WHO to administer experimental vaccine after 19 die in Democratic Republic of Congo
The World Health Organisation has been authorised to use an experimental vaccine to combat an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where at least 19 people have been killed by the virus.
GENEVA, July 28: Europe and the Americas have been affected the most by the monkeypox outbreak, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists here on Wednesday.
These two regions have reported 95 percent of the diagnosed cases, he said, warning against stigma and discrimination in monkeypox messaging.
Over 18,000 monkeypox cases have been reported to the WHO from 78 countries. More than 70 percent of these came from the European region and 25 percent from the Americas, he said.
He said that 98 percent of the reported cases have been among men who have sex with men, stressing that stigma and discrimination can be "as dangerous as any virus and can fuel the outbreak."
"As we have seen with COVID-19 misinformation," it can spread rapidly online, he said, "so we call on social media platforms, tech companies and news organizations to work with us to prevent and counter harmful information."
Last Saturday, the WHO officially declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). A PHEIC is the highest level of alert that the United Nations (UN) health body can give.
The WHO has been urging countries to take the monkeypox outbreak seriously by taking the steps needed to stop transmission and protect vulnerable groups. "The best way to do that is to reduce the risk of exposure and make safe choices," he said.
"For men who have sex with men, this includes, for the moment, reducing your number of sexual partners, reconsidering sex with new partners, and exchanging contact details with any new partners to enable follow-up if needed."
Meanwhile, Canada, the European Union and the U.S. have already approved the vaccine called MVA-BN (Modified Vaccinia Ankara -- Bavarian Nordic) for use against monkeypox, and two other vaccines are also being assessed. However, due to the lack of data on the effectiveness and dosage of the vaccines, the WHO currently does not recommend mass vaccination against monkeypox. It also urges all countries that are administering such vaccines to collect and share critical data on their effectiveness.
KATHMANDU, April 6: The government is has announced to administer the Typhoid vaccine to children all across the country.
According to the government’s data, as many as 450,000 people have been found infected with typhoid.
According to the Department of Health Services, typhoid ranks third among food and water borne diseases in Nepal. Among those infected, most of them are children aged below 15 years old.
Similarly, as per a report of the Patan Academy of Health Sciences, around 62,000 people are found infected with typhoid out of 100,000 population. The study was conducted on 100,000 children.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended vaccination against typhoid in Nepal and the government has begun a vaccination drive accordingly.
What is the vaccine that is being administered to children against typhoid in Nepal?
The government is administering a typhoid vaccine to children aged between 15 months to 15 years for the first time from April 8 to May 1. Nepal is the first country to administer a typhoid vaccine to children in South Asia.
Typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV), to be administered to minors in Nepal, is safe and is recommended by the WHO.
“Studies have shown that the typhoid conjugate vaccine is safe, effective, and can provide protection for infants and children under two years of age, unlike the previously available typhoid vaccines,” according to the WHO. “The recommendation for the typhoid conjugate vaccine to be included in routine immunization programs will help pave the way for national authorities to introduce this vaccine in countries where they are needed most.”
What is typhoid?
Typhoid fever is a life-threatening infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. It is usually spread through contaminated food or water.
Symptoms include prolonged fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, abdominal pain, and constipation or diarrhea. Some patients may have a rash. Severe cases may lead to serious complications or even death.
Typhoid fever can be treated with antibiotics although increasing resistance to different types of antibiotics is making treatment more complicated.
Who shouldn’t receive the TCV?
- Those experiencing health complacies while receiving vaccines earlier
- Those having allergy problems
- Those experiencing symptoms of HIV-AIDS
- Those experiencing high fevers
Jan 14: The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is a "dangerous virus" particularly for those who are unvaccinated, according to World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"While Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta, it remains a dangerous virus, particularly for those who are unvaccinated," Tedros said during a media briefing on COVID-19 recently.
"This huge spike in infections is being driven by the Omicron variant, which is rapidly replacing Delta in almost all countries," he said. WHO chief also highlighted Africa's COVID-19 vaccination rate and said "in Africa, more than 85 per cent of people are yet to receive a single dose of vaccine. We cannot end the acute phase of the pandemic unless we close this gap." "We are making progress. In December, COVAX shipped more than double the number of doses it shipped in November, and in the coming days, we expect COVAX to ship its 1 billionth vaccine dose," he stated.
He further stated that some of the supply constraints we faced last year are now starting to ease, but we still have a long way to go to reach our target of vaccinating 70 per cent of the population of every country by the middle of this year. 90 countries have still not reached the 40 per cent target, and 36 of those countries have vaccinated less than 10 per cent of their populations, he added. "WHO and our partners are actively supporting these countries to overcome the bottlenecks they face, in leadership and coordination, lack of supply visibility, short shelf-life of donated vaccines, limited cold chain capacity, vaccine confidence, health worker shortages, and competing priorities," he added.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), has granted approval for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said that approval for Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin will be given on the basis of the meeting which will be convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) today.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said that approval for Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin will be given on the basis of the meeting which will be convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) today.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday informed that the final decision on Bharat Biotech's submission on emergency use listing (EUL) for its Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine will be made in October 2021.
GENEVE, September 22: Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday extended gratitude to India for resuming crucial COVID vaccine shipments to COVAX from October.
Ghebreyesus also said that the move will help WHO to reach its goal of 40 per cent vaccination in all countries by the end of the year. "Thank you Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya for announcing India will resume crucial COVID-19 vaccine shipments to COVAX in October. This is an important development in support of reaching the 40 per cent vaccination target in all countries by the end of the year. #VaccinEquity," Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.
The remark of WHO's Director-General came after Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya announced that in the fourth quarter of 2021, the government of India will resume 'Vaccine Maitri', an initiative to provide COVID vaccines to countries around the world and also fulfil its responsibility under COVAX.
Mandaviya also announced that the Indian government is expecting more than 30 crore doses from vaccine manufacturers in the month of October.
Meanwhile, with the administration of 37,78,296 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage surpassed the landmark figure of 80 crores (80,85,68,144) as per provisional reports till 7 am on Wednesday. This was achieved through 79,78,302 sessions, the Indian Ministry of Health said.
Japanese-made AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Kathmandu
KATHMANDU, Aug 7: The Japanese-made AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday.
Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, Kikuta Yutaka attended the hand-over ceremony at the Tribhuvan International Airport with State Minister of Health and Population Umesh Shrestha, Joint Secretary of North East Asia Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lok Bahadur Thapa, Representative of UNICEF Nepal, Elke Wisch and WHO Representative to Nepal, Dr Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav.
This vaccine donation from Japan for Nepal through the COVAX facility was announced by Motegi Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan on 13 July. Remaining half of 1.6 million doses pledged by Japan will be shipped to Kathmandu shortly,according to the Embassy of Japan in Nepal.
