Europe needs a more precise focus to address the tobacco industry’s “engineered architecture of addiction”, featuring flavoured tobacco and nicotine products with ever more sleek designs. As an early champion of global tobacco legislation, the region can reposition itself to lead again – including through updated European Union directives on tobacco product regulation, advertising and […] Continue reading ->
STRASBOURG – Amid a global backlash against sexual and reproductive rights, the European Parliament has taken a decisive stand by voting for a unified, human rights-based standard for sexual offences. This Europe-wide legislative push aims to overhaul the fragmented national laws that currently leave many survivors without access to justice or essential health support. The […] Continue reading ->
The first international conference on phasing out the oil, gas and coal igniting the climate crisis ended with 57 governments representing every continent and a third of the global economy declaring the transition away from fossil fuels is now irreversible. “Actions taken to date prove that the energy transition is past its point of no […] Continue reading ->
NEW DELHI – India faces thousands of medical negligence cases every year, but structural problems make it extremely difficult for patients’ families to find out what has happened to their loved ones – let alone win compensation when treatment has been botched. “A shadow of death is looming over us,” Ashwini Bajaj, a Haryana-based businessman, […] Continue reading ->
The final missing piece of the Pandemic Agreement – a pathogen access and benefit-sharing (PABS) system – is unlikely to be agreed on by the World Health Assembly (WHA) later this month. This was the view of civil society observers of the talks taking place at the World Health Organisation (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, who […] Continue reading ->
As the World Health Organization (WHO) formally opens the nomination process for the next Director-General, Germany now appears likely to propose Helge Braun, Chief of Staff in former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, according to Berlin insiders. But after slashing its global health budget, sources question whether a German candidate can win wide support from other […] Continue reading ->
African leaders opened the World Health Summit Regional Meeting at the United Nations complex in Nairobi this week with a unified declaration that two decades of dependence on foreign aid for health is over. “The challenge that I see is that many of the leaders in our continent believe that it is somebody else’s responsibility. […] Continue reading ->
Ghana has become the latest African country to reject the United States’ terms for bilateral health assistance, particularly the requirement to share sensitive health data, according to Reuters. Late last year, Zimbabwe rejected US terms for health assistance, particularly the demand to share pathogen data without any “corresponding guarantee of access to any medical innovations […] Continue reading ->
Around 95% of Europe experienced above-average temperatures in 2025, with record heatwaves from the Mediterranean to the Arctic region. This caused rapid loss of glacier mass and snow cover, according to the latest State of the European Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released on Thursday. All of Europe’s glaciers saw a net […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – As global health leaders gathered in Geneva on Monday to commemorate this year’s World Malaria Day, an advocacy forum featuring high-level diplomats addressed the rising threat of antimalarial drug resistance. Celebrations of medical progress and clinical discussions quickly gave way to discussion about a rapidly escalating malaria funding crisis, with more funding cuts […] Continue reading ->