By Oyeronke Oyebanji — Since the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was detected, the stark global inequities that have characterised this pandemic have once again come to the forefront. From discriminatory travel bans to limited access to vaccines, African countries are bearing the burden of this inequity. Almost one year after vaccine rollout began, donations of …
Abstract Rabies kills tens of thousands of people every year despite being entirely vaccine preventable. Key global health actors have launched a country-driven plan to achieve zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030 worldwide. This partnership has recently been strengthened by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’s decision to invest in human rabies vaccines for post-exposure prophylaxis …
Meningitis is an infectious and life-threatening bacterial disease that infects and inflames the brain and spinal cord. It’s a disease that the world has been able to prevent through vaccines for more than a decade – yet thousands of people are still dying from it in Africa. This year alone 750 people have died and …
In January, my daughter celebrated her second birthday. She ran around our apartment with cake on her face and a joyful grin. Pushing around in my wheelchair, I could not catch her, and it hit me again that I cannot run. I cannot even pick her up off the ground if she falls down. I …
The Ebola epidemic sweeping through West Africa is causing understandable panic in local communities and international concern about the future spread of this killer virus. Yet there’s another disease which has been more deadly this year. One that nearly cost me my medical career, and which – unlike Ebola – can be easily prevented. "This …