The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) plans to declare mpox a public health emergency of continental concern next week, marking the first such declaration in the agency’s history. The decision follows a surge in mpox cases across Africa in 2024, matching 2023’s total in just six months. Since January 2022, over […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to begin a major polio booster vaccination campaign in Gaza next week with the dispatch of over 1.2 million vaccines to the war-torn Palestinian enclave – against a backdrop of spiralling regional tensions. WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned again on Wednesday that the presence of polio virus […] Continue reading ->
JAMBHALI, India – Farmer Kusum Gaikwad’s work start at 4 am daily. First, she burns the firewood and farm residue to heat water for 10 family members. By 7 am, she reaches the fields, manoeuvring through thousands of sugarcane plants, removing weeds, and checking for pests and diseases that could hamper their growth. This is […] Continue reading ->
Dengue virus cases have reached an all-time high since January in the US territory of Puerto Rico, with 1,729 people infected so far – a more than 300% increase compared to last year. The uptick in the mosquito-borne disease, which causes mild to severe illness, follows a trend across the Caribbean region. The total number of […] Continue reading ->
Hurricane Beryl, which has destroyed homes and infrastructure in large parts of the eastern Caribbean, is the first first-ever Category 4 hurricane recorded in the region in June – and a portend of devastating changes in weather patterns. It also underscores the need for urgent international assistance to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to strengthen […] Continue reading ->
NEW DELHI – On 2 November 2023, extreme air pollution caught Delhi off-guard. It shut down schools and led to flight cancellations, curbs on construction and other emergency responses. That every little increase in air pollution increases the risk of death has been well-established for some years. But till now the effect of short-term air […] Continue reading ->
A growing body of evidence from India is firmly establishing the country’s toxic levels of air pollution as a leading cause of ill health, particularly non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The results are significant because the country’s politicians have repeatedly questioned the validity of research that links air pollution with reduced life expectancy and worsening health. As […] Continue reading ->
The fifth State of Global Air report shows air pollution is now the second-leading risk factor for death globally, after high blood pressure. Most of the deaths are from non-communicable diseases (NCD). The report has a silver lining about lives saved which shows how there’s been a large drop in the death rate of children […] Continue reading ->
As many as 65 million people in over a dozen Southern and Eastern African countries from Mozambique to Ethiopia are facing unprecedented challenges with food security, extreme weather events and conflict, UN officials say. The crises disproportionately affect women, who are already in a more vulnerable situation due to their gender, said Lydia Zigomo, UN […] Continue reading ->
Progress on household electricity access suffered a setback for the first time in a decade – with 10 million more people lacking access in 2022 as compared to 2021, according to the 2024 Energy Progress Report released this week. As many as 685 million people were without electricity access in 2022. Some 2.1 billion people […] Continue reading ->