Senior WHO officials sounded a cautiously optimistic note Tuesday about the prospects for WHO member states to somehow wrap up down-to-the-wire negotiations on a landmark Pandemic Accord in time to submit a final agreement to the World Health Assembly, which begins next Monday, 27 May. Meanwhile, they heralded the milestone agreement “in principle” to amend […] Continue reading ->
More than 4.5 billion people lack access to essential health services, while globally 60 million lives are lost due to failures of health care systems, translating into a 15% loss of global GDP. Yet the consequences in terms of poor health and economies are preventable through increased investments in nurses who deliver upwards of 80% […] Continue reading ->
The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), famous for busting Volkswagen’s Dieselgate, has a new ambition: Taking immediate action to shift to zero-emissions vehicles, significantly cutting ozone (O3) nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and PM2.5 pollution, and avoiding millions of cases of early death and paediatric asthma. Business-as-usual vehicle scenarios will lead to an increase.  Because they […] Continue reading ->
Israel said Monday that its forces had withdrawn from Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest health facility, after two weeks of fierce fighting with Hamas gunmen barricaded inside that destroyed large parts of the facility, including the surgery, maternity and emergency wards.   WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday evening that some 21 patients had died […] Continue reading ->
HARARE, Zimbabwe – The maize meal porridge that their mother had previously blended with peanut butter and sugar for them is now a thing of the past for scrawny 13-year-old Nesbit Chigariro and his three siblings. The family barely has enough food for a single meal a day, as the El Nino-induced drought sweeping southern […] Continue reading ->
Heatwaves, floods, wildfires, and droughts unleashed global mayhem in 2023, as the year broke multiple climate records, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of the Global Climate Report released this week. It was the hottest year in recorded history, with global average near-surface temperature of 1.45℃ above the pre-industrial baseline. “Never have we […] Continue reading ->
Average concentrations of small and fine particulates (PM2.5 and PM10)  decreased across Europe between 2003-2019 – with the largest reductions in PM10,according to a new study published in Nature on trends over the past two decades. Despite air quality improvements, more than 98 of the European population lives in areas exceeding the WHO recommended annual […] Continue reading ->