Podtech

Making medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and other health products isn’t a concern for only the discipline of biochemistry. Developing, producing, distributing and consuming these products entails the coming together of multiple activities, sectors and industries – from basic scientific research to clinical trials, from governmental regulations to business environments, from health and advocacy to packaging and…

Since GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs came on the market to treat obesity and diabetes, their popularity has been unprecedented. As often happens in such situations, the massive demand for these treatments resulted in a chronic supply shortage – one that will persist until manufacturers’ investments in scaling production begin to bear fruit.   So high…

Did you know that one in every five children who loses their mother to cancer does so due to cervical cancer?   Cervical cancer is the 4th most common cancer among women globally. As many as 660,000 new cases and 350,000 deaths from cervical cancer were reported in 2022. As with many other diseases, the…

If you follow health sector news from Africa, South Asia, Latin America or even the United States, every now and then, you’ll come across a story about a product recall or adverse impacts patients have suffered from consuming substandard or fake medications. Beyond drug quality issues, there are also concerns about insufficient supply or inaccessibility…

On 9 June 2021, the United Nations Member States adopted a declaration related to HIV diagnosis, treatment and care. The political declaration called on countries to achieve the 95-95-95 targets by 2025. 95% of people living with HIV should know their HIV status. 95% of people who know their HIV status should be receiving antiretroviral…

The first day of September 2024 marked the first day of a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza.   Conducted jointly by the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), this campaign was organised in…

Pandemics like the one we experienced a few years ago are a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Or so we’d like to hope.   As scientists track the development and circulation of viruses in different animals, it is becoming increasingly clear that concerns about another pandemic are not unfounded. Specifically, avian influenza viruses pose a significant risk to…

In the past few decades, living standards have improved dramatically in Latin American countries like Brazil, Mexico, and their neighbours. Socioeconomic growth and development have been accompanied by improved healthcare and education. These changes are much welcome – they have improved ordinary people’s lives and ability to take care of their health and well-being.  …

Cleanrooms are an indispensable part of biopharmaceutical, medical device and other health product manufacturing. Their specialised design helps biopharma manufacturers and healthcare providers maintain controlled conditions within factories, laboratories and healthcare facilities.   Cleanrooms are not just rooms. They are an all-encompassing approach used to maintain certain environmental standards in settings where it matters the…

  The peak of the Covid-19 pandemic may have passed, but its lingering effects continue to shape global health strategies.   During the pandemic, both developed and developing countries faced significant challenges in securing essential health products, underscoring the need for self-sufficient health sectors. This crisis revealed the importance of nearshoring or localising supply chains,…