A new WHO nutrition report highlights how healthier diets can combat obesity and leading noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) – suggesting that less consumption of free sugars, salt and saturated fat, particularly animal fat, will help reduce global trends of rising obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. But the report Essential Nutrition Actions – Mainstreaming Nutrition through the […] Continue reading ->
A transformation of global diets away from red meat consumption and towards healthier plant-based alternatives is critical for the world to combat climate change and land degradation that threatens food systems, while meeting the nutrition requirements of a growing population, says a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report, Climate […] Continue reading ->
There is no shortage of Merck’s life-saving Ebola vaccine on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and more doses will be produced, sufficient to immunise 1.3 million people over the next 6-18 months, a spokesman for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, told Health Policy Watch on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Merck, producer of the V920 investigational […] Continue reading ->
Against the background of increased cross-border infection risks, the World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) – a decision that may help increase aid flows to the disease epicentre but also threaten free-wheeling patterns of […] Continue reading ->
A UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for countries to combat childhood, early and forced marriages, and supported by over 60 UN member states, ran into heavy criticism today prior to its final approval. A number of countries in the Middle East, South-East Asia and North Africa publicly disassociated themselves from clauses promoting girls access […] Continue reading ->
WHO has added ten new cancer drugs, including some pricey ones, to its 2019 Essential Medicines List, which provides global guidance to countries and health systems about drugs deemed most essential to patients and public health systems. The addition of major new cancer treatments in five categories, melanoma (skin), lung, blood and prostate cancers, reflects […] Continue reading ->