The World Health Organiztion (WHO) has been far too slow in providing financial, psychological and legal assistance to victims of sexual assault and exploitation committed by its staff in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the 2018-2020 Ebola response, a veteran international investigator said at a WHO press conference on Friday. Hervé Gogo, presenting […] Continue reading ->
BRUSSELS – European Union citizens suffering from health effects caused by air pollution could soon be entitled to seek financial compensation from polluters under a proposed revision of the EU’s pollution regulations. The proposal is part of a broader overhaul of EU air pollution laws, expected to be completed in late 2023 or early 2024, […] Continue reading ->
Water and sanitation crises across the world affect women and girls more than men and boys, particularly since the responsibility to collect water in seven out of 10 households without individual water supply falls on the female family members. This is a key message in the latest edition of the joint WHO/UNICEF report on progress […] Continue reading ->
WHO is set to release new data on Friday, 14 July on the carcinogenic risks of consuming aspartame, the artificial sweetener that is omnipresent in low-calorie soft-drinks, sweets and other processed foods, its head of nutrition, Dr Francesco Branca confirmed on Wednesday. A full WHO risk assessment on safe levels of exposure to the sugar […] Continue reading ->
Twenty-two months after the world’s first malaria vaccine RTS,S was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), 12 countries in Africa will soon receive 18 million doses. A second, arguably more efficient, vaccine against malaria is currently in the queue for WHO approval. Meanwhile, distribution of the 18 million RTS,S doses is to be carried […] Continue reading ->
Ministers of Health and Environment from WHO’s European Region, meeting this week in Budapest, are poised to adopt a Declaration pledging to tackle climate, pollution and biodiversity risks that account for about 15% of disease burden in the 53-nation region. Health and environment ministers from WHO’s 53-member strong WHO European Region are meeting in Budapest […] Continue reading ->
Karabo Rafube was born to a single mother in 1982 in Soweto, a sprawling township south of Johannesburg, South Africa. His mother abandoned him three months later, and Rafube was taken to live with his father. In the final years of apartheid, Soweto was a harsh place to grow up. His father already had an […] Continue reading ->
The United Arab Emirates, hosts of the upcoming UN Climate Conference (COP28), have promised to deliver the first COP with a health focus. In addition to focusing attention on the existential human health risks of climate change, it is vital that a “Health COP” delivers commitments that maximize the health gains that can be obtained […] Continue reading ->
With a drop in government spending on preparedness and woefully inadequate donor pledges, how can the ambitious new commitments envisioned for a WHO Pandemic Accord ever be financed? This second issue of Governing Pandemics Snapshot, looks at this conundrum and possible solutions, including creative forms of debt relief for low-income nations. This issue also provides […] Continue reading ->
Some of the $2.6 billion that remains in a COVID-19 vaccine delivery scheme, COVAX, could be redirected into investment into investigational vaccine candidates for Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) and Ebola Sudan strain virus, as well as over half a dozen other vaccine programmes that were suspended due to the pandemic or delays in product development, […] Continue reading ->