health gains

101207 IP issues should be kept out of pact with EU

Read more … 101207 IP issues should be kept out of pact with EU

101208 China the third world pharmacy cuts drug price

Read more … 101208 China the third world pharmacy cuts drug price

1208 Drug patents remain a major FTA battleground

Read more … 1208 Drug patents remain a major FTA battleground

101208 Nonprofits Can Develop New Meningitis Vaccine in Africa

Read more … 101208 Nonprofits Can Develop New Meningitis Vaccine in Africa

101208 Watch Out Big Pharma

Read more … 101208 Watch Out Big Pharma

101209 Kenyans rally against EU-India deal on AIDS drugs

Read more … 101209 Kenyans rally against EU-India deal on AIDS drugs

101210 Does EU-India FTA Serve Mutual Interests

Read more … 101210 Does EU-India FTA Serve Mutual Interests

101210 EU Data exclusivity in FTAs EU

Read more … 101210 EU Data exclusivity in FTAs EU

101214 Major push could end malaria deaths

Read more … 101214 Major push could end malaria deaths

101215 Defeating malaria within reach

Read more … 101215 Defeating malaria within reach

India Anticipates European Fix To Law Delaying Generics Shipments

Read more … India Anticipates European Fix To Law Delaying Generics Shipments

Mapping health budgets and child deaths

Read more … Mapping health budgets and child deaths

101104 EU deal threatens HIV drug supplies

Read more … 101104 EU deal threatens HIV drug supplies

101124 Europe attacking access to affordable generic drugs

Read more … 101124 Europe attacking access to affordable generic drugs

101104 Sierra Leone - Malaria prevention

Read more … 101104 Sierra Leone - Malaria prevention

100924 MDG Summit a Mirage

Read more … 100924 MDG Summit a Mirage

At least 94 people have died, with 201 cases of acute flaccid paralysis reported in the Republic of Congo (ROC), since 5 November. Four cases have been confirmed as wild poliovirus type 1, says the UN World Health Organization (WHO). This is due to the fact that for the last 15 years, immunization campaigns have not been carried out due to the country's political instability.

101109 CONGO - Polio cases confirmed

Read more … 101109 CONGO - Polio cases confirmed

In a decade and a half since being diagnosed with HIV, Gangte, a 43 year-old living in New Delhi, has seen his illness transform from a death sentence into a manageable condition, thanks largely to the availability of cheap medicines produced in India... Seven years later, he says he is coming to terms with a new threat to his health: an international trade agreement being brokered between the European Union and India that medical experts warn could leave millions of HIV sufferers in developing world without the drugs they need to stay alive.

 101104 EU deal threatens HIV drug supplies

Read more … 101104 EU deal threatens HIV drug supplies

WHO is starting a pilot where it will prequalify selected APIs because the globalisation of drug production has made it difficult to verify their quality. However, the pharmaceutical industry is concerned the pilot may increase company costs while a US think tank is worried it may take away from the WHO's core business.

101021 WHO plans to evaluate raw materials prompt industry cost worries

Read more … 101021 Industry worried by WHO plans to evaluate active ingredients

Pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), which owns the French factory that produces didanosine, a second-line ARV for babies weighing less than 10kg, will shut down the plant in June 2010, stopping production of the drug until at least February 2011, when regulatory approval of a new United States-based manufacturing site is expected. Closing this factory means that 4,000-7,000 babies currently enrolled in treatment plans in developing countries through UNITAID [a funding mechanism for HIV treatment] could be left without the medicines they need.

Factory closure could leave 7,000 babies without ARVs

Read more … Factory closure could leave 7,000 babies without ARVs

This paper outlines seven challenges in development assistance for health, which in the current financial context, have become even more important to address. The paper then provides three suggestions for ways forward: - creating new mechanisms to hold donors to account, - developing national plans and - strengthening national leadership in health, and South-South collaboration……”

 Seven Challenges in Development Aid for Health

Read more … Seven Challenges in Development Aid for Health

The actual root of the counterfeit medicines problem is grounded in issues of public health, safety and quality. This is where the attention should be focused: to fix the reality of substandard and adulterated medicines. However, rather than developing the solution from a public health and regulatory angle, countries are using an ‘IP enforcement’ approach.

Read more … 100903 Addressing Counterfeits without Endangering Public Health

Free Trade Agreements could harm India's generic drug business, which supplies the bulk of the AIDS medicines sent to developing countries. India's generics could cost more and be harder to access if the country has to adhere to stricter intellectual property rules.

Read more … 100914 Tougher intellectual property rules may harm trade in medicines

Read more … Update on Medicines and Health - July 2010