A wave of record-setting heat waves, beginning in March, have led to new Government guidelines for emergency cooling including measures like heat stroke rooms. Even so, public health experts are only beginning to grapple with the multiple ways in which heatwaves can kill – and map out mitigating measures for both healthy people as well […] Continue reading ->
While the World Health Organization’s International Negotiating Body (INB) continues to negotiate a global Pandemic Agreement, the US has issued its own vision for global health security and expanded its bilateral partnerships with countries across the world. Following the release of this revamped US global health security strategy, Health Policy Watch spoke with Stephanie Psaki, […] Continue reading ->
‘Extortion level’ capital costs put renewables out of reach in most developing economies; fossil fuel companies rake in record profits; and world reels from record heat, freak floods and drought, says UN Secretary General. New climate data released Wednesday shows virtually all key global warming parameters, including land and sea temperatures at all time record […] Continue reading ->
The fight against malaria is facing a new and urgent challenge as climate change and extreme weather events threaten to undermine decades of progress, according to warnings from several countries at the 77th World Health Assembly this week. “Recent extreme weather events such as flooding in Malawi and other countries have intensified malaria transmission, disproportionately […] Continue reading ->
WHO member states approved the first resolution on climate and health to come before the World Health Assembly in 16 years – even as 50°C temperatures in Delhi, flooding in southern Brazil and devastating Caribbean storms are driving home the message to more and more countries that climate change is real. In several hours of […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – The World Health Organization has made climate change its top priority in its four-year work plan adopted at the World Health Assembly this week, but significant gaps in climate health research could hinder the UN health body’s efforts, experts warned at the Geneva Health Forum on Tuesday. Current research on the effects of […] Continue reading ->
Cabo Verde, a group of 10 islands in the Central Atlantic Ocean, was declared malaria-free in January. This milestone makes it one of the 43 countries and territories globally recognised with this certification by the World Health Organization (WHO). Cabo Verde is only the third country in the WHO African region to be certified malaria-free […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization plans to make climate change and its impact on health a major focus in the coming years, along with strengthening health systems, improving health equity and access, and preventing disease, according to the organization’s plan for its general program of work from 2025 to 2028. The four-year plan, known as GPW-14, […] Continue reading ->
Four well-known heavy metals and chemical pollutants – lead, asbestos, arsenic and cadmium- continue exact a heavy toll on the lives of those in low- and middle-income countries – with lead named a factor in as much as 5 million premature deaths annually from cardiovascular disease, according to one recent estimate. Asbestos, arsenic, and cadmium round […] Continue reading ->
Almost 70% of the 4.2 million deaths attributed to ambient (outdoor) air pollution in 2019 were caused by cardiovascular diseases, notably ischaemic heart disease (1.9 million deaths) and stroke (900,000 deaths), according to a new report by the World Heart Federation (WHF). The report highlights the outsized impacts air pollution is having on the worldwide […] Continue reading ->