World leaders, representatives of international development and humanitarian organizations, and UN delegations gathered in Geneva on Monday to rally financial support for Pakistan’s recovery from the devastating floods that hammered the country last year. Pakistan has appealed for $16.3 billion to assist it to rebuild the country, and almost half this amount had been pledged […] Continue reading ->
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania – For Khadija Kambi, the country’s water shortage presents a tricky moral dilemma for her family: either she lets her children drink murky water and fall sick or she lets them suffer from extreme thirst. “I don’t have the money to buy clean piped water. Well water is the cheaper option […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations has described it as “the most important conference on biodiversity in a decade,” aimed at creating a Paris Agreement-style agreement for biodiversity. Negotiations amongst more than 100 environment ministers and 196 governments at the Conference on Biodiversity in Montreal on the world’s 15th attempt to come to an agreement to protect the […] Continue reading ->
Amid a worldwide surge in cholera outbreaks – a sign of poor access to clean water and sanitation – a key report released on Wednesday shows that only a quarter of countries are on track to achieve their national sanitation targets. Meanwhile, less than half – a mere 45% – are on track to achieve […] Continue reading ->
COVID-19, conflicts and climate change are posing additional challenges to efforts to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMRO), the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged on the eve of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day on Monday. “The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the vulnerability of our health, social protection and economic systems,” Dr […] Continue reading ->
A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme warns that investment in nature-based solutions must double by 2025 if the world is to limit global warming to 1.5°C, as well as halting biodiversity loss and progressively increasing land degradation. The report comes a week before world leaders will gather at the UN Biodiversity Conference […] Continue reading ->
In 2020, UNICEF estimated that “a stillbirth occurs every 16 seconds somewhere in the world.” A new study has linked air pollution to nearly half of them. The study of 137 countries is the first global analysis to assess the number of fetal deaths, putting into numbers the already documented link between fine particulate matter […] Continue reading ->
Stronger international rules and cooperation mechanisms on health are at the heart of the European Union’s new global health strategy, which was launched on Wednesday. The strategy is based on three priorities: ensuring that people stay well throughout their lives, strengthening health systems particularly by advancing universal health coverage, and applying a ‘One Health’ approach […] Continue reading ->
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania – Issa Abdul’s desperate urge for solar power began when he realised a smoke-spewing generator at his barber shop was costing him too much. “Solar power is very cheap. I regret spending my money on this fuel-guzzling machine,” he told Health Policy Watch. The 32-year-old barber in Tanzania’s port city spent […] Continue reading ->
Negotiations on a ‘pandemic treaty’ are starting in earnest within weeks as the World Health Organization (WHO) distributed the first ‘zero-sum’ conceptual draft of the agreement to member states on Friday – but one of the biggest conundrums is how to pay to mitigate the next pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact […] Continue reading ->