The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a series of consultations with the scientific community this week aimed at building consensus about how best to identify and address the pathogens most likely to cause epidemics and pandemics. The first consultation kicked off on Tuesday, with some of the world’s top scientists addressing how to develop a […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director General has appealed to Israel to permit it to deliver more medical supplies to Gazan health facilities, particularly in northern Gaza, after Israel refused to allow WHO convoys to travel to the area seven times in the past two weeks. “We call on Israel to approve requests by WHO […] Continue reading ->
PUNE, India – India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched five years ago and has provided budgets to 131 Indian cities to respond to air pollution. But over half of this money had not been used by the end of 2023, according to the latest figures released by the government, while the programme’s impact […] Continue reading ->
The JN.1 COVID-19 variant is completing its global takeover, with the number of new cases having increased by 52% during the 28 days leading up to the end of the year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In the United States, JN.1 accounts for more than 60% of COVID-19 cases, according to the Centers […] Continue reading ->
The rising number of US citizens declining vaccinations is threatening population immunity to certain diseases, according to two US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) leaders. “The situation has now deteriorated to the point that population immunity against some vaccine-preventable infectious diseases is at risk, and thousands of excess deaths are likely to occur this season […] Continue reading ->
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and two other international relief agencies all said that they are withdrawing emergency medical teams from Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza after intensified fighting around the hospital area made it impossible for staff to continue emergency care functions. “After days of artillery fighting in Gaza’s Middle Area, Israeli forces […] Continue reading ->
An ambitious Polish state policy that aims to replace 50% of the country’s coal and wood household furnaces/boilers with electric heat pumps or natural gas could dramatically improve air quality in a country with some of the worst ambient air pollution levels in the European Union, says a new assessment by the European Clean Air […] Continue reading ->
CAIRO, Egypt -Some 70% of countries globally have weak national medicines regulatory systems. But the launch of the African Medicines Agency should help address many of the shortcomings on the African continent, said speakers at the 6th Scientific Conference on Medicines Regulation in Africa (SCoMRA), convened here in mid-December. The conference, organized by the African Union […] Continue reading ->
In early December, I was one of the nearly 100,000 delegates at COP28, the biggest climate conference ever held. As a senior health professional and campaigner for gender equity in health, I was pleased to see the adoption of the first ever COP health declaration. Who among us can still deny that climate change is a […] Continue reading ->
Incidence of dengue virus has soared in 2023 to near historically high levels, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday, with more than 5 million cases worldwide and 5,000 deaths from the virus that still lacks an effective treatment or vaccine. Moreover, formerly dengue-free countries in southern Europe, such as France, Italy and Spain […] Continue reading ->