WHO issued a call to the global community to come forward with US$ 675 million in funding to help some 60 low- and middle-income countries that are at significant risk of infection with the novel coronavirus that originated in Wuhan China prepare for possible outbreaks. The call was issued by WHO Director General Dr. Tedros […] Continue reading ->
A crisis management cell at the United Nations Secretariat level is being created to support global management of the novel coronavirus outbreak, World Health Organization officials said this evening. In a late evening briefing Tuesday to WHO member states attending this week’s 146th Session of the Executive Board, WHO officials laid out their war plan […] Continue reading ->
Funding to develop new drugs for some of the world’s leading infectious disease killers, such as HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, reached a record high of US $4 billion in 2018, with private sector investment driving much of the increase, according to the 2019 G-FINDER Report, which tracks such investments globally. However, investments in neglected tropical […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization is set to reconsider a declaration of an international public health emergency over the novel coronavirus discovered in Wuhan – as the number of confirmed cases soared to 6086, the death toll to 132, and infections were reported in 15 other countries. WHO announced that it would reconvene its Emergency Committee […] Continue reading ->
Cases of the novel coronavirus first discovered in Wuhan, China nearly doubled again in a day jumping from 2585 confirmed cases Monday to 4515 cases and 106 deaths as of Tuesday morning. As the numbers climbed, countries around the world planned to evacuate citizens in the quarantined city of Wuhan – the epicentre of the […] Continue reading ->
Some 50 million people in China were under quarantine as infections by the novel coronavirus first discovered in Wuhan accelerated rapidly, and new research suggested that it was far more infectious than previously thought. China’s Minister of the National Health Commission acknowledged that “the epidemic had entered a grave and complex period,” as the country […] Continue reading ->
With Wuhan under lockdown since Thursday, food in the city was reported to be running low, healthcare staff are having trouble getting to work due to the lack of public transport, and some hospital services were reported near collapse under the pressure of people waiting to be diagnosed and treated. These were among the updates obtained […] Continue reading ->
“Creaking health systems” are among the leading risks faced by the global community, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2020 Report. People live longer, but health gains have also plateaued in recent decades. Threats from longstanding infections as well as those from emerging diseases pose a double set of challenges. Along with that, […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization will convene an Emergency Committee meeting over the new coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, after more than 300 new cases were confirmed since 17 January, including the first cases to hit other Chinese megacities and provinces. On Tuesday, the virus crossed the Pacific, with the first case in the […] Continue reading ->
The failed 2019 UN Climate Conference in Madrid ended in mid-December just about when the massive wildfire destruction of Australia’s bushlands was beginning. The wildfires that broke shortly afterward took the form of a Gaia-like revenge. Australia, along with the United States, Japan and Brazil, had been among the countries that had blocked real progress […] Continue reading ->