The World Health Assembly has re-elected India to serve as WHO’s external auditor for the next four years – but there was a steep price tag attached to this year’s appointment. WHO will pay nearly $1 million for India’s services over the coming three-year term of 2024-2027  – amounting to US$ 2.268 million, according to […] Continue reading ->
There has been swift and widespread reaction to Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which introduces severe punishment for homosexuality including the death penalty, being signed into law by that country’s president on Monday. US President Joe Biden called for its “immediate repeal”, describing it as “a tragic violation of universal human rights—one that is not worthy of […] Continue reading ->
On Saturday at the World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization (WHO) laid out the current realities of its digital health agenda as contained in the 2020-2025 global strategy on digital health. WHO member states see digital health as an important vehicle for accelerating progress towards WHO’s ‘triple billion’ targets of universal health coverage, health […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – The global will to ensure that COVID-19 is a “never-again” pandemic is dissipating fast, according to many delegates attending the World Health Assembly (WHA) and its plethora of side events – threatening initiatives such as local manufacturing of vaccines. Jeremy Farrar, the newly appointed Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), reminded […] Continue reading ->
Achieving universal health coverage by 2030, as resolved by the World Health Assembly this week, should ideally bring along with it a bouquet of possibilities through digital technologies.  Digital health technologies have improved the delivery of healthcare services by improving access to COVID-19 vaccination in Canada, and by improving access to breast and cervical cancer […] Continue reading ->
When Elvis Ndikum Achiri, a long-time veteran of tobacco control campaigns, began collecting data on air pollution in his community in Cameroon, he was surprised to discover how many people around him, both young and old, suffered from related illnesses even though they had never smoked – including a beloved high school teacher who had […] Continue reading ->
New global guidelines to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were finally passed by the World Health Assembly on Friday afternoon after a mammoth day-and-a-half of member states’ inputs. The guidelines update the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “Best Buys” published in 2017 and focus on the four key risk factors for NCDs – tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy diet […] Continue reading ->