Health Policy Watch recently reported that some European countries at the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement negotiations maintain that intellectual property (IP) negotiations belong at the World Trade Organization (WTO) rather than the WHO. If they mean to say that new WTO laws cannot be established at the WHO, they have a point. But […] Continue reading ->
The global health landscape is marked by paradoxes. The last several decades have been shaped by progress and setbacks – new medicines and emerging diseases, technological advancements and entrenched inequities. The Ebola outbreaks and COVID-19 pandemic exposed many of the already existing inequities in our global health ecosystem, from unequal access to vaccines to restrictive […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy electing new leaders in three of its six regions. Previous articles have considered the issues at stake and the candidates competing for the position of regional director in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and the South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). This article, the final one in the […] Continue reading ->
At the Sustainable Development Goals Summit last week, world leaders discussed the many ways in which progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has slowed, stopped, and in some cases retreated. Halfway to the 2030 deadline, half of the 140 targets are off-track and a third are at or below their 2015 baselines. We must reverse this trend. […] Continue reading ->
Health systems in Africa are under considerable strain: rapid demographic change, rising non-communicable diseases, and emerging and re-emerging threats such as COVID-19 and Ebola are increasing demands on limited health services. Africa, however, faces a challenging period in health financing to meet these increasing needs. Health spending in most countries remains far short of what is […] Continue reading ->
Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading ->
For most people, electing the regional director – or chief health officer – for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) of the World Health Organization (WHO) will not set the pulse racing. Is this just another shuffling of chairs around the world’s bureaucratic table? Even among global health nerds, it will trigger just a faint tremor. […] Continue reading ->
Amidst the vibrant rhythms of Africa, a less audible rhythm beats – an alarming rise in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Between 50% and 88% of deaths in at least seven African countries are due to NCDs, according to the 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) Noncommunicable Disease Progress Monitor. Yet, the realm of […] Continue reading ->
The 28th United Nations climate conference, scheduled to open on 30 November in Dubai, has pledged to elevate health issues, but non-communicable diseases – which are set to become dramatically worse as temperatures rise – are nowhere on the agenda. Prevention of climate– and heat-related diseases need to be on the formal Conference of Parties […] Continue reading ->
Ultra-processed products are usurping healthier, minimally processed foods in much of the world. Breakfasts are too often pre-packaged and sugar-laden, while lunches are loaded with sodium and wrapped in plastic – products that have been transformed using industrial processes and filled with additives to make them highly palatable. The widespread consumption of these foods and […] Continue reading ->