Many Ways for Governments to Improve ‘Deeply Unhealthy’ Food Environment

20/10/2022 Megha Kaveri

“The bottom line is that our food environment is deeply unhealthy. And unless we change that, millions of people will suffer from avoidable illness and die early from preventable death,” Dr Tom Frieden, CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, told the World Health Summit in Berlin. “Voluntary changes are much less likely to result in […] Continue reading ->

Increased Self-Care Could Save $179b in Healthcare Costs

20/10/2022 Maayan Hoffman

For “Nundy,” a mother of two living in South Africa’s Khayelitsha township, going to the doctor more than once a year is not an option. She would have to pay 50% of her total household income in a month in order to see a doctor, so she saves up all of her medical questions and […] Continue reading ->

Lack of Cancer Detection and Treatment is Driving Deaths in Poorer Countries

19/10/2022 Kerry Cullinan

Common cancers that can be treated successfully when they’re detected early – breast, cervical, colorectal and prostate – are causing high mortality in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) because of a lack of screening and treatment, Dr Cary Adams, CEO of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), told a press conference at the start […] Continue reading ->

World Health Summit Ends on Uneven Note

18/10/2022 Elaine Ruth Fletcher & Stefan Anderson

BERLIN – Donors pledged some $2.6 billion more in funding to the global polio eradication initiative (GPEI) as of the closing day of the World Health Summit – which saw its shares of highs and lows in its finale, much like the rest of the three-day event. On the plus side, the donations, which included […] Continue reading ->

Parliamentarians Unite Forces Globally to Advance Pandemic Treaty

18/10/2022 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

BERLIN – If a new treaty that rewrites the global rules for pandemic response is really approved by the World Health Assembly by May 2024, as planned, that will still only be the beginning of the journey. The new international accord will still have to be ratified by a critical mass of WHO´s 194 member […] Continue reading ->

World’s Pandemic Response: Tall on Principles But Short on Plans

17/10/2022 Kerry Cullinan

Amid criticism that the World Health Summit was ‘speed-dating for consultants’, panellists lamented a lack of practical plans to empower local service delivery A more empowered World Health Organization (WHO), stronger health local systems and better surveillance are some of the weapons that will protect the world against future pandemics, according to panellists at the […] Continue reading ->

Health Systems and Cancer Services Need to Better Care for Older Adults

17/10/2022 Sonali Johnson

A lack of expertise in geriatric oncology means that cancer in older adults is often confused with other signs of ageing and diagnosed too late. Dr Sonali Johnson sets out a blueprint for addressing this barrier – one of the many topics to be discussed at the World Cancer Congress, hosted by the Union for […] Continue reading ->

Climate Protests Grab Center Stage at Opening of Berlin´s World Health Summit

17/10/2022 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

BERLIN – The first World Health Summit co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) started off with a siren call to climate action – literally – as activists disrupted the ceremonial plenary attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz by repeatedly setting off fire alarms Outside the posh Hotel Berlin venue, activists plastered the doors with […] Continue reading ->

COVAX, the Global COVID-19 Vaccine Platform, was ‘Too Ambitious’

14/10/2022 Kerry Cullinan

Midway through last year, the head of the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, Strive Masiyiwa, angrily accused the global COVID-19 vaccine acquisition platform, COVAX, of misleading African countries about its ability to procure vaccines for them. Masiyiwa’s bitter remarks came after months of Africans watching Europeans and North Americans being vaccinated against COVID-19 while no […] Continue reading ->

Indian Government Halts Production at Pharma Firm that WHO Says Produced Tainted Cough Medicines

13/10/2022 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

The Indian government has halted the Maiden Pharmaceuticals plant that produced the cough and cold syrups that WHO says were tainted with toxic chemicals – possibly linked to the recent deaths of some 66 children in The Gambia. A senior WHO official confirmed that Indian government health authorities had shut down the plant after WHO […] Continue reading ->