Podcasts about africa centres

With the 78th World Health Assembly in full swing, we dig into the main talking point of the conference: the Pandemic Agreement. The landmark treaty was adopted during this year's edition of the annual summit. The agreement is designed to create a world better prepared for pandemics, ensuring a more equitable distribution of lifesaving medical interventions — a key challenge highlighted by the COVID-19 response. We delve into what this means for pandemic preparedness and chart the essential next steps. During the conversation, we also discuss the funding challenges faced by the World Health Organization and possible solutions that are being explored to ensure its sustainable future. For this special episode of our podcast series recorded live on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly, Devex Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, the principal adviser to the director-general on program management and the continental incident manager for mpox at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

Mpox continues to spread in Africa and young children are experiencing the highest mpox burden and mortality of all ages. In this episode Kyeng Mercy, epidemiologist at Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention takes us through the continental response to mpox, the Africa CDC data on mpox in children younger than 15 years, and African priorities in response to the mpox public health emergency. Alongside her, Nuria Clemente Sanchez, paediatric infectious disease specialist at City St George's, University of London shares what paediatricians and clinicians need to know about how mpox presents and the latest information on mpox vaccine and therapeutic trials.Mpox among children in Africa https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(25)00064-1/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_generic_lanchiHidden in plain sight: the threat of mpox to children and adolescents https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(24)00298-0/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_generic_lanchiPaediatric, maternal, and congenital mpox: a systematic review and meta-analysis https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(23)00607-1/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_generic_lanchiContinue this conversation on social!Follow us today at...https://thelancet.bsky.social/https://instagram.com/thelancetgrouphttps://facebook.com/thelancetmedicaljournalhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/lanchi/https://youtube.com/thelancettv

Send us a textSmallpox may be gone but it's got a cousin called mpox, and that virus is now spreading fast across parts of Africa.As of October 2024, this mpox outbreak had infected more than 40,000 people, mostly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 1,000 people have died from the infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in August 2024.Officials are distributing smallpox vaccines to try to control it. The viruses are closely enough related so researchers believe that modern smallpox vaccines can protect people safely against mpox. But the rollout is slow.  It's not clear why the virus has started spreading in households, but it's infecting and killing more and more children.To make matters worse, people are desperate for medicines to prevent infection and help treat symptoms, which include fevers and a rash. They're seeking antibiotics, which cannot treat a virus. This inappropriate use of antibiotics can drive drug resistance.This is the second time mpox has been declared a public health emergency by the WHO since 2022. A slightly different strain of mpox has been spreading since then through close contact, often sexual and often among men who have sex with men. Mpox is even now showing up in new cities and countries in North America and Europe.Nodar Kipshidze, Senior Research Analyst at the One Health Trust, says the virus spreads easily because people often don't know they have it. It's also not clear where it originally came from, although small rodents and other mammals can spread it. In this episode of One World, One Health, Nodar tells us mpox is causing a lot of confusion, and we need to ensure we learn from previous outbreaks and share resources globally to stop the spread and save lives.

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened up 204-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 22,246 on turnover of $6.6-billion N-T. The market gained more than 360 points on Thursday to close above the 22,000 point mark as investors reacted positively to moves by the U-S Federal Reserve to cut interest rates for the first time in four years. Investors rushed to pick up large-cap stocks across the board, led by the bellwether electronics sector, which managed to rebound from a wobbly (變來變去的) start to the trading day. Cabinet OKs Amendments to Halve Amusement Taxes The Cabinet has passed an amendment to the Amusement Tax Act. The move will reduce tax rates on most entertainment activities by at least half, with the exception of (除了) golf. Amusement taxes are levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement facilities or activities and collected by local governments. The Ministry of Finance says the amendments are aimed at assisting local governments to develop local cultural events and competitions, boost regional economic development and retain financial autonomy. EU China Pledge Increased Dialogue European Union and Chinese trade representatives have agreed to intensify (強化) efforts to resolve a dispute over electric vehicles. The EU has imposed tariffs of up to 35 percent on electric vehicle's from China accusing Beijing of imposing unfair subsidies and flooding the European market. William Denselow reports from Brussels. Rwanda Begins Mpox Vaccination Campaign The African health agency says that Rwanda has started a vaccination campaign against mpox with 1,000 doses it obtained from Nigeria. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says vaccination started Tuesday targeting seven districts with high-risk populations who neighbor Congo. Congo has been at the epicenter (震央) of an outbreak on the African continent, where nearly 3-thousand new mpox cases and 14 new deaths have been recorded in the last week. This brings the total number of cases to over 6-thousand, with 738 deaths since the beginning of the year. Italy Churchill Portrait Returned to Canada A ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome has marked the successful recovery of a stolen photo portrait of Winston Churchill, known as “The Roaring Lion,” after a two-year search. Italy's police handed over the portrait to the Canadian ambassador to Italy, who praised the cooperation between Italian and Canadian investigators that led to the recovery. The 1941 portrait of the British leader was taken by Ottawa photographer Yousuf Karsh. Canadian police say it was stolen from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa sometime between Christmas 2021 and Jan. 2022, and replaced with a forgery (偽造品). The original was found to have been sold at auction and the Italian buyer has returned it. That was the I.C.R.T. news, Check in again tomorrow for our simplified version of the news, uploaded every day in the afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm _____. －－－－以下訊息由 SoundOn 動態廣告贊助商提供－－－－ 高雄美術特區2-4房全新落成，《惟美術》輕軌C22站散步即到家，近鄰青海商圈，卡位明星學區，徜徉萬坪綠海。 住近美術館，擁抱優雅日常，盡現驕傲風範！美術東四路X青海路 07-553-3838 -- 《育成社福基金會》30週年，陪伴憨寶貝及其家庭，勇敢創造生命各種可能！ 台灣身心障礙人口超過120萬，意即，每20人就有一位障礙者； 他們的一輩子都需要被認真照顧，立即捐款「終身照顧計畫」， 不一樣的認真，值得一樣認真的你支持。 了解更多: https://bit.ly/4gucETA

This week the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization both declared mpox as a public health emergency. This is the first time the Africa CDC declared a public health emergency as it aims to increase its autonomy. There have been more than 17,000 suspected cases across the African continent, more than the total number of cases reported in 2023. In the United Kingdom, the International Rescue Committee is set to shed 1 in 9 staff as it faces a funding crisis. We explore the wider issue of reduced funding in global development despite rising humanitarian needs. To discuss these stories, and others, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with Managing Editor Anna Gawel and Business Editor David Ainsworth for the latest episode of the podcast series. Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

Amid a surge in mpox cases, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak a continental public health emergency. Guest: Dr. Cheryl Walter, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science at the University of Hull Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seg 1: How does space travel impact human biology? Boeing's plagued Starliner is still stranded at the International Space Station. Now, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who arrived at the space station two months ago, may have to stay in space for an additional eight months. Guest: Dr. Susan Bailey, Professor of Radiation Cancer Biology and Oncology at Colorado State University Seg 2: Why is mpox a global health emergency? Amid a surge in mpox cases, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak a continental public health emergency. Guest: Dr. Cheryl Walter, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science at the University of Hull Seg 3: View From Victoria: Lawsuit filed over safe supply and addicted teens A New class action lawsuit alleges the BC and Federal governments created a new drug market with 'safe supply' and caused two teenage girls to get addicted. Guest: Rob Shaw, Political Correspondent for CHEK News Seg 4: How does Canada's Temporary Foreign Workers program impact businesses? The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is arguing that Temporary Foreign Workers are indispensable to sustaining Canada's agricultural sector.  Guest: Francesca Basta, Research Analyst at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business Seg 5: CKNW Celebrates its 80th Anniversary with Gord Macdonald What is Gord Macdonald's favourite memory from CKNW? Guest: Gord Macdonald, Former CKNW News Anchor Seg 6: Should schools have classes about the opioid crisis? According to Dr. Charlotte Waddell, school-based prevention programs are crucial for addressing the opioid crisis by targeting children before they start experimenting with substances.  Guest: Dr. Charlotte Waddell, Director of the Children's Health Policy Centre and Professor Emerita in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University Seg 7: How is Premier Eby addressing the issues plaguing BC? Premier David Eby joins the show to discuss a bunch of different issues ahead of the election. He also fields questions you, the listener, have about what is affecting you in your day to day life. Guest: David Eby, Premier of British Columbia Seg 8: CKNW Celebrates its 80th Anniversary with Neetu Garcha What is Neetu Garcha's favourite memory from CKNW? Guest: Neetu Garcha, Anchor and Reporter for Global National Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The European Parliamentary elections will take place next month, and with anti-aid and anti-migrant parties poised to make big gains, there are fears for the future of the world's second-largest development budget. According to one senior Brussels politician, the controversial swiping of €2 billion from the development pot to fund a crackdown on illegal migration could just be the start of the European Union's reduced focus on supporting global development initiatives. We explore how Europe's political landscape is changing, as well as what it could mean to the EU's approach to foreign assistance. In South Africa, we found that the country's politics is preventing NGOs from effectively delivering health services to refugees and migrants. Aid groups and civil society organizations are trying to untangle the snarled problem of how to guarantee access to health services for all people who are far from home — whether that home is in another country or somewhere else in South Africa — without creating disparities in health care services that enrage local communities. On the topic of the continent, Devex obtained a copy of an African Union audit that examined accusations against Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's Director General Dr. Jean Kaseya. The audit, which was finalized in March, analyzed over a dozen allegations in a February whistleblower email. We dig into the claims, including allegations of misusing funds, flouting rules, and exhibiting favoritism, among others. For the latest episode of our podcast series, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with Managing Editor Anna Gawel and Senior Reporter Sara Jerving to discuss these stories and others. Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

This week we published an article on how USAID spent its money last year. We noted that the agency spent $38.1 billion through its assistance and acquisition mechanism in the fiscal year that ended in September 2023. From the data it is evident that USAID has increased its spending for humanitarian crises, including the war in Ukraine. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention released their wishlist for the pandemic treaty. However, with countries in the global north — including the United Kingdom, Germany, and France — slashing their aid budgets, questions are being raised about whether there is an appetite for another pandemic financing mechanism, which is among one of the agency's asks. On the topic of the Africa CDC, its acting deputy director-general, Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, is resigning from the organization this month as he wasn't allowed to apply for the deputy director-general position due to country quotas. Dr. Raji Tajudeen will become the acting deputy director-general until a formal appointment is made. To dig into these stories and others, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with Patrick Fine from Brookings and Devex Associate Editor Rumbi Chakamba for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

The latest edition of This Week in Development takes both a ground-level and 30,000-foot view of localization and the latest issues in development, ranging from unpaid workers in Nigeria to a YouTube influencer-turned-do-gooder to a climate fund struggling to get up to speed. Sara Jerving's exclusive story offers an object lesson on the importance of coordination and collaboration in large, sprawling development endeavors with multiple stakeholders. She reports on the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative, which involved the Mastercard Foundation, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and several other players such as implementers, government agencies, and auditors. The result? Confusion about how workers in Nigeria — who were not given formal contracts when they were recruited — should be paid, leading to months' worth of unpaid labor for some. “This highlights a bigger program in our development space and that is, it shows that process is more important than people,” said George Ingram, senior fellow at the Brookings Center for Global Development. “It's the green-eyeshade people who are important to ensure there's not a lot of corruption, but they too often rule and interfere with having effective development, and donors and everybody needs to be willing to take a little more risk in order to get the development impact we're looking for.” Ingram joined Devex Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar and me for a discussion that touched on other stories of the week, including the successes and challenges of cash transfers, the Green Climate Fund's flagging efforts to simplify its application process, and the controversial efforts of YouTube sensation MrBeast to build water wells in Africa, which generated some blowback. Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.

Even though the U.S. government avoided a shutdown this week, serious concerns remain over whether lawmakers will be able to hammer out a federal budget for fiscal 2024 within the next 45 days, leaving the future funding of several development programs up in the air. This week we also had an exclusive story on the $1.5 billion Saving Lives and Livelihoods Initiative, which was temporarily halted amid an audit due to several issues, including the failure to pay workers in Nigeria for months worth of work and missing contracts and receipts. The three-year program, launched by the Mastercard Foundation and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in 2021, is the largest public health partnership between a global philanthropic organization and an African institution and has employed more than 22,000 people. Ahead of the World Bank annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco, next week, we reported that the institution's president, Ajay Banga, hopes to make available up to $125 billion additional lending over the next 10 years through reforms. To dig into these stories, as well as to gain an update on PEPFAR's potential reauthorization, tune in to the latest episode of the podcast. Devex President & EiC Raj Kumar sits down with Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger, as well as Olusoji Adeyi, the president of Resilient Health Systems and senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, to discuss the most important news this week. Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

As we enter another year of the pandemic, countries are on alert for another spike in infections, and the possibility of new variants circulating. Genomic surveillance will continue to be important in monitoring the pandemic, as well as in preparing for any future outbreaks. However, not all countries - especially low- and middle-income countries - have the capacity to conduct large-scale genomic sequencing. What can the experience of the African region teach us, when it comes to implementing a region-wide genomic surveillance network? Joining us to share the experience of the African continent is Dr Sarah Mwangi, implementation science expert from the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative, which was set up under the auspices of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.Image credit: Shutterstock

As we enter another year of the pandemic, countries are on alert for another spike in infections, and the possibility of new variants circulating. Genomic surveillance will continue to be important in monitoring the pandemic, as well as in preparing for any future outbreaks. However, not all countries - especially low- and middle-income countries - have the capacity to conduct large-scale genomic sequencing. What can the experience of the African region teach us, when it comes to implementing a region-wide genomic surveillance network? Joining us to share the experience of the African continent is Dr Sarah Mwangi, implementation science expert from the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative, which was set up under the auspices of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.Image credit: Shutterstock

Africa produces only one per cent of its routine vaccines. This leaves the region dependent on imports for its vaccine needs, and makes it vulnerable to a vaccine crisis during health emergencies. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, Ebere Okereke, senior technical advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and honorary senior public health advisor for the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, says research in science, and funding for therapeutics and vaccine manufacturing in the continent, must increase. Professor Claude Muvunyi, director general for the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, tells us that boosting Africa's capacity to manufacture vaccines will be a front burner discussion during the 2nd International Conference on Public Health in Africa, scheduled to take place in Rwanda on the second week of December. This piece was produced by SciDev.Net's Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.Do you have any comments, questions or feedback about our podcast episodes? Let us know at podcast@scidev.net

African health ministers attending a high-level meeting following the Ebola outbreak in Uganda want two regional health bodies to set up an Africa Ebola coordination task force.They say this would oversee preparedness and response to the current outbreak as well as other epidemics in the continent.Acting director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, Ahmed Ogwell, says Africa needs to stop seeking international assistance, as it is on its own during pandemics.The Africa CDC says the continent is dealing with 11 different public health outbreaks. They are monkeypox, cholera, flooding, influenza, Lassa fever, measles, yellow fever, hepatitis E, and the Crimean - Congo hemorrhagic fever.

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to public health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites can change their make-up and become resistant to the drugs that are used to treat them, such as antibiotics. One major challenge the continent faces is the lack of data to provide insight into the extent of the problem. In this episode of Africa Science Focus, African Society for Laboratory Medicine virologist Pascale Ondoa explains the implications of drug resistance for Africa's health systems. And Yewande Alimi from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention tells us why over-reliance on antimicrobial medicines, particularly without a diagnosis, is a key reason for the rise of superbugs.  This piece was produced by SciDev.Net's Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.Do you have any comments, questions or feedback about our podcast episodes? Let us know at podcast@scidev.net

Africa's top public health agency says it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Pfizer for countries on the continent to receive supplies of the Paxlovid pill to treat COVID-19. The acting director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, says the MOU would allow African countries to access Paxlovid at cost. The World Health Organization says that deaths in the continent from COVID-19 are expected to fall by nearly 94 per cent in 2022 compared with last year.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat convened the U.S.-AU Commission High-Level Dialogue to discuss a strengthened partnership to tackle shared challenges. The State Department says the meeting targets the COVID-19 pandemic and health security, the climate crisis, the imperative to advance inclusive global economic growth and support for resilient democracies. A statement issued by the White House outlined an updated Memorandum of Cooperation that was agreed with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to expand cooperation on a range of public health issues.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer is set to supply Africa's top health body with its coronavirus pill. The drug - Paxlovid - is intended for use soon after symptoms develop in people at high risk of severe disease. Africa CDC director John Nkengasong says Paperwork for the deal between the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Pfizer is now in the hands of the African Union's legal office - after which a formal announcement will be made. He urged health ministries to adopt robust measures spanning vaccines and testing plus the treatments by Pfizer as well as Merck, whose molnupiravir coronavirus pill he said the Africa CDC was also seeking.

Dr. Nkengasong, Director of the Africa CDC and soon to be head of PEPFAR joined us for this 123rd episode, and the first episode of our Live From Munich mini-series, a collection of episodes recorded at the Munich Security Conference. He is a leader in the initiative to incorporate global health in security discussions like the Munich Security Conference. “We have seen how an outbreak of a disease can truly be a health security matter, and also human security, as well as even going as far as a national security threat.” The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us “the need for us to look at the security from a human perspective”, that “we are more connected as humanity”, and “the inequalities that we thought existed are more profound within countries between countries and between regions than we thought”. As North America and Europe begin this murky transition to the next stage of the pandemic, Dr. Nkengasong is concerned that we will “begin to refer to COVID as a disease that will soon be over in the US. And then of course, because of that, it becomes one of the neglected tropical diseases where we now have to rely on foundations or charity to take care of.” He recently called for a pause in vaccine donations: “we're saying that we have a lot of vaccines in the country. Now our problem is vaccination”. “I'm a big believer in that we should always pause to evaluate where we are in response, and then make corrective actions”. How will Africa overcome its major challenge of vaccine hesitancy? “I think every good public health practice as you and I know is local. The concepts are global, but in practice is local, which means Africa must take its own socio-cultural context and deal with it and then find the touchpoints” Dr. John Nkengasong is the Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and has been nominated by President Biden to be the next head of the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator in charge of PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.  

Countries are closing their borders and imposing travel restrictions in a race to contain the new Omicron Covid-19 variant. While little is known about it, there are fears it may be highly infectious and more resistant to vaccines. So, are governments prepared to deal with an ever-changing virus? Join host Dareen Abughaida. With guests: Dr. Deepti Gurdasani - Senior Lecturer, Queen Mary University of London.  Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma - Deputy Director, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.  Michael Jacobs - Professor of Political Economy, University of Sheffield. 

South Africa said on Friday a British ban on flights from six southern African countries over a new Covid-19 variant seemed rushed, as EU authorities prepared similar moves and the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an emergency meeting. Scientists have so far only detected the B.1.1.529 variant in relatively small numbers, mainly in South Africa but also in Botswana and Hong Kong, but say they are concerned by its high number of mutations which could possibly make it vaccine-resistant and more transmissible. Britain said the variant was the most significant one found yet after banning flights from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia from midday on Friday. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aimed to halt air travel from the region, describing the variant in a tweet as "of concern". A WHO working group on virus evolution is due to meet on Friday to discuss whether to officially give it that label, a designation only given to four variants so far. WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said in a video posted on Twitter that it could take a few weeks to understand the impact of the variant's mutations. The rand slumped over 2% against the dollar early on Friday, as the variant unnerved investors. South African hospitality stocks also plummeted. South Africa will speak to British authorities to try to get them to reconsider their ban, the foreign ministry in Pretoria said. "Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries," Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement. As Asian countries also moved to tighten curbs, two Welsh rugby clubs in South Africa for a tournament scrambled to leave as soon as possible, and British and Irish golfers withdrew from the Johannesburg Open. South Africa - the worst affected in Africa in terms of total reported Covid cases and deaths - had been experiencing a lull after a severe third wave of infections, until last week when new infections started to pick up. On Thursday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported 2 465 new cases, almost double the previous day's number. Although the NICD did not link the resurgence to the B.1.1.529 variant, leading local scientists suspect it is the cause. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention strongly discouraged travel bans on countries that had reported the variant. "Imposing bans on travellers from countries where a new variant is reported has not yielded a meaningful outcome," it said.

The African Union's health warned that Britain's pandemic travel restrictions could make people across the continent more reluctant to get vaccinated.Britain under the restrictions only recognises vaccines administered in a few countries.John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says the message passed regarding the vaccine creates confusion within the population creating more reticence, reluctance for people to receive vaccines.

The African Union's health warned that Britain's pandemic travel restrictions could make people across the continent more reluctant to get vaccinated.Britain under the restrictions only recognises vaccines administered in a few countries.John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says the message passed regarding the vaccine creates confusion within the population creating more reticence, reluctance for people to receive vaccines.

The African Union's health warned that Britain's pandemic travel restrictions could make people across the continent more reluctant to get vaccinated.Britain under the restrictions only recognises vaccines administered in a few countries.John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says the message passed regarding the vaccine creates confusion within the population creating more reticence, reluctance for people to receive vaccines.

Calls have been made nationally for a protest against possible plans for Covid-19 vaccine passports.  This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government was considering the idea of requiring citizens to produce proof of vaccination against Covid-19 to access certain activities, events and venues. In response to the announcement, protesters under the World Wide Rally For Freedom banner said they would join the global protest against vaccine passports taking place on Saturday. But Prof Keymanthri  Moodley, a Distinguished Professor in the department of medicine and the director of the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law at Stellenbosch University, explains that the idea of a so-called “vaccine passport” is not a new concept in SA and may be an ethical imperative.  With only 3.5% of Africa now vaccinated according to the latest figures from the Africa Centres for Disease Control, and economies across the continent taking strain, the drive to ensure public safety quickly is critical.  

As wealthy countries stockpiled COVID-19 vaccines, 50 percent of adults in Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom have now been fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, vaccination rates remain extremely low in countries across Africa, where fewer than two percent of the continent's people have been fully vaccinated. With 47 of Africa's 54 countries expected to miss a September target of vaccinating 10 percent of their citizens, how can we bridge the vaccine gap threatening the continent? The director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr John Nkengasong, talks to Al Jazeera. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Africa's top health body has strongly criticised the European Union's decision to exclude AstraZeneca vaccines made in India from their Green Pass programme for travellers.The director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, says the EU's move was not driven by science and data because vaccines produced in India have not proven to be less efficient than those in the EU.The World Health Organization says it is in talks with the EU to resolve the matter, but insisted that individual EU states still have the flexibility to accept vaccines that have been authorized by the WHO, such as Covishield, the India-produced AstraZeneca vaccine.The EU's Digital Covid certificate comes into effect today with the aim to facilitate travel during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As Gauteng faces a third wave of covid infections that is starting to resemble a tsunami the slow pace of the country's vaccine rollout is brought into sharp and deadly relief. A major component of the slow rollout hinges on vaccine access. And although COVAX has distributed almost 40 million doses of vaccine to 110 countries and economies, vaccine nationalism, vaccine diplomacy and severe supply constraints have so far prevented COVAX from realizing its full potential. The World Health Organization (WHO) and its COVAX partners are working with a South African consortium comprising Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a network of universities and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish its first COVID mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub. Michael Avery talks to Dr Martin Friede, Coordinator of the Initiative for Vaccine Research, WHO and the lead of the Long-Term Sustainable Manufacturing Workstream, COVAX Manufacturing Taskforce; Dr Morena Makhoana, Biovac CEO and Dr Stavros Nicolaou, head of the health working group for B4SA (Business 4 South Africa) about the first mRNA Hub in South Africa.

Africa appears to have been relatively spared in the pandemic so far, but plans to have at least 30% of the continent's populations vaccinated by the end of 2021 seem far away. Hardtalk speaks to John Nkengasong, the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Countries in Africa are facing a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines as their main supplier, India, focuses on its own needs. There are calls for African scientists to develop and produce their own vaccines, and fears that without shots in arms, mutations and fresh outbreaks could create a crisis that goes global. We talk to Dr. Githinji Gitahi, global CEO of Amref Health Africa and a board member of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention; and Dr. Christian Happi, director of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases.

The World Health Organization has urged African countries not to destroy Covid-19 vaccines that may have passed their expiry date.Countries have been told to keep hold of them and wait for further guidance.The appeal comes after Malawi and South Sudan said they would destroy more than 70,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab because they expired in mid-April.The Africa Centres for Disease Control says it had been assured the doses were safe to use.Many vaccines can be used up to 36 months after manufacture, but because Covid-19 jabs are so new there is not enough data to prove their effectiveness over longer periods.The final decision on whether to use expired jabs rests with national drug regulators, the BBC's health reporter in Nairobi, Rhoda Odhiambo, notes.The roll-out of coronavirus vaccines across Africa has been slow, partly because of supply issues and wider scepticism about the jab.

Can health facilities use COVID vaccines that have expired? We ask the Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Also in vaccine news, we hear of a new jab that promises to be a superpower in the fight against malaria Who are the rebel groups roaming Chad and what do they want? Analysis by Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime's Alex Bish More than one hundred and seventy people trying to reach Europe from Libya feared drowned in the Mediterranean. We'll hear from the people who tried to rescue them.

The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong says the African Union has dropped plans to secure COVID-19 vaccines from the Serum Institute of India for African nations and is exploring options with Johnson & Johnson.John Nkengasong says the institute will still supply the AstraZeneca vaccine to Africa through the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility but the African Union would seek additional supplies from Johnson & Johnson.Nkengasong says the possible link had nothing to do with the African Union’s decision. He says the bloc of 55 member states shifted its efforts to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine citing the deal signed last week to secure up to 400 million doses beginning in the third quarter of this year.

In this episode, Katherine E. Bliss and J. Stephen Morrison speak with Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa CDC. The African continent has not seen the high Covid-19 caseload many feared at the beginning of the pandemic. We hear some reasons for this, what the lessons from Africa's experience with HIV tell us about the steps needed to enable African countries to effectively control the pandemic, and how leadership from the continent is working with COVAX, pharmaceutical companies, and global partners to obtain the vaccines they need.   Dr. John Nkengasong currently serves as the first Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). He is a leading virologist with nearly 30 years of work experience in public health. He joined our other podcast, Coronavirus Crisis Update, in May last year.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says the Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine is safe.But it's advising countries that have a significant circulation of the 501.V2 covid-19 variant discovered in South Africa to make preparations to roll out other jabs instead.However, this contradicts World Health Organization recommendations.The WHO says countries which are dealing with new variants SHOULD press ahead with the Oxford vaccine because it's likely to prevent severe disease, hospitalisations and deaths.The Africa CDC says South Africa's decision to pause its use of Oxford/AstraZeneca doses will not change the continent's plans to procure the vaccine as planned.It's due to secure at least 600 million vaccine doses - including Oxford/AstraZeneca's. SABC Coletta wanjohi reports from Addis Ababa ....

The continent’s health agency says most countries in Africa should still roll out the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, despite concerns over its use against a coronavirus variant that emerged in South Africa.John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says they will not be walking away from AstraZeneca vaccines at all.Dr Nkengasong says the variant had now been found in six other African countries - Botswana, Comoros, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia.He advised that with no evidence that it was dominant in any of those countries and other African nations to still use the vaccine.South Africa has delayed the start of its vaccination campaign, which was due to start this week.

In this edition of Straight Talk Africa guest host Vincent Makori examines the impact of a second wave of the coronavirus in Africa. His guests are Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma Deputy Director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and Tolbert G. Nyenswah Senior Research Associate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Former Deputy Minister of Health, Emergencies and Epidemic Control of Liberia.

The continent’s health watchdog on Thursday said African governments must take urgent steps to prepare for distribution of coronavirus vaccines after the African Union announced it had secured 270 million doses.Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, told a press conference that they cannot wait as economies are down and people are dying.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having severe public health, economic and social impacts around the world, and Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called this public health emergency a “looming disaster” for the African continent. The Africa CDC has been at the forefront of limiting the health impact of the pandemic, coordinating efforts of member states, sourcing medical equipment globally and locally for countries on the continent, and providing guidelines on how countries can implement social distancing measures among other efforts. Delivering this mandate within the varying contexts of African countries is not without its challenges. Host Albert Zeufack, Chief Economist for the Africa Region at the World Bank, invites Dr. Nkengasong to tell us about the measures they are taking to fight the pandemic under these circumstances.

We are joined by Dr. Githinji Gitahi, CEO of Amref Health Africa, for a discussion on how to strengthen health systems in Africa, using Kenya as a national case study. We will look at how Amref works in partnership with the public, private, and social sector to increase sustainable health access to communities through solutions in human resources for health, health services delivery, and investments in health. With an eye to entrepreneurial and sustainable approaches, and amid the backdrop of a protracted COVID-19 crisis, a powerful economic and health impact case is to be made for investing in community health system strengthening.Amref Health Africa, is the leading health development international NGO in Africa, headquartered in Africa since 1957. It reaches more than 12 million beneficiaries annually over through 150 health projects in 35 countries of Africa.A passionate advocate for pro-poor Universal Health Coverage, Dr. Githinji Gitahi joined Amref Health Africa as the Global Chief Executive Officer in June 2015. Until his appointment to Amref Health Africa, Dr. Gitahi was the Vice President and Regional Director for Africa, Smile Train International. Prior to that, Dr. Gitahi was Managing Director for Monitor Publications in Uganda as well as General Manager for Marketing and Circulation in East Africa for the Nation Media Group. Dr. Gitahi is Co-Chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee, a global World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO) initiative for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). He is a member of the Governing Board of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and prevention (Africa CDC), a specialized technical institution under the African Union. He serves as a member of the Africa Union's COVID19 Response Committee. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Standard Group in Kenya, and was recently appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees of Safaricom Foundation.Dr. Gitahi Bachelor's Degree in Medicine from the University of Nairobi; a Master's degree in Business Administration, majoring in Marketing, from United States International University and has a Certificate for Strategic Perspectives for Nonprofit Management from Harvard University. In 2018, Dr. Githinji received a presidential commendation, ‘Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear' (MBS) in recognition of outstanding contribution to the health sector in his continuing work at the helm of Amref Health Africa.