[ISLAMABAD] Despite gains made to end polio during COVID-19, Pakistan has  recently reported a resurgence of the virus after a gap of fifteen months. The sobering news comes just ahead of the start of the World Health Assembly in Geneva -which will review progress on polio eradication – including a recent polio wildvirus outbreak in […] Continue reading ->
[NAIROBI] While deaths from some traditional pollution sources, like domestic cookstoves and unsafe water and sanitation are declining, increased exposures to “modern” sources of pollution, such as chemicals and outdoor air pollution, mean that pollution-related mortality remains steady at about 9 million a year.  This is a key finding of a new report on “Pollution […] Continue reading ->
In its largest release of data on air quality ever, WHO has found that most of the world’s population are breathing unsafe levels of air pollutant – particularly fine particulate matter (PM2.5)  and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) – which cause excess illness and premature death from respiratory disease, as well as from cardiovascular disease and cancers.  […] Continue reading ->
The weekend of 12-13 March was a glorious time to be in the Swiss mountain resort of Villars-sur-Ollon post-pandemic. Special Olympics Switzerland had organized the regional games sporting competition with skiing, bowling, tennis and boccia, drawing dozens of keen athletes and supporters. My son joined the other 46 skiers and snowboarders from the region to […] Continue reading ->
Children and adolescents diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) will benefit from a set of new guidelines that aim to shorten the treatment plan, expand preventative care, and introduce better diagnostic testing and treatments. The World Health Organisation (WHO) today released a new set of ‘game-changer’ guidelines where children and adolescents with non-severe forms of drug-susceptible TB […] Continue reading ->
A four-year-old girl from Jerusalem has been diagnosed with polio, Israel’s Health Ministry said Sunday – the first case in the country since 1989. The source of the girl’s infection is vaccine-derived polio virus, according to Israel’s head of Public Services Dr Sharon Alroy-Preis, speaking to reporters on Monday evening. “We are not talking about […] Continue reading ->
More and more children are losing their lives to a measles outbreak in Afghanistan as the country struggles with a humanitarian crisis under the US sanctions on the country’s Taliban regime. Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the US Department of the Treasury froze Afghanistan Central Bank’s reserves, mostly held in US banks, as the […] Continue reading ->
In a stark departure from months of booster opposition, WHO on Friday recommended the wider administration of a third shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine – as well as jabs for children age 5 and older.  The recommendation comes after over 120 countries already have booster campaigns in full-swing, some of them beginning as early […] Continue reading ->