The Kenyan man who died of Ebola this week travelled extensively through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda and sought medical care from mid-September – passing through several airport health screenings without detection, even two days before he died. Dr Wessam Mankoula, head of health emergencies for Africa Centre for Disease Control and […] Continue reading ->
Beijing confirmed the nomination of National Health Commission official Dr Song Li for WHO Director-General on Thursday (8 October). The move expands the candidate field to seven amidst severe geopolitical ruptures shaking up the agency, with experts warning this move could further heighten superpower tensions. In announcing the bid, Chinese officials framed the candidacy around […] Continue reading ->
I sought to lead the World Health Organization (WHO) because the rules of intelligence are becoming the rules of health. My name will not be on the ballot. The responsibility remains. I will now work to organise the political and economic power needed to put intelligence at the service of humanity – and to keep […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) released its first-ever guidelines to address how clinicians should manage obesity in children and adolescents, which include conditional recommendations for obesity medications and even surgery for children over the age of 10. Since 1990, the number of children ages 5-9 years and adolescents 10-19 years living with obesity has quadrupled, […] Continue reading ->
China has nominated a prominent Chinese health official for WHO Director General in the 2027 elections, multiple diplomatic sources have confirmed to Health Policy Watch.  But there are mixed reports about who that candidate actually may be. Some high-level sources have cited Song Li, a senior Chinese Communist Party official who mounted a failed bid […] Continue reading ->
Nearly three in four maternal healthcare workers say extreme heat-related complications among pregnant women have increased over the past five years, according to a five-country survey released as climate ministers gathered in Fiji for the last major meeting before COP31. The poll of 1,001 obstetricians, midwives, nurses and other maternity staff in Australia, Brazil, India, […] Continue reading ->
HARARE – In March, 27-year-old Jemitius Gangata succumbed to malaria in Mahombokombe village in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West Province, becoming part of the country’s growing malaria statistics.  By mid-April, the country had recorded over 65,000 malaria cases and 174 deaths, almost double the numbers from the same period last year, when 36,000 cases and 85 deaths […] Continue reading ->