DIGYA, Ghana – Local farmer Precious Amewornu nearly died just before she could give birth to her second child and had to travel almost 500 kilometres for hospital care because her local clinic was not equipped to deal with her high blood pressure – one of the most common non-communicable diseases (NCDs). A nurse at […] Continue reading ->
Children with type 1 diabetes living in rural parts of the world’s poorest countries often struggle to get life-saving insulin as programmes addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) tend to be urban-based and adult-focused. But an initiative to address life-threatening NCDs affecting children and young adults – particularly type 1 diabetes, rheumatic and congenital heart disease, and […] Continue reading ->
TEL AVIV – Ageing doctors and overworked staff are just two of the consequences of the severe shortage of health care workers, even in the comparatively wealthy Europe region of the World Health Organization (WHO). “In one out of three countries in the region, more than 40% of the doctors are older than 55 years […] Continue reading ->
Nearly 200 health organizations and more than 1,400 health professionals have signed a letter published on Wednesday calling on governments to negotiate a legally binding international treaty that would phase out fossil fuels, which they blame for “severe threats to human and planetary health.” Among the treaty’s supporters is the World Health Organization (WHO), a […] Continue reading ->
TEL AVIV – When Belgian Ann Li got sick with COVID in March 2020, she did not know that the disease would follow her for years. “Even though I’m standing here in front of you looking seemingly healthy, I still suffer the consequences of the initial infection,” she told the audience of a panel devoted […] Continue reading ->
As the push for adequate funds to address HIV, tuberculosis and malaria reaches its climax with next week’s replenishment meeting of the Global Fund, the fund’s latest report reveals it has saved 50 million lives between 2002 and 2021. The Global Fund raises money in three-year cycles and seeks $18 billion for its seventh replenishment, […] Continue reading ->
The number of people on tuberculosis treatment rebounded to 5.3 million in 2021 and is nearing pre-pandemic levels of 5.5 million, according to a new Global Fund report. That’s an encouraging sign of progress after treatment plummeted to just 4.5 million people in 2020, the report, released on Monday, notes. Overall, the new report shows […] Continue reading ->
Famine “is at the door” in Somalia, with “concrete indications” that parts of the south-central Bay region will be in famine between October and December this year without an urgent surge in aid, the United Nations (UN) warned this week. “This is the final warning to all of us,” the UN’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, […] Continue reading ->
A new initiative to introduce COVID-19 oral antivirals and national test-and-treat programmes in 10 countries in Africa and Southeast Asia was launched on Wednesday by the COVID Treatment Quick Start Consortium. The consortium will support governments to introduce and scale up access to antivirals, starting with Pfizer’s Paxlovid, in high-risk populations in Ghana, Kenya, Laos, […] Continue reading ->
Consumers in Argentina are getting help to identify unhealthy food, thanks to new food promotion laws that mandate front-of-package warning labels, the first phase of which started recently. Last year, Argentina’s president signed one of the world’s strongest and most comprehensive food policy laws, requiring ultra-processed products with excess levels of sodium, sugar, fats and […] Continue reading ->