About 43 million fewer people are undernourished today compared to a peak in 2022, during the COVID pandemic. Yet undernutrition and a lack of diet affordability still haunt more than half a billion people globally. Crises and conflicts increase risks. Global food security improved slightly in 2025 as hunger fell to 7.8% from 8.1% in […] Continue reading ->
The dramatic global health budget cutbacks in services for maternal and reproductive health and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have produced 17 million unintended pregnancies, and more than 34,000 preventable maternal deaths in just the first year since cuts were made. That recent assessment by French and Washington DC-based analyses, was cited by Guyana’s UN Ambassador […] Continue reading ->
The Commonwealth’s new strategic framework accelerates the elimination of cervical cancer, a highly preventable disease that claims hundreds of thousands of lives yearly. However, shifting global funding and major prevention gaps threaten to derail progress, forcing states to double down on shared digital resources, regional cooperation, and community engagement. Inside the wood-panelled executive boardroom at […] Continue reading ->
The International Day of the Midwife (May 5) reminds us that safe birth is not a stand-alone event, but part of the broader continuum of sexual and reproductive health and rights Most maternal deaths occur during labour, birth, or shortly after birth. Nearly 290,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2020, with […] Continue reading ->
STRASBOURG – Amid a global backlash against sexual and reproductive rights, the European Parliament has taken a decisive stand by voting for a unified, human rights-based standard for sexual offences. This Europe-wide legislative push aims to overhaul the fragmented national laws that currently leave many survivors without access to justice or essential health support. The […] Continue reading ->
Cervical cancer should no longer be killing women. It is one of the few cancers that we already know how to prevent, detect early, and treat effectively. Yet it remains the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide, causing around 600,000 new cases and 340,000 deaths each year. The tragedy is not just the scale […] Continue reading ->
The Human papillomavirus (HPV35), globally associated with only 2% of invasive cervical cancers (ICC), has a disproportionately higher prevalence in sub‐Saharan Africa, reaching rates of 22-30% in some countries among women with ICC lesions, according to a new study. Recently, a high-level panel called for redoubled efforts in HPV vaccination, screening and treatment to meet […] Continue reading ->
In a landmark decision, the European Commission is allowing member states to utilize existing EU funds to finance access to safe abortions. This move represents a significant shift in European reproductive health, although it stops short of providing financial certainty for women seeking essential reproductive healthcare. “Behind every unsafe abortion is a woman forced to […] Continue reading ->
India launched the most extensive free Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination initiative in history to systematically combat the rising toll of cervical cancer. This ambitious 90-day campaign aims to inoculate nearly 12 million 14-year-old girls before the preventative shot is permanently integrated into the country’s universal immunization schedule. “India has joined the community of 160 countries […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board faced a grim reckoning on Thursday in a report detailing how global progress on maternal, infant and child nutrition has largely stalled or even regressed. Notably, six critical nutrition targets remain “off track,” with rising rates of anaemia and childhood obesity sliding back, threatening to reverse years of […] Continue reading ->