Home-cooked food is a serious matter in the Middle East and family mealtimes are sacrosanct. We are known for our hospitality. We go all out for our guests. People have strong and definite opinions about food, and family recipes are secrets handed down from generation to generation. As a child, I took our cuisine for […] Continue reading ->
In a milestone moment, WHO today issued new guidelines for a range of health-harmful air pollutants – recommending a reduction by one-half in safe levels of fine particulates (PM2.5) – considered to be the benchmark indicator of health impacts that lead to some 7 million deaths a year. The new standards put most cities of […] Continue reading ->
Afghanistan’s health system is on the brink of collapse and the country faces “an imminent humanitarian catastrophe,” the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday. Only 17% of the facilities of the country’s largest health project, Sehetmandi, are still fully functional as they have run out of funds for supplies and salaries for health staff. […] Continue reading ->
Many children in the global south are drinking more sugary drinks than milk – thanks to the aggressive promotion of ultra-processed food to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the past two decades. Global obesity and diabetes rates have exploded as a result of dietary changes, and these conditions have made people far more vulnerable […] Continue reading ->
The biggest killers of working people are strokes and heart disease associated with long working hours – over 55 hours a week. This is according to a joint report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO), the first global comparative risk assessment of the work-related burden of disease, which was released […] Continue reading ->
The Results Report published by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria last week illustrates how COVID-19 has pushed us off track in significant ways – particularly with respect to access to tuberculosis (TB) and HIV diagnoses and treatment. But at the same time, there is better news with respect to the battle […] Continue reading ->
Iconic places across the world will be lit up in orange on World Patient Safety Day on Friday to highlight the global campaign to reduce preventable deaths in childbirth and pregnancy and deliver safe maternal and newborn care. The International Alliance of Patients’ Organisation (IAPO), which I lead, and the alliance we are a member […] Continue reading ->
Africa has the highest entrepreneurship rate in the world, yet greater financial resources are needed to ensure that innovation can be implemented to strengthen health systems and the welfare of health workers, said panellists at an innovation award ceremony on Thursday. The Africa Young Innovators for Health Award, co-organised by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical […] Continue reading ->
Countries with high COVID-19 vaccination rates have pre-purchased over two billion excess vaccine doses, limiting the supplies available for low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This emerged from a meeting on Thursday between the heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization – the multilateral Task Force – […] Continue reading ->
More than 140 former heads of state and Nobel laureates have called on the three candidates in line to be the next German chancellor to declare themselves in favour of waiving intellectual property on COVID-19 vaccines and transferring vaccine technologies. Germany is leading the European Commission’s refusal to accept the so-called TRIPS waiver proposal put […] Continue reading ->