As posted by UN Environment in a World Environment Day press release: Nairobi, 15 March 2019 – Today, the head of Chinese delegation, Zhao Yingmin, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment, and Joyce Msuya, Acting Head of UN Environment, jointly announced that China will host the global World Environment Day celebrations on 5 June 2019 with a theme […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters today that WHO is “working to find a balance between protecting patients and staff from attacks by armed groups and building community trust and ownership” in managing the response to the deadly Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Image Credits: Gabriele François Casini/MSF. Continue reading ->
The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs appears set to delay any consideration this year of a recent World Health Organization recommendation to reschedule the status of cannabis and cannabis-related substances from “particularly dangerous” to a less dangerous category – with no timeline indicated for when the Commission might actually take up the contentious issue. Image […] Continue reading ->
UNAIDS urged UN member states convening today in Vienna for the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs to enact sweeping reforms of policies towards injecting drug users, most of whom lack critical access to basic “harm reduction” services that could prevent them from becoming infected with HIV. Continue reading ->
Students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) renewed their protests today against a patent claim in an Indian High Court over a leading prostate cancer treatment, saying the claim, if successful, could make the drug unaffordable to millions of people in the developing world. Image Credits: Neda Ashtari. Continue reading ->
UN Environment today released its sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6), assessing the state of the environment over the last five years. The report highlights studies published in the scientific press last year estimating that the health benefits of reducing air pollution would be 1.4 to 2.5 times greater than the costs of mitigation. Savings between […] Continue reading ->
The global health benefits of reducing air pollution and reaching the climate targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement could be as “high as $54.1 trillion dollars, at a cost of only $22.1 trillion,” according a new UN Environment analysis, to be released in full tomorrow. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons. Continue reading ->
Italy’s Minister of Health spoke out publicly today at a press conference in Rome on the proposed World Health Assembly resolution on drug price transparency, while an open letter published on the Ministry’s website called on other World Health Organization member states to support the initiative. Continue reading ->
The Fourth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) opened today in Nairobi against the sober backdrop of yesterday’s tragic crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 en route to the Kenyan capital, killing at least 22 UN staff and humanitarian aid workers, including passengers headed to the UNEA meeting. Image Credits: Baz Ratner/Reuters, @CCAC coalition. Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization today launched a new influenza strategy that takes a more holistic approach to protecting people worldwide from deadly flu threats. The Global Influenza Strategy 2019-2030 aims to address both seasonal prevention and control of influenza, as well as preparedness for future pandemics, while building the capacity of countries to respond to […] Continue reading ->