In Mongolia, where extreme winter cold spells, known as “Dzud”, are becoming more frequent due to climate change, these can spell death to people and animals. But in recent years, herders in remote regions can get up-to-date advance warnings of pending extremes, as well as detailed advice prompting them, for instance, to stock up on […] Continue reading ->
Cholera in Africa is being driven by years of under-investment in water and sanitation, according to the Africa Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). Four countries – Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan and South Sudan – account for over 85% of the continent’s cholera cases and all have above-average death rates, […] Continue reading ->
Most countries’ climate action plans refer to the health benefits of adaptation and mitigation strategies, such as reduced air pollution, but few actually track them. And as World Environment Day is observed Thursday, global climate commitments remain extraordinarily weak. Only 21 countries out of the 195 parties to the UN Paris Agreement have submitted updated […] Continue reading ->
Over 30 health organizations representing 12 million doctors, nurses, and public health professionals globally have pledged to no longer work with advertising agencies that partner with the fossil fuel industry, citing conflicts of interest and the resulting health effects from industry disinformation campaigns. The organizations span five continents and include prominent groups such as Médecins […] Continue reading ->
Global temperatures are expected to remain near record levels over the next five years, and there is an 80% chance that at least one of the next five years will exceed 2024 as the warmest on record. This is the key takeaway from a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The temperature rise […] Continue reading ->
A new WHO Climate Change and Health Action plan was approved by a key World Health Assembly (WHA) Committee Tuesday evening – after hours of high-stakes, high-drama parliamentary maneuvers by a cluster of oil-rich World Health Organization (WHO) member states to shelve the plan failed. WHO member states accepted the original plan by a vote […] Continue reading ->
In an eleventh-hour move, World Health Assembly member states on Monday deferred a final vote on a draft WHO Action plan on Climate Change and Health until Tuesday morning – in an effort to find a last-minute compromise with a bloc of oil-rich states trying to put the plan on ice. The move followed a […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – Although the past decade has seen progress in the fight against malnutrition, 148 million children remain stunted, 45 million suffer from wasting, and anaemia affects nearly one in three women globally, according to experts at the Geneva Health Forum (GHF). In 2023 alone, 733 million people experienced hunger—152 million more than in 2019—and […] Continue reading ->
There is a 33-year gap in life expectancy between people born in the country with the highest life expectancy and those born in the country with the lowest life expectancy, while 94% of maternal deaths happen in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), according to a World Health Organization global report on the social determinants of […] Continue reading ->
Merging WHO and UNAIDs, and combining the “operational” component of WHO’s Emergencies response with that of other agencies are just two among the several dozen ideas pitched by the UN80 Initiative Task Force – in the full text of options for interagency budget cuts and efficiencies, obtained by Health Policy Watch. The list of over […] Continue reading ->