Latest news with #JenniferRigby
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Contraceptives for poorest countries stuck in warehouses after US aid cuts
By Jennifer Rigby LONDON (Reuters) -Contraceptives that could help prevent millions of unwanted pregnancies in some of the world's poorest countries are stuck in warehouses because of U.S. aid cuts and could be destroyed, two aid industry sources and one former government official said. The stock, held in Belgium and Dubai, includes condoms, contraceptive implants, pills and intrauterine devices, together worth around $11 million, the sources told Reuters. It has been stalled since the Trump administration started cutting foreign aid as part of its 'America First' policy in February, as the U.S. government no longer wants to donate the contraceptives or pay the costs for delivery, they said. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has instead asked the contractor managing its health supply chain, Chemonics, to try to sell it, two of the sources said. An internal USAID memo, sent in April, said a quantity of contraceptives was being kept in warehouses and they should be "immediately transferred to another entity to prevent waste or additional costs". A senior U.S. State Department official told Reuters no decision had been made about the future of the contraceptives. They did not respond to questions about the reasons why the contraceptives were in storage or the impact of the U.S. aid cuts and delays. A spokesperson for Chemonics said they were unable to comment on USAID's plans, but added that the company is working with clients to deliver life-saving aid globally and would continue to support the U.S. government's global health supply chain priorities. The stock represents just under 20% of the supply of contraceptives bought annually by the U.S. for donation overseas, a former USAID official told Reuters. Selling or donating the contraceptives has been challenging, according to the former USAID official, although talks are ongoing. Another option on the table is destroying it, at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars. As time goes on, shelf-lives will also become an issue, one of the sources said. The sources told Reuters that one of the key delays is a lack of response from the U.S. government about what should be done with the stock. It had been destined largely for vulnerable women in sub-Saharan Africa, including young girls who face higher health risks from early pregnancy as well as those fleeing conflict or who otherwise could not afford or access the contraceptives, the sources added. The condoms also help stop the spread of HIV, the former USAID official said. "We cannot dwell on an issue for too long; when urgency and clarity don't align, we have to move on," said Karen Hong, chief of UNFPA's supply chain. She said the agency is now working on Plan B to help fill critical supply gaps.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
World Health Organization looks ahead to life without the US
By Jennifer Rigby and Emma Farge LONDON/GENEVA (Reuters) -Hundreds of officials from the World Health Organization will join donors and diplomats in Geneva from Monday with one question dominating their thoughts - how to cope with crises from mpox to cholera without their main funder, the United States. The annual assembly, with its week of sessions, votes and policy decisions, usually showcases the scale of the U.N. agency set up to tackle disease outbreaks, approve vaccines and support health systems worldwide. This year - since U.S. President Donald Trump started the year-long process to leave the WHO with an executive order on his first day in office in January - the main theme is scaling down. "Our goal is to focus on the high-value stuff," Daniel Thornton, the WHO's director of coordinated resource mobilisation, told Reuters. Just what that "high-value stuff" will be is up for discussion. Health officials have said the WHO's work in providing guidelines for countries on new vaccines and treatments for conditions from obesity to HIV will remain a priority. One WHO slideshow for the event, shared with donors and seen by Reuters, suggested work on approving new medicines and responding to outbreaks would be protected, while training programmes and offices in wealthier countries could be closed. The United States had provided around 18% of the WHO's funding. "We've got to make do with what we have," said one Western diplomat who asked not to be named. Staff have been getting ready - cutting managers and budgets - ever since Trump's January announcement in a rush of directives and aid cuts that have disrupted a string of multilateral pacts and initiatives. The year-long delay, mandated under U.S. law, means the U.S. is still a WHO member - its flag still flies outside the Geneva HQ - until its official departure date on January 21, 2026. Trump - who accused the WHO of mishandling COVID, which it denies - muddied the waters days after his statement by saying he might consider rejoining the agency if its staff "clean it up". But global health envoys say there has since been little sign of a change of heart. So the WHO is planning for life with a $600 million hole in the budget for this year and cuts of 21% over the next two-year period. CHINA TAKES LEAD As the United States prepares to exit, China is set to become the biggest provider of state fees - one of the WHO's main streams of funding alongside donations. China's contribution will rise from just over 15% to 20% of the total state fee pot under an overhaul of the funding system agreed in 2022. "We have to adapt ourselves to multilateral organisations without the Americans. Life goes on," Chen Xu, China's ambassador to Geneva, told reporters last month. Others have suggested this might be a time for an even broader overhaul, rather than continuity under a reshuffled hierarchy of backers. "Does WHO need all its committees? Does it need to be publishing thousands of publications each year?' said Anil Soni, chief executive of the WHO Foundation, an independent fund-raising body for the agency. He said the changes had prompted a re-examination of the agency's operations, including whether it should be focussed on details like purchasing petrol during emergencies. There was also the urgent need to make sure key projects do not collapse during the immediate cash crisis. That meant going to donors with particular interests in those areas, including pharmaceutical companies and philanthropic groups, Soni said. The ELMA Foundation, which focuses on children's health in Africa with offices in the U.S., South Africa and Uganda, has already recently stepped in with $2 million for the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network known as Gremlin - more than 700 labs which track infectious disease threats, he added. Other business at the assembly includes the rubber-stamping a historic agreement on how to handle future pandemics and drumming up more cash from donors at an investment round. But the focus will remain on funding under the new world order. In the run up to the event, a WHO manager sent an email to staff asking them to volunteer, without extra pay, as ushers. (Additional reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
World Health Organization looks ahead to life without the US
By Jennifer Rigby and Emma Farge LONDON/GENEVA (Reuters) -Hundreds of officials from the World Health Organization will join donors and diplomats in Geneva from Monday with one question dominating their thoughts - how to cope with crises from mpox to cholera without their main funder, the United States. The annual assembly, with its week of sessions, votes and policy decisions, usually showcases the scale of the U.N. agency set up to tackle disease outbreaks, approve vaccines and support health systems worldwide. This year - since U.S. President Donald Trump started the year-long process to leave the WHO with an executive order on his first day in office in January - the main theme is scaling down. "Our goal is to focus on the high-value stuff," Daniel Thornton, the WHO's director of coordinated resource mobilisation, told Reuters. Just what that "high-value stuff" will be is up for discussion. Health officials have said the WHO's work in providing guidelines for countries on new vaccines and treatments for conditions from obesity to HIV will remain a priority. One WHO slideshow for the event, shared with donors and seen by Reuters, suggested work on approving new medicines and responding to outbreaks would be protected, while training programmes and offices in wealthier countries could be closed. The United States had provided around 18% of the WHO's funding. "We've got to make do with what we have," said one Western diplomat who asked not to be named. Staff have been getting ready - cutting managers and budgets - ever since Trump's January announcement in a rush of directives and aid cuts that have disrupted a string of multilateral pacts and initiatives. The year-long delay, mandated under U.S. law, means the U.S. is still a WHO member - its flag still flies outside the Geneva HQ - until its official departure date on January 21, 2026. Trump - who accused the WHO of mishandling COVID, which it denies - muddied the waters days after his statement by saying he might consider rejoining the agency if its staff "clean it up". But global health envoys say there has since been little sign of a change of heart. So the WHO is planning for life with a $600 million hole in the budget for this year and cuts of 21% over the next two-year period. CHINA TAKES LEAD As the United States prepares to exit, China is set to become the biggest provider of state fees - one of the WHO's main streams of funding alongside donations. China's contribution will rise from just over 15% to 20% of the total state fee pot under an overhaul of the funding system agreed in 2022. "We have to adapt ourselves to multilateral organisations without the Americans. Life goes on," Chen Xu, China's ambassador to Geneva, told reporters last month. Others have suggested this might be a time for an even broader overhaul, rather than continuity under a reshuffled hierarchy of backers. "Does WHO need all its committees? Does it need to be publishing thousands of publications each year?' said Anil Soni, chief executive of the WHO Foundation, an independent fund-raising body for the agency. He said the changes had prompted a re-examination of the agency's operations, including whether it should be focussed on details like purchasing petrol during emergencies. There was also the urgent need to make sure key projects do not collapse during the immediate cash crisis. That meant going to donors with particular interests in those areas, including pharmaceutical companies and philanthropic groups, Soni said. The ELMA Foundation, which focuses on children's health in Africa with offices in the U.S., South Africa and Uganda, has already recently stepped in with $2 million for the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network known as Gremlin - more than 700 labs which track infectious disease threats, he added. Other business at the assembly includes the rubber-stamping a historic agreement on how to handle future pandemics and drumming up more cash from donors at an investment round. But the focus will remain on funding under the new world order. In the run up to the event, a WHO manager sent an email to staff asking them to volunteer, without extra pay, as ushers. (Additional reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
RNZ News
03-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
WHO backs use of weight-loss drugs for adults globally, raises cost issue
By Jennifer Rigby, Reuters In clinical trials, people lost 15 percent to 20 percent of their body weight, depending on the drug. Photo: VADIM KUSHNEROV The World Health Organisation plans to officially back the use of weight-loss drugs to treat obesity in adults for the first time, a memo reviewed by Reuters on Thursday (US time) showed, marking a shift in its approach to treating the global health problem. The UN agency also called for strategies to improve access to the treatment in low- and middle-income countries. More than a billion people now have obesity worldwide, according to the WHO, and around 70 percent of them live in low and middle-income countries, the World Bank estimates. The wildly popular obesity drugs - Wegovy developed by Novo Nordisk and Zepbound by Eli Lilly - are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which mimic the activity of a hormone that slows digestion and helps people feel full for longer. In clinical trials, people lost 15 percent to 20 percent of their body weight, depending on the drug. The drugs were first launched in the United States with a monthly price tag of over US$1000 (NZ$1680), and still can cost hundreds of dollars in high-income countries. Studies suggest people may have to take the drugs for the rest of their lives to keep the weight off. "WHO has been working on a set of new recommendations for obesity prevention, care and treatment in different age groups "children, adolescents, and adults since 2022," a WHO spokesperson said in an email. The recommendations for the drugs, which will be finalised by August or September this year, will include "how and when this class of medications may be integrated as one component of a chronic care model that includes both clinical and lifestyle interventions". Eli Lilly said on Friday it was committed to expanding global access to its medicines without giving further detail. Novo Nordisk did not respond to a request for comment. Separately, WHO experts will also meet next week to decide whether to include the GLP-1 drugs in the agency's essential medicines list - both to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. The WHO's essential medicines list is a catalogue of the drugs that should be available in all functioning health systems, and it can help make drugs more widely available in poorer countries, as experts say happened in 2002 when HIV drugs were included. In 2023, the experts decided against adding obesity drugs to the list, with WHO saying more evidence was needed on their long-term clinical benefit. However, in the new memo recommending their use as a treatment, the agency says it supports including them on the list this time round. Still, the WHO also raises concerns over the cost of the drugs and calls for longer-term studies on cost-effectiveness "across all settings, including LMICs" (low- and middle-income countries). "The same mechanisms that are used in large-scale medicine access programmes may need to be adopted," to improve access, the WHO added, such as tiered pricing or pooled procurement. But it also noted that the active ingredient in one of the newer drugs, semaglutide - used in Novo's Wegovy - comes off patent in some markets next year. Several companies are planning to launch cheaper generic versions of the drugs then. Liraglutide, the active ingredient in the older generation of drugs, is already available as a lower-cost generic drug, with products approved in the US and Europe, the memo added. - Reuters
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Exclusive-WHO set to back use of weight-loss drugs for adults globally, raises cost issue
By Jennifer Rigby LONDON (Reuters) -The World Health Organization plans to officially back the use of weight-loss drugs to treat obesity in adults for the first time, a memo reviewed by Reuters on Thursday shows, marking a shift in its approach to treating the global health problem. The UN agency also called for strategies to improve access to the treatment in low- and middle-income countries. More than a billion people now have obesity worldwide, according to the WHO, and around 70% of them live in low and middle-income countries, the World Bank estimates. The wildly popular obesity drugs - Wegovy developed by Novo Nordisk and Zepbound by Eli Lilly - are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which mimic the activity of a hormone that slows digestion and helps people feel full for longer. In clinical trials, people lost 15% to 20% of their body weight, depending on the drug. The drugs have been launched in the United States and other high-income countries like Germany and Britain. But they can cost over $1,000 a month, and studies suggest people may have to take the drugs for the rest of their lives to keep the weight off. The WHO, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk were not immediately available for comment. The WHO's conditional recommendation will be officially released in August, as part of new guidelines on treating obesity. It is also working on separate guidelines for children and adolescents. Separately, WHO experts will also meet next week to decide whether to include the GLP-1 drugs in the agency's essential medicines list - both to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. The WHO's essential medicines list is a catalogue of the drugs that should be available in all functioning health systems, and it can help make drugs more widely available in poorer countries, as experts say happened in 2002 when HIV drugs were included. In 2023, the experts decided against adding obesity drugs to the list, with WHO saying more evidence was needed on their long-term clinical benefit. However, in the new memo recommending their use as a treatment, the agency says it supports including them on the list this time round. Still, the WHO also raises concerns over the cost of the drugs and calls for longer-term studies on cost-effectiveness "across all settings, including LMICs" (low- and middle-income countries). "The same mechanisms that are used in large-scale medicine access programmes may need to be adopted," to improve access, the WHO adds, such as tiered pricing or pooled procurement. But it also notes that the active ingredient in one of the newer drugs, semaglutide - used in Novo's Wegovy - comes off patent in some markets next year. Several companies are planning to launch cheaper generic versions of the drugs then. Liraglutide, the active ingredient in the older generation of drugs, is already available as a lower-cost generic drug, with products approved in the U.S. and Europe, the memo adds.
