A day after declaring the COVID-19 variant first detected in India as one of global concern, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday that the variant has spread to 49 countries. The U.N. health agency’s new concern about the B.1.617 variant…

When Shekinah was working as a nurse’s aide in northeastern Congo in January 2019, she said, she was offered a job from a World Health Organization doctor at double her salary — in exchange for sex. “Given the financial difficulties of my family … I ac…

JOHANNESBURG – South African officials say two highly contagious variants of coronavirus are now present in the country, as Africa’s worst-hit nation prepares for a possible new onslaught of cases.Officials from the National Institute for Communicable …

A landslide at an artisanal gold mine has killed at least 15 people in northeastern Guinea, the government said on Sunday. The disaster took place on Saturday in remote Siguiri province, 800 km (500 miles) from the capital Conakry. The zone holds some …

PORTO, PORTUGAL – The European Commission called on the United States and other major COVID-19 vaccine producers Friday to export what they make, as the European Union does, rather than talk about waiving intellectual property (IP) rights to the shots….

JOHANNESBURG – African nations have welcomed news that the U.S. supports a proposal to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. But, they warn, the road ahead is long and full of obstacles.Health experts and activists say the deci…