WHO warns of generative AI’s potential for harm in healthcare

The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday warned of the risks from using AI-generated large language model (LLM) tools in healthcare.

LLMs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Bard have the potential to make healthcare more efficient and effective, whether it be connecting patients with information or helping providers with diagnosis or treatment.

“While WHO is enthusiastic about the appropriate use of technologies, including LLMs, to support healthcare professionals, patients, researchers and scientists, there is concern that caution that would normally be exercised for any new technology is not being exercised consistently with LLMs,” the organization said. “This includes widespread adherence to key values of transparency, inclusion, public engagement, expert supervision, and rigorous evaluation.”

“Precipitous adoption of untested systems could lead to errors by healthcare workers, cause harm to patients, erode trust…

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How medtech and pharma are responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

[Image from Pixabay]

Medtech and pharma companies continue to support Ukraine relief efforts following Russia’s invasion.

Previously, the World Health Organization announced that it was sending “essential medical supplies” to Ukraine — including its first shipment of 36 metric tons of supplies for trauma care and emergency surgery and other health supplies — to meet the needs of more than 150,000 patients. Medical device and pharmaceutical companies have taken various actions for support efforts, ranging from matching employee contributions and sending supplies to suspending operations in the region.

Get the full running list of life science companies and their efforts on Medical Design & Outsourcing.

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How medtech and pharma are responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

[Image from Pixabay]

Medtech and pharma companies continue to support Ukraine relief efforts following Russia’s invasion.

Previously, the World Health Organization announced that it was sending “essential medical supplies” to Ukraine — including its first shipment of 36 metric tons of supplies for trauma care and emergency surgery and other health supplies — to meet the needs of more than 150,000 patients. Medical device and pharmaceutical companies have taken various actions for support efforts, ranging from matching employee contributions and sending supplies to suspending operations in the region.

Below is a running list of life science companies and their efforts. This is a developing story and will be updated as companies release information.

3M: Suspending all business in Russia.

Abbott: Donating $2 million to humanitarian organizations to support Ukraine and refugees; donating …

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World Health Organization sending 36 metric tons of medical supplies to Ukraine

Photo by Yehor Milohrodskyi on Unsplash

The World Health Organization today said that it is sending more than 36 metric tons of medical supplies to support the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion last week.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization is sending “essential medical supplies” to Ukraine — including its first shipment of 36 metric tons of supplies for trauma care and emergency surgery and other health supplies — to meet the needs of more than 150,000 patients.

“Prior to the conflict, WHO distributed emergency supplies to 23 hospitals, although our prepositioned supplies in Kyiv are currently inaccessible,” Ghebreyesus said in a press briefing. “There is an urgent need to establish a corridor to ensure humanitarian workers and supplies have safe and continuous access to reach people in need.”

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WHO endorses first malaria vaccine 

Mosquito photo by Skyler Ewing from Pexels

The World Health Organization (WHO) has backed the first malaria vaccine, which could be especially beneficial in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa with moderate to high malaria transmission rates. In 2019, malaria caused 409,000 deaths, according to WHO. 

The vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) specifically targets plasmodium falciparum, a malaria strain common in sub-Saharan Africa. Plasmodium falciparum tends to be more dangerous and resistant to antimalarial drugs than other plasmodium species.

“This is a historic moment. The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement. “Using this vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.” 

WHO recommended that el…

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WHO aims to halt COVID-19 vaccine boosters to spur vaccination in developing world

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called to put plans to distribute booster shots on hold until late September to enable more equitable vaccine access across the world.

At present, only 14% of the world’s population is fully vaccinated, and, in some countries, only a sliver of people have obtained vaccines. However, vaccination rates are flagging in much of the developing world. In Bangladesh, for instance, only 2.7% of people are fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data. In Niger, 0.7% of the public has reached that milestone.

In a media briefing, the world is understandably concerned about the Delta variant, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO. “But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it, while the world’s most vulnerable people remain unprotected,” he explained.

WHO wants all countries to vaccinate at least 10% of their populations by the end …

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WHO: All countries should vaccinate at least 10% of their people against COVID-19 by September

[Image from Wikimedia Commons/Russell Watkins/DFID]

World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the organization’s aims for global COVID-19 vaccinations.

During an address to the annual World Health Assembly today, Ghebreyesus called for all countries to have at least 10% of their populations vaccinated by September and at least 30% by the end of 2021.

In low- and middle-income countries, about 250 million more people would need to get vaccinated if the world were to reach the September threshold, with Ghebreyesus saying all healthcare workers and the most at-risk groups should have priority.

“This is crucial to stop severe disease and death, keep our health workers safe and reopen our societies and economies,” Ghebreyesus said. “We must be very clear: the pandemic is not over, and it will not be over until and unless transmission is controlled…

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Forthcoming WHO report could provide multiple theories of COVID-19 pandemic’s origins

[Image courtesy of World Health Organization]

The World Health Organization has a leading theory regarding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic but is considering three others in a forthcoming report, according to a recent AP article.

The most likely scenario is that the virus, which many scientists believe first appeared in bats, infected humans through an intermediary animal. Less likely is that bats infected humans directly.

The report also considers the possibility that the vaccine could have initially spread through contaminated frozen food products. The least likely scenario, although still possible, is that a laboratory such as the Wuhan Institute of Virology seeded the pandemic through an accident.

Shi Zhengli, who directs the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, has denied that the lab was the source of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. She also co-authore…

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WHO: AstraZeneca vaccine pauses in EU unwarranted

The World Health Organization endorsed the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after several European countries have halted its use over potential safety risks.

AstraZeneca has observed 15 deep vein thrombosis (DVT) reports and 22 pulmonary embolism (PE) cases out of 17 million vaccine recipients in the E.U. and U.K. as of March 8. Based on that data, the incidence rate among that population would be roughly 0.00022%. The company issued a statement saying the rate of events is “much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar across other licensed COVID-19 vaccines.

WHO stressed in prepared remarks that COVID-19 vaccines cannot “reduce illness or deaths from other causes” and that “thromboembolic events are known to occur frequently.”

The agency said, based on the data currently available, the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

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Pfizer, BioNTech to provide up to 40M COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) will supply up to 40 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine this year to COVAX, a global initiative to provide vaccine doses to developing countries. 

The companies said today that they expect the first doses to ship out during Q1; the vaccine will go to COVAX at a not-for-profit price. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“At Pfizer, we believe that every person deserves to be seen, heard and cared for. That’s why from the very beginning of our vaccine development program, Pfizer and BioNTech have been firmly committed to working toward equitable and affordable access of COVID-19 vaccines for people around the world,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a news release. “We share the mission of COVAX and are proud to work together so that developing countries have the same access as the rest of the world, which will bring us another step closer to ending this global pandemic and pro…

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