NEW YORK – Negotiations over a planned United Nations political declaration on universal health coverage (UHC) reopened last week after about a dozen countries reportedly objected to language in the final draft covering two sensitive issues – sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and the health needs of migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons and […] Continue reading ->
[Wellcome Press Release] A world-first research project will unravel how human embryos develop in the first weeks and months after fertilisation, improving our understanding of fertility, birth defects and regenerative medicine. The £10 million Wellcome-funded Human Developmental Biology Initiative (HDBI) will build a ‘family tree’ of how cells divide and specialise following fertilisation*, to understand […] Continue reading ->
Disclosure of costs for drug research and development (R&D) and “alternative financing mechanisms” for new health products remain outstanding points to be resolved by countries in finalising a draft United Nations General Assembly political declaration on universal health coverage (UHC). A final draft of the declaration had been expected this week, but as of Friday […] Continue reading ->
An estimated 820 million people went hungry in 2018, the third continuous year in a worldwide trend of rising hunger. And over one-quarter of the world’s population, or 2 billion people in all, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, according to the The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report for 2019. […] Continue reading ->
[WHO/Europe Press Release] Brussels, Belgium, 15 July 2019 Two new studies from WHO/Europe show that a high proportion of baby foods are incorrectly marketed as suitable for infants under the age of 6 months, and that many of those foods contain inappropriately high levels of sugar. WHO’s long-standing recommendation states that children should be breastfed, […] Continue reading ->
A new plan to improve collaboration across 12 United Nations and multilateral agencies to support UN member states to reach 2030 targets on health includes not only the ambitious aim of reducing bureaucracy and increasing efficiency, but of working better across sectors to address environmental, commercial and social factors that harm health. These factors, which […] Continue reading ->
A UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for countries to combat childhood, early and forced marriages, and supported by over 60 UN member states, ran into heavy criticism today prior to its final approval. A number of countries in the Middle East, South-East Asia and North Africa publicly disassociated themselves from clauses promoting girls access […] Continue reading ->
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, just finalised its new strategic plan for 2021-2025, which aims to reach communities missed by previous immunisation efforts, including those most marginalised by poverty, geography and conflict. It also prioritises sustainability of vaccine programmes through co-financing arrangements with countries to build domestic investment in health and reduce reliance on Gavi funding. […] Continue reading ->
The proportion of the world’s population using safely managed sanitation services increased from 28-45% between 2000 and 2017, according to the latest joint report of the World Health Organization and UNICEF on Progress in Household Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. However, huge service gaps still remain, with 4.2 billion people worldwide still lacking access to […] Continue reading ->