Beijing confirmed the nomination of National Health Commission official Dr Song Li for WHO Director-General on Thursday (8 October). The move expands the candidate field to seven amidst severe geopolitical ruptures shaking up the agency, with experts warning this move could further heighten superpower tensions. In announcing the bid, Chinese officials framed the candidacy around […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked the Russian government for more information about the death of an employee at a Siberian plague research unit, including details about the laboratory tests conducted on her, the WHO Director-General told a media briefing on Thursday. The WHO has also asked Russia for more details about the public […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) released its first-ever guidelines to address how clinicians should manage obesity in children and adolescents, which include conditional recommendations for obesity medications and even surgery for children over the age of 10. Since 1990, the number of children ages 5-9 years and adolescents 10-19 years living with obesity has quadrupled, […] Continue reading ->
China has nominated a prominent Chinese health official for WHO Director General in the 2027 elections, multiple diplomatic sources have confirmed to Health Policy Watch. But there are mixed reports about who that candidate actually may be. Some high-level sources have cited Song Li, a senior Chinese Communist Party official who mounted a failed bid […] Continue reading ->
Nearly three in four maternal healthcare workers say extreme heat-related complications among pregnant women have increased over the past five years, according to a five-country survey released as climate ministers gathered in Fiji for the last major meeting before COP31. The poll of 1,001 obstetricians, midwives, nurses and other maternity staff in Australia, Brazil, India, […] Continue reading ->
HARARE – In March, 27-year-old Jemitius Gangata succumbed to malaria in Mahombokombe village in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West Province, becoming part of the country’s growing malaria statistics. By mid-April, the country had recorded over 65,000 malaria cases and 174 deaths, almost double the numbers from the same period last year, when 36,000 cases and 85 deaths […] Continue reading ->
Global health has moved from an area of mutual cooperation to one dominated by “high politics” and division, observed Ilona Kickbusch at the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) last Friday (2 October). Leading the closing panel, the founder of the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, highlighted how recent voting at the […] Continue reading ->
Rural farm fires and Diwali fireworks likely to trigger pollution emergencies in northern India during late autumn and early winter, despite the rollout of new pollution control measures in the capital city territory. DELHI, India – As India braces for the winter smog season, Delhi has announced a pollution mitigation plan for the expected peak […] Continue reading ->
The shortlist of five finalists to serve as the next Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was published on Wednesday (30 September), launching the final phase of its leadership search. By narrowing the global applicant field to five candidates, the Global Fund’s Executive Director Nomination Committee (EDNC) has taken […] Continue reading ->
Although the United States’ bilateral health memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with 35 countries are due to come into effect on Thursday (1 October), the start of the US fiscal year, the money will not flow yet – as countries have until Friday to submit their final 2027 budgets. And while US officials have hailed the […] Continue reading ->