The World Health Assembly (WHA) passed a resolution on preventing violence against women and girls at Monday’s plenary – but only after heated discussion on Saturday resulted in a watered-down version with no reference to “sexuality education”. However, during the plenary session after the resolution had been adopted, Argentina’s representative, María Jimena Schiaffino, expressed disappointment […] Continue reading ->
A Friday session of the 74th World Health Assembly discussed a report on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and multi-sectoral approaches to address it. Speakers generally supported a One Health approach involving multiple agencies concerned with communicable diseases, environment, water and food. This approach recognises the interconnectedness of people with environments and other animals. The World Health […] Continue reading ->
A new resolution adopted on Thursday by the 74th World Health Assembly aims to scale up access to services and treatment for people living with disabilities – using a more “gender-sensitive and inclusive” approach. The resolution co-sponsored by Israel and Australia, calls upon member states to ensure that disability services are incorporated into primary health […] Continue reading ->
Although gender is increasingly factored into health research, much remains to be done, experts reported at a Tuesday event co-organised by the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Global Health Centre. But despite growing awareness, health research continues to conceptualize gender in binary terms. Very little research concerns those who identify as LGBTQ+, according to speakers at the […] Continue reading ->
A draft resolution on expanding prevention and treatment for diabetes now appears set for approval at this week’s World Health Assembly – after a number of European countries, as well as the US, removed their opposition to language mandating the World Health Organization to develop targets for expanded diabetes treatment – as well as measures […] Continue reading ->
PUNE: India’s second wave is devastating the country’s rural areas where health infrastructure is rickety and a lack of trained healthcare workers, government support and access to healthcare is likely to worsen the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health experts believe the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths are vastly underreported and that strict […] Continue reading ->
PUNE – For two weeks now Sijo Raju, along with a group of 20 young men and women, have been fielding calls from family members looking for oxygen cylinders, ventilator beds and ambulances. Finding a match can take a few hours as India’s overwhelmed health system and front-line healthcare workers try desperately to provide a […] Continue reading ->
Pune – Despite ramping up its coronavirus vaccination drive and amidst a deadly second wave of infections, India is wasting 6.5% of its vaccines, data released by the country’s government shows. Experts this week told Health Policy Watch that while the high vaccine wastage is also a sign of vaccine hesitancy – particularly among poor […] Continue reading ->
Air pollution has been linked to the deaths of 160,000 people in the world’s five biggest cities in 2020, according a global report by Greenpeace Southeast Asia and IQAir, the world’s largest free air quality information platform. Of the five biggest cities, Delhi had the most deaths (54,000) due to PM2.5 air pollution in 2020 […] Continue reading ->
PUNE, INDIA – For Anjal Prakash, a climate scientist based in India, the flash floods in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand this past week did not come as a surprise. “The writing was on the wall,” said Prakash, a research director at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, of the 7 February rockslide and avalanche […] Continue reading ->