Over a third of the world’s countries – 37% – have either not created or are not enforcing legally mandated ambient air quality standards (AAQS), according to a new report released by the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP). The report, “First Global Assessment of Air Pollution Legislation” assesses national air quality legislation in 194 states […] Continue reading ->
  “The greatest threat to global public health is the continued failure of world leaders to keep the global temperature rise below 1·5°C, and to restore nature. Urgent, society-wide changes must be made and will lead to a fairer and healthier world,” according to an editorial published simultaneously in 200 journals world-wide. The aim of […] Continue reading ->
Only a quarter of countries worldwide have a national plan to support people with dementia and their families, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO)  ‘Global status report on the public health response to dementia’ released on Thursday.  More than 55 million people globally are living with dementia and the number is estimated to increase […] Continue reading ->
When Algerian service stations stopped providing leaded petrol last month, this marked the successful end to a global campaign to eliminate this “major threat to human and planetary health”. Celebrating the official end of the use of leaded petrol on Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres said that when the global campaign to eliminate the […] Continue reading ->
Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued technical guidelines for the development of digital COVID-19 ‘vaccine certificates’, it has stressed that these should not be a prerequisite for international travel.   At the release of the technical guidelines last Friday (27 August), the WHO stated that it “does not support the requirement of proof of […] Continue reading ->
One billion children – almost half the world’s children – live in 33 countries that are at an “extremely high-risk” from the impacts of climate change including heatwaves, cyclones, air pollution, flooding and water scarcity. This is according to UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) which provides the first global comprehensive view of children’s exposure […] Continue reading ->
KABUL – As the Taliban blitzed through towns and villages of Afghanistan finally capturing Kabul August 15, the war-ravaged country’s fragile health system was also crumbling, leaving the sick and vulnerable in despair.  Over the past week, the health ministry’s previously daily updates of coronavirus infections, vaccinations and other key updates on public health have […] Continue reading ->
This year’s 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), will be a critical moment of decision on climate policies, as the clock runs down before the more severe ravages of global warming become irreversible. Against the panoply of issues under debate, health is getting more attention from this year’s COP26 organisers as a […] Continue reading ->