Who will steer the World Health Organization through its next chapter? Explore Health Policy Watch’s daily series examining the platforms, records, and institutional hurdles facing each contender for WHO Director-General, continuing today with Dr Hanan H. Balkhy. Access all candidate profiles on our dedicated election site. Saudi Arabia’s nomination of Dr Hanan H. Balkhy, an […] Continue reading ->
HARIPUR, Pakistan – Unregulated industrial pollution and lead exposure are poisoning a generation, with four in 10 children in high-risk cities carrying unsafe blood-lead levels, exacerbated by toxic smog and weak enforcement, according to a UNICEF study. Few months ago, Malik Ayaz Ahmed, 22, took a job at a lead-processing factory in Hattar, an industrial […] Continue reading ->
In the face of dwindling health budgets, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) expert committee on immunisation has made several suggestions to enable countries to optimise existing vaccine supplies. Countries can continue giving a single dose of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to girls aged 9-14 years to prevent cervical cancer – instead of two doses, […] Continue reading ->
BERLIN – A new $100 million initiative to halve stillbirth rates across select countries over the next decade launched at the World Health Summit on Monday (12 October). Backed equally by the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap, a spin-off of the UK-based Wellcome Trust, the effort will test and deploy a package of diagnostic technologies […] Continue reading ->
HARARE – In March, 27-year-old Jemitius Gangata succumbed to malaria in Mahombokombe village in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West Province, becoming part of the country’s growing malaria statistics. By mid-April, the country had recorded over 65,000 malaria cases and 174 deaths, almost double the numbers from the same period last year, when 36,000 cases and 85 deaths […] Continue reading ->
ISRAELI-OCCUPIED WEST BANK – The oxygen mask slipped from three-month-old Ahmad Zaid’s face. He was in his father’s arms, in front of a closed Israeli military gate blocking the road between Deir Ammar refugee camp, northwest of Ramallah, where the family lives, and the city of Ramallah, with a hospital the family was desperate to […] Continue reading ->
A new CDC research center aims to better understand the possible health effects of those 21 years or younger at the time of their 9/11 exposure. For the past two decades, the World Trade Center (WTC) health program has pioneered research exploring the health effects of people exposed to the toxic dust and trauma of […] Continue reading ->
A new three-dose vial presentation of the maternal RSV vaccine received prequalification from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, unlocking large-scale distribution across lower-income countries. The decision enables global health alliances to introduce affordable immunisation during pregnancy, protecting newborns from severe respiratory disease. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remains the second leading cause of infant […] Continue reading ->
Nearly a year after Israel and Hamas agreed to a US-brokered cease-fire, some 94% of Gaza’s 2.1 million Palestinian residents lack adequate shelters with 84% facing severe constraints in heating, cooling, cooking, lighting and hygiene and nearly 60% facing “critical” or “catastrophic” shelter needs. This according to a new analysis by the Global Shelter Cluster, […] Continue reading ->
BLANTYRE, MALAWI – As early as 6:30 am, Malawi’s community health workers are already scattered across urban and rural neighbourhoods, dressed in sky-blue uniforms with square cooler boxes slung over their shoulders. For four days in mid-August, health surveillance assistants (HSAs) across the country walked from door to door, administering the novel oral polio […] Continue reading ->