Air pollution and climate change have never received as much combined attention, at such a high level, as at COP28 in Dubai. The UN’s 28th Conference of Parties on climate change has seen top-level participants from the World Health Organization (WHO), the UAE presidency, and noted expert bodies discuss the estimated 7-8 million deaths annually […] Continue reading ->
The Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has approved the establishment of a new African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), a financing instrument that is to make more than $1 billion available to support sustainable vaccine manufacturing in Africa. The board decision marks a historic reversal of past efforts which saw the agency’s massive budget for […] Continue reading ->
A single oversight and compliance body may be set up to oversee both the new pandemic agreement and the amended International Health Regulations (IHR), according to Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the co-chair of the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (WGIHR). Bloomfield was responding to a question about whether his group had discussed […] Continue reading ->
A monumental step for self-care was taken this month at the first Latin American Self-Care Regional Congress. Taking place in November in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the two-day congress brought together stakeholders from across the Latin America region to discuss critical topics, such as public policy and regulation, innovation and sustainability, and empowerment and health literacy, […] Continue reading ->
As violence against LGBTQ people in Uganda continues to rise following the country’s adoption of its harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), four legal challenges to the law have been consolidated into a single case. However, Uganda’s Attorney General has ignored human rights groups’ application for an injunction against the implementation of the law until the appeals […] Continue reading ->
Improving access to clean cooking will not only help the world get closer to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but it will not be possible to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without doing so, said experts speaking on the sidelines of COP28. “We don’t want people to be breathing polluted air as a […] Continue reading ->
Despite strong evidence that taxing alcohol is one of the “most effective measures to reduce consumption and address alcohol-related harms”, countries are not using this effectively, according to Ruediger Krech, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) director of health promotion. Krech was speaking on Tuesday at the launch of a WHO manual on alcohol tax policy […] Continue reading ->
This is a bumper week for pandemic negotiations – the last formal set for the year – with meetings of both the World Health Organization’s (WHO) intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) and the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (WGIHR). The INB, which is negotiating a pandemic agreement, meets until Wednesday, while the […] Continue reading ->
Two mothers battled air pollution in Delhi and its suburbs well before it became a thing. Motivated by how their children have suffered, Ruchika Sethi Takkar and Bhavreen Kandhari speak with Health Policy Watch about why they don’t give up and what other parents can learn from their work. DELHI, India – On a gently […] Continue reading ->
Drought data shows “an unprecedented emergency on a planetary scale”, according to a report released as the world leaders meet in Dubai at the annual climate summit, COP28, to discuss response to climate change. The report warns that the “massive” impacts of human-induced droughts are only beginning to unfold, with data showing that droughts are […] Continue reading ->