Children’s rights activists and anti-tobacco campaigners called on governments this week to implement stricter laws, impose hefty fines and carry out public campaigns to eradicate child labor in tobacco value chains. With an estimated 1.3 million children working in tobacco fields around the world, Adriana Blanco Marquizo, head of the Secretariat of WHO’s  Framework Convention […] Continue reading ->
Uganda is suffering an acute shortage of oxygen and intensive care beds as the country grapples with a deadly second wave of the pandemic that is being fuelled by five different virus variants. Regional referral hospitals and the country’s biggest hospital, Mulago National Referral Hospital, have run out of oxygen or have reported acute shortages,  […] Continue reading ->
In a “groundbreaking” trial conducted in Indonesia, lab-grown mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria reduced the rate of symptomatic dengue infections by 77%, and hospitalizations by 86%, in communities where the bacteria-armed mosquitoes were released.   The three-year study, which was led by the World Mosquito Program, provides compelling evidence for a new method of controlling dengue. […] Continue reading ->
Electronic waste (e-waste) is increasing at three times the pace of the world population, impacting badly on the health of those wading through electronic dump sites, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) landmark report – Children and Digital Dumpsites – released on Tuesday. Led by Marie-Noël Bruné Drisse, a children’s health expert of the […] Continue reading ->
Over the past several decades, the tobacco industry has tried to influence policy by partnering with various United Nations (UN) agencies. Many of these agencies, however, have since cut ties with the industry, thus safeguarding their initiatives and policies from Big Tobacco’s commercial interests. One notable exception remains and must be addressed: the continued membership […] Continue reading ->
Chinese researchers have this week published two papers that shed new light into the likely bat origins of SARS-CoV2 and related foodborne risks – even as pressures from the United States and the European Union grow for a more complete investigation into the origins of SARS-CoV2.  The US and EU are expected to issue a […] Continue reading ->