#vaccines

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See below for an opinion on current matters around the world.

Feb 23
5 min

It’s the economy, stupid: the economic benefits of health spending

Brendan Shaw “Economic activity contracted in 90 per cent of the world’s countries in 2020. This exceeded the proportion hit by the two world wars, the Great Depression and the global financial crisis. A pandemic, we now know, is a comprehensive disaster.” - Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator, Financial Times, 16 February 2022 "The unfolding COVID-19 pandemic has already led to millions of deaths, job losses, business failures, and school closings, triggering the

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Is 2022 the Pharma Industry’s ‘Call of Duty’ Moment?

Brendan Shaw

Feb 1
1 min

Is 2022 the Pharma Industry’s ‘Call of Duty’ Moment?

Brendan Shaw Article published in PharmaBoardroom on 1 February 2022 on key trends for 2022 can be found here. #pharma #health #vaccines #2022 #politics #government #technology

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The Global Pandemic Agreement: Time to Get Serious

Brendan Shaw

Dec 8, 2021
1 min

The Global Pandemic Agreement: Time to Get Serious

Brendan Shaw Article published in PharmaBoardroom on discussions on a new global pandemic agreement at the World Health Assembly published 8 December 2021 can be found here. #UHC #pandemics #covid-19 #globalhealth #pharmaceuticals #vaccines

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COVID-19 vaccination a 12-month success for science, governments and industry

Brendan Shaw

Dec 2, 2020
4 min

COVID-19 vaccination a 12-month success for science, governments and industry

Brendan Shaw The news just in that the United Kingdom has formally approved the roll out of mass vaccinations for COVID-19 from next week is a moment to mark. The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the 95% effective vaccine to vaccinate the British population yesterday after and "an extremely thorough and scientifically rigorous review of all the evidence". From next week, the UK's National Health Service will start rolling out the initia

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Biopharmaceutical industry comes through in dealing with Ebola

Brendan Shaw

Sep 1, 2019
4 min

Biopharmaceutical industry comes through in dealing with Ebola

Recent news that two new drugs to treat the Ebola virus developed by the biopharmaceutical industry have achieved a 90% cure rate is welcome news. Breakthrough technology The two newest drugs that were undergoing clinical trial were so successful, that the trial’s independent monitoring committee recommended the trial be cancelled early and all patients in the trial switched over to the new medicines. These treatments developed by Regeneron and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, in p

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How do we turn the tide?: Winning the measles vaccination debate

Brendan Shaw

Apr 9, 2019
5 min

How do we turn the tide?: Winning the measles vaccination debate

“Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker [ethos]; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind [pathos]; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself [logos]. Persuasion is achieved by the speaker’s personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible.” - Aristotle, Rhetoric, 350 BC “The

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Brendan Shaw

Apr 26, 2018
5 min

Anti-vaxxers should read Roald Dahl

“Are you feeling all right?” I asked her. “I feel all sleepy” she said. In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead. - Roald Dahl, “Measles: a dangerous illness” Roald Dahl’s poignant essay about the death of his daughter, Olivia, from measles in 1962 is both a touching individual story and an illustration of the benefits of vaccination. The famous children’s author laments that there was no vaccine available back then but notes that a vaccine is no

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Influenza pandemics then and now - the 100th anniversary of the Spanish Flu pandemic

Brendan Shaw

Jan 16, 2018
4 min

Influenza pandemics then and now - the 100th anniversary of the Spanish Flu pandemic

As the First World War was grinding to its end in 1918, reports started to emerge of an infectious disease in the trenches, army barracks and medical hospitals crowded with soldiers. The first outbreaks were reported in March 1918, although initially doctors weren’t sure if it was flu or some other infectious disease. The Spanish flu pandemic ranks with the Justinian plague and the Black Death as one of the worst medical disasters in human history. It spread around the world

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