As Central Asian countries, including Azerbaijan, are exploring the possibility of vaccinating children under 18 against COVID-19, news in Azerbaijan cited Hande Harmanci, Head of World Health Organization (WHO) office in Azerbaijan, informing the public that the WHO...
Shamima Akhter (ThinkWell Bangladesh), Anooj Pattnaik (ThinkWell), Callum Pierce (ThinkWell), Afroja Yesmin (ThinkWell Bangladesh), Pak Trihono (ThinkWell Indonesia) In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Helal, the manager of a busy health facility in...
On 30th March, 2021, South Sudan received US$ 174.2 million to help finance the country’s urgent balance of payments needs and provide critical fiscal space to maintain poverty-reducing and growth-enhancing spending. A sharp decline in international oil prices...
ADB’s report, the Republic of Korea’s Coronavirus Disease Pandemic Response and Health System Preparedness, comprehensively covers several aspects that were crucial to the success of the ROK, such as effective resource mobilization, coordination, and timely social...
The "All About Korea's Response to COVID-19" booklet provides an interim overview of Korea's COVID-19 response efforts up to September 2020 in various areas including: - Epidemic response system - Testing, tracing, and treatment - Entry screening measures - Social...
Maldives has started inoculation of the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine among children age between 12 and 17 years in September. Maldives has vaccinated the COVID-19 vaccine to students in this age group since August 15. Over 40,000 school students will...
Thailand will distribute 8.5 million COVID rapid antigen test kits (ATK) to the public for free, starting from September 16 onwards. The public can receive the ATKs from health offices across nation, pharmacies, hospitals and clinics that participate in the ATK...
Bhutan will reach herd immunity by early October. Currently, over 80 percent of the total population has been fully vaccinated. In addition, the second dose of vaccine will be inoculated to approximately 60,000 children age between 12- and 17-year during September 14...
Malaysia’s Budget 2022 will be drafted with an inclusive approach to ensure ‘no one lefts behind’ from receiving government assistance. Budget 2022 will mainly focus on protecting and restore the lives and livelihoods of the people and businesses, rebuild national...
Timor-Leste plans to provide compensation to people who receive adverse reactions or fatalities from Covid-19 vaccine, aiming to encourage the population to get the vaccination due to a rise of new cases and deaths. A patient who experiences a rare case of disability...
Due to a rise of social security expenditures, budget requests from government ministries and agencies reach 111 trillion yen ($1 trillion) in total for fiscal 2022. Social security costs accounted for one-third of government expenditures. The health ministry...
Nepal amends annual budget plan 2021/22. Following the revisions, an additional Rs 5 billion has been allocated for Covid-19 vaccine purchasing. For social security provisions, there have been added two new allowances: Rs 3,000 per month for families...
On the 12th of August, 2021 Botswana received a shipment of 108,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine which the country ordered through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT). Vice President of the Republic of Botswana, His Honour Slumber...
As most African countries struggle to procure enough vaccines in the global scramble for vaccines, Botswana’s health minister Edwin Dikoloti (30th of July, 2021) said that the government was paying the equivalent of $15 a dose for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by...
President Sahlework Zewde met with UN’s Assistant Secretary-General and WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, in Addis Ababa where they discussed the status of Universal Health (UHC) coverage in Ethiopia. Read more here.
