Latest news with #lowincomecountries
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Axmed and Every Pregnancy announce transformative partnership to enhance access to affordable essential medicines for mothers and babies affected by conflict and crisis
WASHINGTON, July 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Axmed, a health technology venture revolutionizing access to medicines and health products through an innovative procurement platform, and Every Pregnancy, a global, faith-based coalition that provides health services to mothers and babies affected by conflict and crisis, today announced a strategic partnership to bring affordable, quality medicines to mothers and babies who need them most. Approximately 92% of maternal deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. In these regions, pregnant women are dying from preventable causes due to lack of access to and high costs of essential medicines and health supplies. Families in low-income countries often pay more than double for the same medicines as families in high-income settings. This new collaboration will provide Every Pregnancy partners access to affordable and quality medicines through Axmed's pioneering B2B marketplace. Together, Every Pregnancy and Axmed will break down systemic barriers that prevent medicines from reaching mothers and newborns – including fragmented supply chains, missed demand, and the limited purchasing power of local NGOs who are best positioned to meet the needs of local populations. "No mother or newborn should die simply because of where they live or how much they earn," said Emmanuel Akpakwu, Founder & CEO of Axmed. "Through our partnership with Every Pregnancy, we're combining cutting-edge procurement and supply technology with a powerful network of frontline maternal health providers to drive systemic change – faster, smarter, and at the scale this crisis demands." Through its tech-enabled procurement platform, Axmed aggregates demand from public, private, and nonprofit health care procurers, enabling bulk purchasing directly from qualified manufacturers and drastically reducing costs and improving the quality of products. By partnering with Every Pregnancy, Axmed extends its platform's reach and impact in over 20 countries with high burdens of maternal mortality – including Nigeria, Sudan, Pakistan, Palestine, and more. "This is what it looks like when community power and innovation work hand-in-hand," said Isra Chaker, CEO of Every Pregnancy. "Our collaboration with Axmed is about more than access – it's about equity, justice, and building responsive health care systems that save lives." The Axmed–Every Pregnancy partnership marks a turning point in equitable health care delivery for moms and babies, so that one day, every mother and child will have access to the quality care they deserve. About Axmed: Axmed is a technology-enabled marketplace revolutionizing how medicines and health products are sourced, financed, procured, and delivered across low- and middle-income countries. By digitizing large-scale procurement and aggregating demand across diverse procurers, Axmed enables direct access to a trusted network of local and international prequalified suppliers. Visit About Every Pregnancy: Every Pregnancy is a faith–inspired initiative committed to ensuring safe pregnancies and healthy newborns in areas impacted by conflict or crisis. The organization unites a coalition of over 40 faith–inspired philanthropists and NGOs across the U.S., U.K., Canada, Pakistan, Yemen, and beyond. Visit Media inquiries: info@ or comms@ Photo - View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Axmed; Every Pregnancy Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Mail & Guardian
15-07-2025
- Health
- Mail & Guardian
Loneliness and isolation – the hidden threat to health we cannot ignore
Graphic: John McCann/M&G Around the world, an invisible threat is increasing the risk of disease, shortening lives and fraying the fabric of our communities. Social disconnection — when a person lacks sufficient social contact, feels unsupported in their existing relationships or experiences negative or strained connections — is an increasingly serious but often overlooked danger to health and well-being. There are several forms of social disconnection, including loneliness and social isolation. Today, about one in six people globally report feeling lonely. Among adolescents and young adults, as well as people living in low-income countries, the rate is higher. But loneliness and social isolation are not just emotional states — they can be lethal. From 2014 to 2019, loneliness was associated with more than 871,000 deaths annually — equivalent to 100 deaths an hour. We now have irrefutable evidence that social health — our ability to form and maintain meaningful human connections — is just as essential to our well-being as physical and mental health. Yet for too long, it has been ignored by health systems and policymakers alike. The Humans are hardwired for connection. From our earliest years, relationships shape our brains, our emotions and our chances of living a healthy life. Conversely, disconnection, whether through loneliness or social isolation, can have devastating effects. It increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, depression, anxiety, dementia and premature death. It can also result in poor school and work performance, and costs economies and societies billions a year. But the good news is that solutions exist. The commission's report outlines interventions that work — from national policies and community programmes to campaigns and individual support strategies. It highlights a range of successful examples: peer-to-peer support for low-income older people in South Africa; 'social prescribing' of activities to older adults in the Republic of Korea such as music storytelling, gardening and self-help groups; integrating social connection into broader development policy in Djibouti; embedding it as part of ageing policies in Albania and in mental health policy in Spain; establishing dedicated national strategies in countries such as Denmark, Germany, Japan, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden; and campaigns to encourage small acts of kindness in Australia, Great Britain and the United States. We call on all countries to prioritise social connection. This is not only about personal health and well-being. It is also a cornerstone of economic prosperity, national resilience and social cohesion. Societies that foster trust and connection are more innovative, more secure and better able to respond to crises. The Covid-19 pandemic brought this truth into stark relief. As lockdowns forced physical separation, the human need for connection became unmistakable — and so did the costs of its absence. The WHO Commission proposes a global roadmap built around five key pillars: policy, research, interventions, measurement and engagement. The key actions it calls for are to develop national policies that integrate social connection into health, education and labour agendas; invest in research to better understand what works; scale up culturally relevant and cost-effective interventions; collect better data to track the problem and measure progress; and build a global movement to change attitudes and reduce stigma. It is critical that this movement include the voices of those who have endured the pain of loneliness and social isolation because they understand what real solutions look like. As leaders, we cannot afford to remain passive. Every day we delay is another day of lost potential, unnecessary suffering and preventable death. But if we act boldly, collaboratively and compassionately, and on a large scale, we can build healthier, more connected and more resilient societies. Social health is not a luxury. It is a human need. And it must be a political priority. is the director-general of the World Health Organisation; is the co-chair of the WHO Commission on Social Connection, adviser on youth and women to the chair of the African Union; and is the co-chair of the WHO Commission on Social Connection, and was the 19th and 21st surgeon general of the United States.
Mail & Guardian
13-07-2025
- Health
- Mail & Guardian
Climate crisis puts older adults at high risk from extreme heat, Unep warns
Older people face increasing health risks from extreme heat as climate change intensifies, the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has warned. (Envato Elements) Older people face In the latest edition of its The report highlights other effects of climate change, including the melting of glaciers that reawaken ancient pathogens and floods that risk releasing dangerous chemicals, as well as potential solutions to these emerging environmental issues. Older people are The global population aged 65 and older is projected to increase from 10% in 2024 to 16% by 2050, primarily in low and middle-income countries, the report notes. Concurrently, climate change is exacerbating risks such as The world is also becoming 'A rising number of cities will therefore soon face the new reality of increasingly ageing urban dwellers. Maintaining good health and vitality is crucial at any age and minimising risk factors for diseases become even more critical as we age,' the report said. 'In addition to the genetic, physiological, behavioural and social influences, environmental conditions play a crucial role, especially in cities that bring together a high concentration of a variety of environmental health risks.' The risks of respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and the increased risk of mortality, become particularly acute for frail people with reduced mobility and chronic health issues. Air pollution and chemical contamination increase the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, dementia, depression and anxiety. Poverty, crowded cities and social isolation also raise the vulnerability of older people. The report recommends transforming cities into age-friendly, pollution-free, resilient, accessible spaces with expansive vegetation through better urban planning. Investing in weather stations to monitor extreme heat is critical to protect lives while community-based disaster risk management and access to information are key approaches to help aging people adapt successfully to climate change, it said. The report follows the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution 58/13 to develop an 'international legally binding instrument on the human rights of older persons'. Zombie microbes It warns of the ' Should global temperatures rise more than 2˚C above pre-industrial levels, this would significantly reduce the cryosphere in mass, which includes glaciers, seasonal snow, ice sheets and shelves, sea ice, seasonally frozen ground, and permafrost. 'In a best-case scenario, it would take centuries for cryosphere conditions to return.' The cryosphere is surprisingly rich in ancient life, including fungi, bacteria, and viruses, of which some are pathogens. Much of this life is currently dormant. Warming could reactivate and remobilise modern and ancient microorganisms in cryospheric environments. 'Some might thrive, modifying existing microbial communities, while some might not survive resulting in a loss of microbial can enhance the powers of existing pathogens through natural gene transfers, resulting in heightened risk of antimicrobial resistance,' said the report. Cryospheric regions are home to 670 million people. This population could rise to 844 million by 2050, spanning the Alps, the Andes, Greenland, Hindu Kush Himalaya, Siberia, and the Tibetan Plateau as well as billions more who live in areas with water originating from those frozen areas. To slow down the decline of the cryosphere, the report recommends cutting greenhouse gas emissions — including black carbon emissions from diesel engines — open-field agricultural burning, and wildfires and limiting tourism in fragile frozen regions. Scientific research must also accelerate into the diversity of cryospheric microorganisms that will not survive the cryosphere's decline. Banned chemicals re-emerge Global climate change is contributing to longer, more severe, and more frequent floods. A flood can carry significant volumes of sediment and debris, the report said. Sediments and debris often include common inorganic When floods occur, these can re-enter cities or the food system. The persistent nature of these chemicals means even banned and phased-out chemicals can be remobilised. In recent years, extreme rainfall and subsequent flooding have demonstrated their ability to remobilise legacy pollutants accumulated in the environment. Extensive petroleum operations and incidences of oil spills in the Niger Delta of Nigeria over decades has led to severe contamination with ecological and human health consequences, the report said. A catastrophic flood event in the Niger Delta in 2012 mobilised sediments contaminated with After the worst flooding in more than 100 years The same flood also mobilised legacy radionuclides and heavy metal pollutants from former uranium-mining waste dumps and tailing ponds in the Elbe region. The Pakistan flood of 2010 inundated a fifth of the country's total land area. It, together with a series of smaller flash floods, swept away a significant but unknown portion of 2 835 metric tonnes of 'The release of these obsolete chemicals into the environment will likely cause further contamination in soils, water, and sediments, and the damage needs to be monitored and assessed,' the report said. Effective measures to reduce this imminent risk include traditional control measures like polders, dikes and retention basins, improved drainage systems, nature-based solutions like the sponge-city approach, regular monitoring of pollutants in diverse locations and products, and studying and tackling the economic impacts of this kind of pollution. The risk of ageing dams Another emerging threat the report addresses is the risk of ageing dams. It notes that alongside many benefits, dams can harm indigenous and fishing-dependent communities, as well as degrade ecosystems. There are about 62 000 large dams and millions of smaller barriers that exist worldwide, with expected effects on 90% of the world's river volume by 2030. Large ageing dams are increasingly being removed in Europe and North America, once they become unsafe, obsolete, or economically unviable. Greater natural river connectivity means healthier ecosystems and greater biodiversity, renewing species' access to tens or even hundreds of kilometres of upstream habitats. The report noted, however, that where urbanisation, industrial agriculture or deforestation are common, dam removal alone may not significantly improve a river's health. Large dam removals have the largest impact, though removing multiple small barriers may result in similar effects. Adhering to the UN's principles for ecosystem-restoration initiatives when considering the removal of river barriers is critical, the report said.
Telegraph
10-07-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Breakthrough HIV jab to be supplied to millions at knock-down price
The drug company behind a revolutionary new anti-HIV jab has signed a deal to supply the costly injection at a knock-down price to as many as two million people in poorer countries. Gilead Sciences said it would supply lenacapavir at cost to countries mainly in Africa which are supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The preventative jab was hailed as the scientific breakthrough of 2024 and a potential turning point in the campaign to stem the HIV epidemic, which still kills around one person per minute. Clinical trials have shown lenacapavir provides total protection against catching the HIV virus for six months and may last twice that time. The long-lasting nature of the new pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) means it is more effective and more discreet than current daily pills. Yet the £18,300 ($25,000) per-year price has put the injection beyond the reach of countries most in need. Gilead last year signed royalty-free deals allowing six generic drug makers to make and sell low-cost versions of the drug in 120 low- and middle-income countries, but those supplies will take time to get up and running. 'This is not just a scientific breakthrough, it's a turning point for HIV/AIDS,' said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund. 'For the first time, we have a tool that can fundamentally change the trajectory of the HIV epidemic, but only if we get it to the people who need it most. 'Our ambition is to reach 2 million people with long-acting PrEP.' The agreement was finalised as the United Nations warned that the sudden withdrawal of American aid money used to fight the epidemic had caused a 'systemic shock'. Donald Trump's cuts to America's long running anti-HIV campaign could lead to more than 4 million AIDS-related deaths and 6 million more HIV infections by 2029 if the funding is not replaced. The UN's own UNAIDS agency said: 'The current wave of funding losses has already destabilised supply chains, led to the closure of health facilities, left thousands of health clinics without staff, set back prevention programs, disrupted HIV testing efforts and forced many community organisations to reduce or halt their HIV activities.' The first lenacapavir jabs are expected to be delivered under the new agreement later this year and will be prioritised according to national prevention plans, which typically try to protect the most vulnerable groups, such as young women. Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa's health minister, said: 'Lenacapavir offers young women, and everyone at risk, a discreet, long-acting option to stay HIV-free. 'For far too long, women and girls in our country have carried the greatest burden of this epidemic. 'But scientific breakthroughs must be backed by political will, community leadership, and sustained investment. We are determined to ensure no one is left behind.' Both Gilead and the Global Fund said price terms of the agreement were confidential, and the Global Fund declined to comment further on how many doses would be ordered immediately. Last month, Winnie Byanyima, the head of UNAIDS, said the two million target was not enough. She said: 'We need that product. Gilead has licenced six companies to produce generics and has agreed to sell at cost quantities for two million people. But it is way below what is needed.'
CBC
10-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
Trump stopped the global fight against HIV/AIDS in its tracks. Canada can help fix it
Winnie Byanyima is trying to hold onto hope in the face of what she calls unbelievable cruelty. She is the director of UNAIDS, the United Nations agency that, until recently, was on track to meet its target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. But now, as President Donald Trump's second administration rapidly and dramatically scales back U.S. foreign aid contributions, UNAIDS is instead predicting in a new report that there will be six million new HIV infections and four million additional deaths within the next four years alone. "It's just so cruel," Byanyima told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. "It was not necessary to withdraw funding for life-saving services so suddenly." But these dire predictions, she says, are not set in stone. The fight against HIV/AIDS can get back on track if the international community, including Canada, steps up. Canada should lead the way, doctors say In February, the U.S. abruptly severed ties with UNAIDS effectively halting two-thirds of all international financing for HIV prevention in low- and middle-income countries. The latest report from UNAIDS — AIDS, Crisis and the Power to Transform — outlines how many of the countries impacted by those cuts have responded by increasing their own domestic HIV/AIDS treatment budgets and folding what was once the work of global charities into their local health-care systems. "They're all finding innovative ways of plugging the hole, but the hole is big," Byanyima said. "Let's not make mistakes about it. We do need all the countries of the world to maintain their support to fight and end this disease." Public health experts in this country say Canada should lead the way. Dr. Eric Arts is the Canada Research Chair in viral control at Western University in London, Ont., where he also heads up the school's partnership with the Joint Clinical Research Centre, a Ugandan research institute and health clinic. Through that work, he's seen first-hand the impact of the U.S. funding freeze: Mass layoffs, financial uncertainty, patients stopping and starting their treatment haphazardly based on the whims of faraway bureaucrats. Still, he says it's time to look inward, not outward. "There's always too much emphasis on blaming the U.S.," Arts told CBC. "I mean, yes, they're the root of the problem now. But we have a solution. And the solution is easy." Canada, he says, should double its funding to the Global Fund — the international organization that distributes funds worldwide to combat HIV, tuberculosis and malaria — and push other G7 countries to do the same. In 2022, Canada increased Global Fund contributions by 30 per cent, pledged $1.21 billion for 2023 to 2025. But it's still a drop in the bucket compared to the roughly $8 bllion the U.S. pledged at the same time, and which is unlikely to be renewed. WATCH | B.C. doctor predicts millions of deaths because of U.S. aid cuts: B.C. doctor worries USAID cuts will lead to 6 million more HIV deaths over 4 years 3 months ago Duration 11:38 Dr. Julio Montaner, who is the physician-in-chief for the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, says that he is dumbfounded and devastated by the U.S. administration's decision to cut funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Montaner says the decision will lead to a significant uptick in HIV cases across the globe. 'An act of criminal negligence' Dr. Julio Montaner, executive director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, agrees. He was one of the people who helped develop the multi-drug cocktail of antiretrovirals that have become the gold standard for HIV treatment, and he helped establish the criteria the UN uses for its 2030 target. For a long time, he says, that "made in Canada" strategy was working worldwide. Fewer people were contracting HIV, and thanks to antiretrovirals, people living with HIV were not transmitting it. A huge part of that, he says, was because of the funding from the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), which has financed about 70 per cent of the global AIDS response since it was founded in 2003 by former president George W. Bush. PEPFAR is also on the U.S. chopping block. "Walking away from that commitment on a short notice and without a plan is an act of criminal negligence," Montaner said. "I demand that my country actually raises the flag and demonstrates that we can do it in Canada, and support the world. Because, in four years, the Americans are going to wake up. And if we don't cover for the absence, the world is going to be much, much worse than it is today." Trump himself has called on other countries to pick up the slack from his cuts, which he described as "devastating." "The United States always gets the request for money," he said in May."Nobody else helps." A global disease needs a global solution: UN director It's not solely a matter of helping people in other countries, says Arts. "If Canada or any other G7 country or G20 country thinks that we can do this and not have it reach our borders, then they're crazy," he said. "This will be another global pandemic if we can't, we don't, provide treatment." Global Affairs Canada was unable to respond to a request for comment before deadline. Byanyima, meanwhile, is currently in South Africa, which she says has boosted its domestic budget for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in the face of U.S. cuts, and is working to establish a chronic medicine dispensing and distribution system. Seeing that response, she says, gives her hope. But it's not enough.
