Speaking in her car from an undisclosed location somewhere in war-torn Ukraine, Yana Teerleva, head of TB in the country’s Ministry of Health, lamented the destruction that she is witnessing every day in hospitals and clinics – including the shelling of three huge dispensaries where the country had stockpiled sufficient TB medications for the remainder […] Continue reading ->
There have been 52 attacks on Ukrainian health facilities in the past 25 days, more than two every day, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Meanwhile, the health of fleeing refugees, their impact on the health services of neighbouring countries, and the fate of Ukraine’s tuberculosis patients are foremost on healthcare providers’ minds. “In […] Continue reading ->
Mental health practitioners worldwide are warning of a massive wave of pandemic-related mental health issues that many countries are ill-equipped to address. On Monday, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Europe office and the government of Greece launched a new European programme to strengthen and improve the quality of mental health services for children and adolescents. […] Continue reading ->
The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Director-Genera, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has “warmly welcomed” the breakthrough reached this week over a waiver on intellectual property for the production of COVID-19 vaccines. “This is a major step forward and this compromise is the result of many long and difficult hours of negotiations. But we are not there yet. […] Continue reading ->
Health workers, patients and civilians have been held hostage at the Mariupol regional intensive care hospital in Ukraine by Russian troops since Monday morning, according to the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR). Russian soldiers are using the hospital as a base to attack Ukrainian forces, and using the hostages as “human shields” according to […] Continue reading ->
With fewer than 1% of its 90 million citizens vaccinated against COVID-19, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has resorted to training teams of “rumour-busters” to tackle misinformation about the virus in order to encourage more people to get the vaccine. David Olela, communications lead for the DRC health ministry’s vaccination programme,  admits that his […] Continue reading ->
A maternity and children´s hospital in the southern Ukranian city of Mariupol was bombed Wednesday, reportedly injuring 17 people, while WHO warned that Ukrainians who manage to escape direct injury in Russian bombings and shellings face hypothermia, frostbite and respiratory diseases, as well as conflict-related trauma – while the lack of access to treatment for […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) released new guidelines on abortion care on Wednesday, that include recommendations on telemedicine for the first time. Telemedicine has helped support access to abortion and family planning services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is also being used in places where abortion access is limited. Over 25 million unsafe abortions occur […] Continue reading ->