Ninety percent of 131 countries exceeded the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air pollution guidelines for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) in 2022, according to a new report that combines data from official monitoring stations and “citizens science” monitors around the world. . The report was the fifth such World Air Quality Report to be released […] Continue reading ->
The world’s biggest multinational companies are failing to meet the bold climate change pledges they have made – and are obfuscating their failures through “ambiguous commitments, offsetting plans that lack credibility and emission scope exclusions”. This is according to the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2023, which was released on Monday by Carbon Market Watch and […] Continue reading ->
As Malawi struggles with its biggest-ever cholera outbreak, its response is being hampered by the global shortage of vaccines, warned Dr Patrick Otim Ramadan, World Health Organization (WHO) Africa’s Incident Manager for Regional Cholera Response at a media briefing on Thursday. By Wednesday, Malawi had recorded 40,284 cases and 1,316 deaths, with a case fatality […] Continue reading ->
A new UN Environment report calls for more attention to be focused on the environmental factors fostering the development of strains of drug-resistant bacteria immune to all known antibiotics, known as “superbugs”. By 2050, the UN estimates that up to 10 million deaths could be caused by superbugs and associated forms of antimicrobial resistance, matching […] Continue reading ->
The number of people requiring treatment for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) decreased from 2.19 to 1.65 billion between 2010 and 2021 – an impressive 25 percent decline. However, interlinked challenges, including the COVID pandemic and, now, accelerating patterns of climate change are putting this progress at risk.  On World NTD Day, we need to recognise […] Continue reading ->
The new Brazilian government under President Lula da Silva intends to propose that the World Health Organization (WHO) addresses the health of indigenous people systematically, including by training indigenous health workers. Santiago Alcazar, the former head of WHO in Brazil, told a discussion convened by the Geneva Global Health Hub (G2H2) on Monday that Brazil […] Continue reading ->
The World Economic Forum (WEF) will partner with Wellcome Trust to collect research-based data on how climate change is affecting health.  Making the announcement, WEF’s head of health Shyam Bishen said that while several organisations were working on data collection, most data is fragmented with different organisations.  “We want to ensure that we have a […] Continue reading ->