BERLIN – Donors pledged some $2.6 billion more in funding to the global polio eradication initiative (GPEI) as of the closing day of the World Health Summit – which saw its shares of highs and lows in its finale, much like the rest of the three-day event. On the plus side, the donations, which included […] Continue reading ->
BERLIN – If a new treaty that rewrites the global rules for pandemic response is really approved by the World Health Assembly by May 2024, as planned, that will still only be the beginning of the journey. The new international accord will still have to be ratified by a critical mass of WHO´s 194 member […] Continue reading ->
Amid criticism that the World Health Summit was ‘speed-dating for consultants’, panellists lamented a lack of practical plans to empower local service delivery A more empowered World Health Organization (WHO), stronger health local systems and better surveillance are some of the weapons that will protect the world against future pandemics, according to panellists at the […] Continue reading ->
New evidence that exposure to air pollution can potentially contribute to obesity in women has emerged from a study by the University of Michigan “Women in their late 40s and early 50s exposed long-term to air pollution—specifically, higher levels of fine particles, nitrogen dioxide and ozone—saw increases in their body size and composition measures,” said […] Continue reading ->
A lack of expertise in geriatric oncology means that cancer in older adults is often confused with other signs of ageing and diagnosed too late. Dr Sonali Johnson sets out a blueprint for addressing this barrier – one of the many topics to be discussed at the World Cancer Congress, hosted by the Union for […] Continue reading ->
BERLIN – The first World Health Summit co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) started off with a siren call to climate action – literally – as activists disrupted the ceremonial plenary attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz by repeatedly setting off fire alarms Outside the posh Hotel Berlin venue, activists plastered the doors with […] Continue reading ->
Midway through last year, the head of the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, Strive Masiyiwa, angrily accused the global COVID-19 vaccine acquisition platform, COVAX, of misleading African countries about its ability to procure vaccines for them. Masiyiwa’s bitter remarks came after months of Africans watching Europeans and North Americans being vaccinated against COVID-19 while no […] Continue reading ->
The Indian government has halted the Maiden Pharmaceuticals plant that produced the cough and cold syrups that WHO says were tainted with toxic chemicals – possibly linked to the recent deaths of some 66 children in The Gambia. A senior WHO official confirmed that Indian government health authorities had shut down the plant after WHO […] Continue reading ->
A nature-based solution that could help reduce the rising global burden of disease from dengue fever is looming on the research horizon. But more studies are needed before the World Health Organization could recommend a broad scale-up of the approach, WHO’s chief scientist said on Wednesday. WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan summed up her conclusions […] Continue reading ->
The spread of a cholera outbreak to an overcrowded Haitian prison, of Ebola virus to Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, and increased incidence of malaria, dengue, measles and cholera in flood-swamped Pakistan were among the long list of health emergencies needing urgent attention and investments – as compared to the trillions being invested right now […] Continue reading ->