World News

There are fears that the military conflict between the Ethiopian government forces and those loyal to the local administration in Tigray could result in widespread famine, putting the lives of millions of people at risk. Food was already a challenge in Tigray before the fighting started. Now, with the region cut off from the rest of the country, and the world, many Tigrayans urgently need humanitarian assistance. Seppe Deckers, Jan Nyssen and Sil Lanckriet explain why the situation is so precarious, and what action needs to be taken to avert a disastrous famine like the one Ethiopians suffered in the 1980s.

You wait for one COVID vaccine and then two come along at once. Interim results just published suggest Moderna’s vaccine prevents COVID-19 with 95% efficacy, and may protect against severe disease too. As with Pfizer’s results from last week, these headline figures look very encouraging. But knowing exactly what to make of trial results like these can be difficult if you don’t work in research. However, you can make a good assessment by asking the right questions, suggests Simon Kolstoe. It may seem simple, but digging into exactly what a trial was set up to prove and who exactly it has involved can tell you a lot about whether it’s time to start getting excited.

Over 5 million people are on antiretroviral treatment in South Africa – the largest treatment programme of its kind in the world. The drug regimes have contributed to a dramatic drop in the number of AIDS-related deaths – from 300,000 in 2006 to 72,000 in 2019. The hope, however, was that by now the number would be much lower. Gilles van Cutsem unpacks some of the gaps in the HIV response.