Countries should watch for spikes in preterm births, stillbirths and child deaths during heatwaves, four UN agencies said on Wednesday, launching what they called the first global set of indicators to help governments track the health toll of extreme heat on mothers and newborns. The 19 indicators from the World Health Organization (WHO), the World […] Continue reading ->
Nigeria’s lone Ebola patient was only diagnosed almost two weeks after showing symptoms – and is reported to have travelled to the capital, Abuja, from Uganda. She entered Nigeria on 3 October, started showing symptoms on 7 October and was admitted to hospital two days later – but was only diagnosed on Tuesday (20 October), […] Continue reading ->
BERLIN – A new $100 million initiative to halve stillbirth rates across select countries over the next decade launched at the World Health Summit on Monday (12 October). Backed equally by the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap, a spin-off of the UK-based Wellcome Trust, the effort will test and deploy a package of diagnostic technologies […] Continue reading ->
The Kenyan man who died of Ebola this week travelled extensively through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda and sought medical care from mid-September – passing through several airport health screenings without detection, even two days before he died. Dr Wessam Mankoula, head of health emergencies for Africa Centre for Disease Control and […] Continue reading ->
COVID-19 dropped out of the world’s 10 leading causes of death in 2023 for the first time since the pandemic began in 2020, and only two years after it topped the list, according to new World Health Organization estimates released Friday. The virus directly killed an estimated 0.9 million people in 2023, ranking 14th, as […] Continue reading ->
The security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could be behind the significant decline in Ebola cases over the past week, the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Thursday. Africa CDC emergencies head Dr Wessam Mankoula cautioned against reading too much into the plunge in cases over the past week, […] Continue reading ->
Thousands of people displaced by conflict in Yemen are at risk of cholera, measles, malaria and dengue as the El Niño season approaches, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean region warned this week. A four-year ceasefire between Iran-backed Houthi forces and the Saudi-based Yemeni government collapsed in August after Houthi forces attacked Saudi Arabian […] Continue reading ->
After a gruelling recent Ebola infection, Dr Patrick Oparpio, a gynaecologist based in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has urged health authorities to offer psychological support for Ebola survivors and their families. This week, the DRC reported 6,843 Ebola cases and 3,310 deaths – a case fatality rate of over 48% […] Continue reading ->
A new three-dose vial presentation of the maternal RSV vaccine received prequalification from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, unlocking large-scale distribution across lower-income countries. The decision enables global health alliances to introduce affordable immunisation during pregnancy, protecting newborns from severe respiratory disease. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remains the second leading cause of infant […] Continue reading ->
Outgoing WHO Assistant Director-General Dr Jeremy Farrar will lead PATH’s regional division for Asia, the Middle East, and Europe starting in October, the organisation announced in a press release on Wednesday (9 September). Based in Geneva, he joins the executive leadership team to accelerate the delivery of health technologies across these regions. “Dr Farrar joins […] Continue reading ->