GENEVA – A resolution aimed at strengthening countries’ capacity to deal with “natural hazards” faced unexpected opposition over gender-related terminology at the World Health Assembly (WHA) on Thursday. This is despite the urgency of countries adapting their health services to address extreme weather events, which are becoming more common globally thanks to climate change. The […] 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 ->
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 ->