Pilot projects set to inform rollout of HIV prevention shot

Posted in: Healthcare system, HIV/AIDS, Latest

South Africa is expected to begin piloting the HIV prevention injection early next year as one of several projects that experts hope will reveal the answers to some of the biggest questions about the future of the shot – who will deliver the injection, where, and how to sell people on the idea that just six shots a year could protect them from HIV. Laura Lopez Gonzalez reports.

Pilot projects set to inform rollout of HIV prevention shot

In-depth: New licenses could spark manufacture of COVID-19 pills in Africa

Posted in: Access to Medicines, COVID-19, Healthcare system, Latest

Pharmaceutical companies Merck and Pfizer recently announced early results from clinical trials showing that two new antiviral medicines are highly effective in reducing COVID-19 deaths and hospitalisation. The Medicines Patent Pool then announced licensing deals with both companies that will allow for generic versions of the two drugs to be produced. Catherine Tomlinson unpacks the licenses and asks whether generic versions of these pills might now be made in Africa.