One stillbirth occurs every 16 seconds worldwide with approximately 2 million stillborn babies a year, says the first UN-wide report to document the global scale of the issue. And COVID-19 related interruptions in maternal and child care services, particularly emergency obstetric care, could lead to an additional 60,000 to 200,000 stillbirths over the next 12 […] Continue reading ->
With fires from crop stubble burning spreading across northern India heralding the beginning of Delhi’s winter air pollution season, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has pledged to take pre-emptive action – announcing a ‘war on pollution,’ led from a ‘war room’ that he will personally command. His arsenal includes a seven-point action plan that will […] Continue reading ->
For the second year in a row, Geneva’s International Chamber of Commerce has hosted a dialogue bringing local tobacco industry leaders together with a major Geneva-based UN Agency – in this case to discuss the ‘role of multinationals in economic recovery following the coronavirus’.  The ICC’s 6th Business Dialogue, involving Teresa Moreira, Head Competition and […] Continue reading ->
The World Bank will make available up to $12 billion in “fast-track financing” that low- and middle-income countries can access to procure vaccines against Covid-19 – as soon as one is approved, said the Bank’s president David Malpass, on Wednesday. The announcement at a United Nations high-level panel on the pandemic that also included commitments […] Continue reading ->
The ‘infodemic’ is one of the “most concerning” governance challenges of our time, undermining trust in science in the midst of the pandemic, and threatening people’s physical and mental health, warned United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steimer.  While the overabundance of misinformation – or ‘infodemic – is not new, it has blown out […] Continue reading ->
Over the past two decades, the number of coronary heart disease deaths resulting from tobacco consumption has risen by 10,000 new deaths every year, warned WHO spokesperson Jaimie Guerra, in an interview with Health Policy Watch.  Tobacco consumption in all its forms increases the risks of developing coronary heart disease, warns a new brief published […] Continue reading ->
Most shoppers spend less than 10 seconds debating a food choice in the grocery store aisle – and yet choosing processed and low nutrient foods with high levels of sugar, sodium, and fats can lead to chronic diseases, which are expensive to control and often impossible to cure. Now, national regulatory authorities and food companies […] Continue reading ->