New research published at the opening of the 52nd Union World Conference on Lung Health has demonstrated that routine breathing can transmit tuberculosis even more effectively than coughing – in a finding that also echoes one of the signature lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about SARS-CoV2 transmission. While large droplets jammed with bacteria produced by […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization and UNICEF welcome the decision made by Taliban to support the resumption of house-to-house polio vaccination across Afghanistan. The vaccination campaign, which begins 8 November, will be the first in over three years to reach all children in Afghanistan, including more than 3.3 million children in some parts of the country […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization would allocate some US$ 15 million annually to ramp up training programmes for WHO staff and consultants in the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), beginning with ten countries that have the “highest risk” profile, according to a draft plan under discussion with member states. The proposed “Management Response Plan”, […] Continue reading ->
South Africa has decided not to grant approval to Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine as there is a risk that it might make vaccinated men more vulnerable to HIV infection, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) announced on Monday. SAPHRA’s caution stems from fact that Sputnik uses an Adenovirus Type 5 (Ad5) vector […] Continue reading ->
Deaths from tuberculosis increased for the first time in a decade in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2021 Global TB report. The diversion of health resources to address COVID-19 led to fewer TB diagnoses as well as a drop in treatment last year. This is likely to […] Continue reading ->
Africa is estimated to have seven times more COVID-19 cases and three times as many deaths as officially reported, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa region. This means that the continent could have around 59 million cases and 634,500 deaths. “We’re using a model to estimate the degree of under-estimation. Our analysis indicates […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has named 26 scientists to a new Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), which will take forward the work of the international expert group that led an initial mission to Wuhan in January 2021, as well as investigating future pandemics. Six of the scientists are associated […] Continue reading ->
The Indian government’s Subject Expert Committee (SEC) has recommended the use of the country’s home-grown COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, for children from the age of two. This is the first vaccine in the world to be approved for such young children. Pfizer’s vaccine was recently approved for children from the age of 12 in the US. […] Continue reading ->
The most systematic study to date of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on mental health suggests that it has caused an additional 53 million cases of major depressive disorder, 76 million cases of anxiety across 204 countries in 2020 alone, according to a new Lancet study. The study, published just ahead of World Mental Health Day, […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) has recommended that people over the age of 60 who received the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines, should get a third shot – possibly with another vaccine. “The use of a heterologous platforms vaccine for the additional dose may also be considered based on […] Continue reading ->