Global Health Matters

23 September 2021 - By Thomas B. Cueni
This op-ed was originally published for Media Planet's Infectious Diseases campaign on 23 September 2021. With the world’s gaze focused on ramping up production and delivery of 11 billion safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine doses within a year, it is important that we turn an eye to the future. As ...
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16 September 2021 - By Thomas B. Cueni
Last week we convened another media briefing on the biopharmaceutical industry’s efforts to ramp up manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and supplies. We were joined by CEOs and executives from Pfizer, Roche, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, whose 3 main take-aways I would like to share with you. The historic ...
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15 September 2021 - By Amadou Diarra
Amadou Diarra, IFPMA Council Chair, reflects on overcoming challenges to accessing non-communicable disease (NCD) care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The global pandemic has severely disrupted routine health services around the globe and increased the urgency for action on NCDs, adding complexities in delivery of medicines and additional burdens ...
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27 August 2021 - By Ann-Lise Mikolajczak
This op-ed was originally published on Foresight Global Health on 23 August 2021. The number of people living with diabetes (PLWDs) has quadrupled in the last 40 years, adding to the pressures on health systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Innovative approaches are required to address this large ...
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27 July 2021 - By Professor Germain Ntono Tsimi
COVID-19 has galvanized the development of indigenous innovations and African innovators have responded with a wide range of creative inventions suited to address local public health challenges. In this spirit, IFPMA and the University of Yaoundé II – Cameroon have agreed to create the UYII-IFPMA Chair on "Health and Globalization: ...
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26 July 2021 - By Thomas B. Cueni
Developing COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year was a monumental achievement – but to improve the efficacy, manufacture and distribution of vaccines and combat emerging variants, governments, regulators and research scientists must work together to drive further innovation. Imagine if scientists invented a COVID-19 vaccine that can be given ...
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21 July 2021 - By Greg Perry
At this year’s regional World Health Summit in Uganda, we had the pleasure of showcasing the research fellows that IFPMA has been supporting as part of the Chatham House African Public Health Leaders fellowship program since 2016 in an event titled “Will COVID-19 dictate a new paradigm in Africa?” This ...
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19 July 2021 - By Laetitia Bigger
We have a realistic hope of producing 11 billion COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021 to vaccinate the world’s whole adult population. With increased dose sharing and urgent measures to ensure vaccine equity through COVAX and other bilateral agreements, we would like to see many more vaccines reaching all ...
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7 July 2021 - By Komal Kalha
To put an end to the pandemic, industry was tasked with manufacturing and supplying billions of COVID-19 vaccines, starting from zero. This monumental task is on its way to being achieved, with 11 billion doses forecast for the end of 2021[1]—enough for the world’s adult population, according to the World ...
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28 June 2021 - By Greg Perry
Boosting production of COVID-19 vaccines is key to ensuring there are enough doses for all populations most at risk. But manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines at the volumes the world needs is a colossal challenge and scarcity of raw materials and trade barriers could upset estimates that 11 billion doses – enough ...
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25 June 2021 - By Paula Barbosa
This blog was originally published on the Media Planet Campaign Value of Vaccines on 25 June 2021. Over the past few decades, the global regulatory environment has become more stringent and demanding to consistently guarantee the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines and vaccines. The increase in requirements by regulatory ...
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24 June 2021 - By Thomas B. Cueni
Step 1 of the biopharmaceuticals 5-step plan to address vaccine equity A number of countries with access to sufficient doses to vaccinate their own populations have pledged 1 billion doses so far for low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries in 2021 and 2022. We now need to ensure those pledges are ...
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23 June 2021 - By Amadou Diarra
In light of the recent G7 Summit 2021, where the COVID-19 pandemic was understandably the overarching point of discussions, I was reminded about the key role our industry is playing in this health and economic crisis. This pandemic, the like of which has not been seen in over 100 years, ...
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16 June 2021 - By Thomas B. Cueni
This oped was originally published on in the Down to Earth (16-30 June 2021 Edition). Scarcity of raw materials and trade barriers could dent hopes for 10 billion vaccines produced by end of 2021 Back in March 2020, vaccine innovator companies started working on how they would set up manufacturing ...
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15 June 2021 - By Thomas B. Cueni
Original article published on Taggesspigel on 15 June 2021.  Mr Cueni, of all things, the COVID-19 pandemic, triggered by a virus, could further fuel the development of resistance in bacteria: many Covid 19 patients in hospitals are given antibiotics unnecessarily. G-7 health ministers are warning of a "creeping pandemic" and ...
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