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Novartis Renews WHO Medicine Donation Pledge With Aim of Ending Leprosy

Stuart Mitchell

A renewed partnership agreement signed by Novartis and the World Health Organization (WHO) will drive the global push towards making leprosy history. The five-year extension of the partnership – which was first signed in 2000 – will see Novartis continue to donate multidrug therapy (MDT) medicines to treat leprosy up to the end of 2025. Widespread use of MDT has led to a 95% reduction in leprosy prevalence world-wide since its introduction the 1980s, though more than 200,000 cases are still seen every year.1 Despite the huge impact of MDT,…

PRSA Defends the Right of Journalists to Report the News Safely and Without Fear of Reprisal

Stuart Mitchell

PRSA has a long-standing commitment to defending the First Amendment and a free, unencumbered press so when leadership learned on Friday, Dec. 18 that journalist and PRSA ICON 2020 speaker Marianna Spring, who specializes in reporting on disinformation for BBC News and World Service, is receiving death threats due to her reporting the organization forcefully responded. In an inews.co.uk column, Spring stated that her coverage of conspiracies associated with the coronavirus and the U.S. election had markedly increased the level of attacks on her personally, including threats on her life.…

Free newspaper subscription for people with sight loss during coronavirus

Stuart Mitchell

RNIB is helping people with sight loss keep up to date during the coronavirus pandemic by offering a free subscription to a newspaper or broadcast guide via its Newsagent service. RNIB Newsagent provides plain text email versions of major UK newspapers, and TV and radio guides, which can be easily read with magnification or screen reading software that many blind and partially sighted people use. This offer means that anyone who finds it difficult to read a paper or TV guide in their current print or online formats can get…

PRSA Defends the Right of Journalists to Report the News Safely and Without Fear of Reprisal

Stuart Mitchell

PRSA has a long-standing commitment to defending the First Amendment and a free, unencumbered press so when leadership learned on Friday, Dec. 18 that journalist and PRSA ICON 2020 speaker Marianna Spring, who specializes in reporting on disinformation for BBC News and World Service, is receiving death threats due to her reporting the organization forcefully responded. In an inews.co.uk column, Spring stated that her coverage of conspiracies associated with the coronavirus and the U.S. election had markedly increased the level of attacks on her personally, including threats on her life.…

Trusted News Initiative (TNI) to combat spread of harmful vaccine disinformation and announces major research project

Stuart Mitchell

With the introduction of several possible new Covid-19 vaccines, there has been a rise of ‘anti-vaccine’ disinformation spreading online to millions of people. Examples include widely shared memes which link falsehoods about vaccines to freedom and individual liberties. Other posts seek to downplay the risks of coronavirus and suggest there is an ulterior motive behind the development of a vaccine. Whilst it is important to scrutinise the science behind new Covid-19 vaccines and give voice to legitimate concerns from people wondering what a coronavirus vaccine means for them, questions about…