As the world observes World Zoonoses Day, it’s important to remember that human health is intimately tied to the health of animals, wild and domesticated.  Five years after COVID-19, the world remains alert to health threats that can cross over from animals to people.  Alongside growing concerns over high-profile spillovers like avian influenza, the silent […] Continue reading ->
Low-income countries could confront the massive health finance crisis they are facing after the withdrawal of most US-based aid through a 50% increase in the price of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks – saving 50 million lives and raising some $1 trillion dollars in vital revenue for strapped health systems, says WHO. The ambitious WHO […] Continue reading ->
Air pollution is barely acknowledged in the draft political declaration for the upcoming fourth UN High-Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health. The omission of the world’s leading contributor to disease threatens global progress in tackling heart disease, respiratory diseases, stroke, cancer, and other chronic illnesses. Since the last UN General Assembly High-Level […] Continue reading ->
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the official end of USAID, eliminating the world’s largest humanitarian aid agency just days after a landmark study warned the closure would cause 2.4 million preventable deaths every year. The study published 30 June in The Lancet found USAID-supported programs saved 92 million lives in low- and middle-income countries […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced his new team of 36 directors at headquarters on Tuesday, according to an internal message to WHO staff, seen by Health Policy Watch. Nine of the appointments, including key positions heading the Departments of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, and the newly-combined Department of Environment, […] Continue reading ->
A four year WHO-sponsored investigation of the origins of the COVID pandemic by an international group of experts has concluded that “most scientific data and accessible published scientific evidence” support the hypothesis that the novel SARS-CoV2 virus first entered the human population either directly from virus-carrying bats, or from bats to humans via intermediate hosts.   […] Continue reading ->
This story was updated to reflect new developments on Friday, 27 June.  Israel ordered a near-total halt to food and humanitarian aid deliveries to over two million Gazans facing a territory-wide threat of famine on Thursday after an AFP video surfaced showing dozens of armed men riding atop a convoy of flatbed trucks loaded with […] Continue reading ->
In an harsh reprimand at the global vaccine pledging summit Wednesday, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. attacked Gavi’s record on vaccine safety and said the United States was halting support for the alliance, until it could “re-earn” the public trust. He charged that Gavi had stifled “free speech and legitimate […] Continue reading ->