Around 55 million people worldwide live with dementia, and an estimated 60% to 80% of those individuals suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), according to the World Health Organization (WHO). That number is expected to increase to around 139 million within 25 years. Projections from the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis indicate that by 2025, […] Continue reading ->
Seven cases of “severe Mpox” have been confirmed in South Africa, and two of those diagnosed have since died. All cases involve men in their thirties living with co-morbidities – most notably HIV. Five of the seven identified as “men who have sex with men,” according to the South African Department of Health. None of […] Continue reading ->
The COVID pandemic brought into focus the life-saving role of medical oxygen – but the stock of oxygen is still severely limited in low- and middle-income countries, and many don’t know how much oxygen they need. Despite wide-ranging efforts to improve access to oxygen and oxygen delivery devices over the past four years, services in […] Continue reading ->
In a first for healthier diets, WHO has issued a “strong recommendation” that countries tax sugar-sweetened beverages as part of a wider effort to combat the powerful health impacts of the industrial foods industry – whose marketing of sugar, sodium and fat-laced, processed foods is linked with millions of deaths annually. WHO also issued more […] Continue reading ->
As many as 65 million people in over a dozen Southern and Eastern African countries from Mozambique to Ethiopia are facing unprecedented challenges with food security, extreme weather events and conflict, UN officials say. The crises disproportionately affect women, who are already in a more vulnerable situation due to their gender, said Lydia Zigomo, UN […] Continue reading ->
Progress on household electricity access suffered a setback for the first time in a decade – with 10 million more people lacking access in 2022 as compared to 2021, according to the 2024 Energy Progress Report released this week. As many as 685 million people were without electricity access in 2022. Some 2.1 billion people […] Continue reading ->
Africa’s health worker shortage is projected to reach more than six million by 2030 – and the weaker the system, the more likely health workers are to leave as poor working conditions erode their morale. The non-profit organisation, Seed Global Health works to address this shortage by investing in long-term training and support for health […] Continue reading ->
Global surveillance of influenza viruses in animals needs to be intensified to “rapidly detect any changes to the virus that could pose a greater threat to humans”, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyessus told a media briefing on Wednesday. He also urged the media to ensure that the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, […] Continue reading ->
A wave of record-setting heat waves, beginning in March, have led to new Government guidelines for emergency cooling including measures like heat stroke rooms. Even so, public health experts are only beginning to grapple with the multiple ways in which heatwaves can kill – and map out mitigating measures for both healthy people as well […] Continue reading ->
Just four industries – tobacco, ultra-processed foods (UPFs), fossil fuels, and alcohol – cause over a third of all deaths globally each year, according to a new report from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe. Not only are these industries driving ill health and premature mortality across Europe and Central Asia, but […] Continue reading ->