Tag: UNICEF

WHO roots for efficient malaria vaccines distribution

Frank

SWITZERLAND – The WHO has approved the RTS,S vaccine, for widespread use among Sub-Saharan African children and other regions with moderate to high malaria transmission rates, but now, the international agency has expressed that overcoming distribution hurdles will be critical to the vaccine’s success. Moving forward, WHO has warned that the rapid deployment of the malaria vaccine will be dependent on how quickly countries adopt the treatment and their availability of resources to support its rollout. The novel vaccine offers effective protection against Plasmodium falciparum, the deadly and widespread malaria…

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UK government bolsters Covid-19 response in Uganda with over 700K liters of oxygen

Frank

UGANDA – The UK has officially handed over 100 oxygen cylinders to Uganda’s National Medical Stores, to provide lifesaving treatment to COVID-19 patients in Uganda. This support is part of the £500,000 (over US$708,000) that the UK committed to UNICEF Uganda’s COVID-19 appeal in July 2021. The money, which was provided to rapidly increase Uganda’s oxygen delivery capacity and build its production capability, will go towards the procurement of one hundred 7,500-litre oxygen cylinders for hospitals in the country and the provision of operational support to 4 oxygen plants for…

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Emirates SkyCargo clinches global milestone transporting pharma products

Frank

DUBAI – Emirates SkyCargo, the world leader in temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical air transport, has achieved a remarkable operational milestone having moved over 400 million kilos of pharmaceuticals in just five years. Emirates SkyCargo has raised the bar in the air cargo industry for the safe and efficient transport of pharmaceuticals in September 2016 by launching its dedicated GDP certified pharma handling facility at Dubai International Airport and unveiling its three-tiered specialized product – Emirates Pharma. Emirates SkyCargo launched the pharma corridors initiative across select destinations on its network in response to…

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WHO partners UN in curbing deaths and diseases driven by environmental risk factors

Frank

SWITZERLAND – WHO, UNDP, UNEP and UNICEF have partnered to create a new compendium of 500 actions aimed at reducing death and diseases driven by environmental risk factors, the first such resource to unite this expertise from across the UN. Environmental pollution and other environmental risks cause 24 per cent of deaths through, for example, heart disease, stroke, poisonings, traffic accidents, and others. This toll could be substantially reduced – even eliminated – through bold preventive action at national, regional, local and sector-specific levels. The repository presents actions and recommendations…

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Somalia receives boost of US$20 million from USAID to combat COVID-19

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SOMALIA – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has renewed its unwavering commitment to enhance the protection, health, and wellbeing of the most vulnerable children in Somalia by contributing an additional US$20 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). These funds will play an integral role in supporting the organization and its partners to boost local capacity and reinforce the resilience of communities and systems in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises facing the country. So far, USAID has made donations totaling to US$ 34.7…

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Thousands of children in Tigray at risk of death from malnutrition

Frank

ETHIOPIA – More than 100,000 children in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray could suffer from life-threatening malnutrition in the next 12 months, a 10-fold jump over average annual levels, the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said. UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado, speaking after returning from Tigray, said that one in two pregnant and breastfeeding women screened in the region were acutely malnourished, leaving them and their babies prone to sickness. “Our worst fears about the health and wellbeing of children in that conflicted region of northern Ethiopia are being confirmed,” she…

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UNICEF adds Sinovac to assortment of contracted COVID-19 vaccine suppliers

Frank

AFRICA – UNICEF has inked a long-term agreement with Sinovac for the supply of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine, the CoronaVac inactivated virus vaccine against coronavirus, on behalf of COVAX. This is the 8th supply agreement UNICEF has signed for COVID-19 vaccines. Previous agreements have been announced with the Serum Institute of India, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Human Vaccine, Moderna, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and Sinopharm. Through the supply agreement, UNICEF will have access to up to 200 million doses of the vaccine in 2021 to supply participating countries and territories in the COVAX Facility’s Advance Market…

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Cases of malnutrition among Madagascan children expected to increase fourfold

Frank

MADAGASCAR – The number of acutely malnourished children in Madagascar is likely to increase fourfold since the previous assessment conducted in October 2020, warn UNICEF and the UN World Food Programme (WFP). At least half a million children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished including 110,000 in severe condition, in drought-affected southern Madagascar, suffering irreversible damage to their growth and development. ‘’We need to double our efforts to curb this catastrophic rise in hunger but we cannot do it without significant funding resources and buy…

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UNICEF inks deal with Janssen Pharmaceutica to supply Covid-19 vaccine to AU

Frank

AFRICA – UNICEF has signed an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica to supply up to 220 million doses of the J&J single-dose vaccine for all 55 Member States of the African Union (AU) by the end of 2022. The agreement between UNICEF and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV will help implement the Advance Purchase Commitment (APC) signed between the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and Janssen in March of this year. This agreement secured an option to order another 180 million doses, bringing the maximum access up to a total of 400 million doses by the end of…

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Rwandese government to rollout mass basic childhood vaccination

Frank

RWANDA – The Ministry of Health, through Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), will carry out an extensive catch-up immunization campaign targeting children who have missed out on basic childhood vaccinations during lockdown. Due to Covid-19 related restrictions that affected mobility, the number of children vaccinated for BCG, Penta3 and Polio3 was lower than expected in 2020 according to a report by World Group Bank on Rwanda economic update of January 2021. According to figures from RBC, uptake of Penta3 and Polio3 vaccines experienced a decline of 10 per cent in May,…

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