Governments around the world are ramping up COVID-19 containment measures as new infections outside of China surged by 497 cases over the past 24 hours, outnumbering those inside the country for the first time ever during the epidemic. The increase abroad was largely linked to an acceleration of COVID-19 outbreaks in Italy, Iran, and South […] Continue reading ->
Former general director of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) Luca Li Bassi was awarded the 2019 “International Transparency in Medicines Policies Awards” by the French civil society watchdog group l’Observatoire Médicaments Transparences (the Observatory for Transparency in Medicines), for his efforts in negotiating a milestone World Health Assembly resolution in May 2019 supporting more public […] Continue reading ->
With spiraling outbreaks of COVID-19 in 3 countries, Iran, Italy, and Korea, WHO officials warned Monday of growing risks that the epidemic could become a full-fledged pandemic – although Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stepped back from the brink, telling a press briefing on Monday: “Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely it has. Are we […] Continue reading ->
Containing an explosion of COVID-19 cases in Korea and Iran have become top priorities for global health officials battling to prevent the epidemic from growing into a worldwide pandemic. While new lab-confirmed cases in China on Friday numbered 896, more than double the day before, that was still part of an generally downward trend as […] Continue reading ->
A sharp decline in new COVID-19 cases was reported by China on Thursday, providing a glimmer of hope about the potential to still contain the epidemic – but only if the steady increase being seen in new cases abroad can now be brought under control. As of 3 p.m. Central European Time (CET), official Chinese […] Continue reading ->
[WHO Africa Regional Office] In a strong move for the African state, the Ethiopian Parliament has passed landmark excise tax legislation on tobacco with the express aim of curbing smoking in the country – resulting in some of the strongest taxes on tobacco products on the continent. As a result of the legislation, Ethiopia has […] Continue reading ->
Experts were closely watching the development of Japan’s COVID-19 outbreak for signs of whether the virus might escape further out of control, moving closer to the tipping point of a pandemic – the worldwide spread of a new disease. Meanwhile, a new study in The Lancet found that in Africa, Egypt, Algeria and South Africa […] Continue reading ->
Ecological degradation, climate change, and exploitative marketing practices are the greatest emerging threats to children’s health, says a new report from a WHO-UNICEF-Lancet Commission on the future of child health. Despite dramatic improvements in survival, education and nutrition for children over the past five decades, the report, titled A Future for the World’s Children?, found […] Continue reading ->
Amidst reports of an even tougher crackdown in China, including door to door visits by Wuhan public health authorities to identify people infected with the novel COVID-19 coronavirus and place them in mass quarantine facilities, WHO’s Emergencies Head Mike Ryan defended the tough government measures at a press briefing on Tuesday. “Door to door surveillance, […] Continue reading ->
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a six-year US $240 million commitment to prevent road traffic injuries in low- and middle-income countries on Tuesday, just a day ahead of the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm, Sweden. The new commitment aims to fund efforts to prevent 22 million injuries and save 600,000 lives from road traffic […] Continue reading ->