Documentation resulting in the donation of an important antiparasitic medicine for the treatment of Chagas illness to the World Health Organization (WHO) is within the ultimate stage of preparation. A 3-year settlement, between the Mundo Sano Foundation1 (Brazil) and WHO, is anticipated to make obtainable 108 000 tablets of the paediatric formulation of benznidazole2 –…
This Medical Product Alert warns consumers, healthcare professionals, and health authorities against a growing number of falsified medical products that claim to prevent, detect, treat or cure COVID-19. The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic (caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2) has increased demand for medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and reagents, all related to COVID-19, creating an opportunity for…
This Medical Product Alert relates to a confirmed falsified human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in vitro diagnostic medical device (IVD) that has been identified circulating in Guyana and Kenya. Through its Global Surveillance and Monitoring System (GSMS) for substandard/falsified medical products, WHO was informed that at least 8,240 falsified rapid diagnostic tests to detect HIV-1/2 have…
WHO’s new user guide for countries, ‘Selection of medicines at country level’, is based on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines. It sets out the key actions countries should undertake to develop and update their own national essential medicines lists based on the treatment needs of their populations and their capacity to reimburse payments…
PUTRAJAYA: Chloroquine, a drug used for malaria, has been used to treat Covid-19 patients since the first wave of the outbreak in Malaysia and has shown its efficacy, according to Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pix). He said the anti-inflammatory properties of the drug were effective in treating Covid-19 which caused inflammation in…
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, addressed Heads of State at today’s extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit focused on COVID-19. He told them, “You have come together to confront the defining health crisis of our time: We are at war with a virus that threatens to tear us apart – if we…
In a bid to curb the spread of Coronavirus in Edo State, the state government has reduced the number of persons allowed in any public gathering from 50 to 20. Other measures taken by the state government in the face of continuous spread of the virus in the country include the closure of markets with…
During its 63rd session, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) accepted all recommendations from the 42nd meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD). This effectively brings twelve psychoactive substances, including eleven New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) and one medicine, under international control. Given the potential for dependence or abuse and known adverse…
The rapid spread of COVID-19 is testing the resilience of robust health systems around the world. WHO and its partners are taking measures to mitigate the potential impact of sustained transmission of the coronavirus in malaria-endemic settings – particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, which shoulders more than 90% of the global malaria burden. To date, a…
Falsified antimalarials in West and Central Africa displaying an outdated WHO Essential Drugs Programme logo This Medical Product Alert relates to a series of confirmed falsified antimalarials circulating in West and Central Africa. Medicines subject of this alert display a similar logo to the outdated WHO Essential Drugs Programme logo. Since 2013, different falsified…