Stories

Establishing Pharmacovigilance for a New HIV Drug in Mozambique

June 15, 2020
{Photo Credit Fabrice Duhal}Photo Credit Fabrice Duhal

Monitoring patients who are taking a new medicine is critical for patient safety and an essential component of a well-functioning pharmaceutical sector. The USAID MTaPS Program is working in Mozambique to establish an active surveillance system to assess the safety of an HIV drug in HIV/TB co-infected patients, including pregnant women, that has recently been introduced in the country. The concern for pregnant women stems from earlier indications of neural tube defect in babies born to women taking the medicine and the fact that women are disproportionately affected by HIV in Mozambique.

Break The Cycle Of Panic And Neglect: Preventing The Next Pandemic

June 01, 2020
{Photo Credit: Warren Zelman}Photo Credit: Warren Zelman

In the wake of the US decision to terminate the relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO), Pandemic Action Network and leading global health organizations have published a brief paper outlining some of the critical steps that the world needs to take to prevent pandemics. The report sets out a key challenge for global leaders to work together in an unprecedented way to end COVID-19 as swiftly as possible and prepare for future pandemic threats.The report, published jointly by the Pandemic Action Network, ONE, PATH, Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), Global Health Security Agenda

What If An Early Warning of the Next Pandemic Was Not in the Jungle, But in Your Living Room?

May 29, 2020
Family home outside of Pucallpa, Peru. Photo Credit: Leslie Alsheimer

Three-quarters of all emerging diseases are zoonotic, and yet most countries do not have a comprehensive animal health surveillance network. In an opinion article for The Hill, “Can Veterinarians Save Us from the Next Pandemic?,” MSH’s Senior External Affairs Officer, Ashley Arabasadi, and Dr. Tracey McNamara, a veterinary pathologist who played the catalyst’s role in identifying West Nile Virus, discuss the need to invest in animal disease surveillance to prevent the next pandemic.Read their commentary in The Hill, here.

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