Although the world is facing multiple simultaneous challenges including the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic is not over and it is essential for countries to invest in systems to address this pandemic as well as future pandemic threats. This is a key message of a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) paper, which is calling […] 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 COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the scientific community to start to implement a ‘One Health’ approach – encompassing people, animals, plants and the environment – to ensure the early identification of infectious diseases and make the world a healthier place. The issues that “One Health” may tackle are diverse. They can range from curbing deforestation […] Continue reading ->
WHO on Thursday launched a new global initiative that aims to tackle a group of fast-growing and poorly understood viral diseases that are carried by insects – and which have future pandemic potential. The Global Arbovirus Initiative aims to tackle diseases such as Dengue, Yellow fever, Chikungunya and Zika – which have few effective treatments, […] Continue reading ->
A compromise proposal on a World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) waiver on intellectual property for the production of COVID-19 vaccines is ‘problematic’, ‘largely insufficient’, and WTO members should not be politically pressured into adopting the text, several dozen civil society organisations said in an open letter published today. The letter, addressed to European Commissioners, European members […] Continue reading ->
A second booster of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine reduced mortality rates among elderly people in Israel by 78%, according to a new study by the country’s Clalilt Health Services, Sapir College and Ben-Gurion University. This is the largest study of its kind to date, and involved more than 560,000 people aged 60. “The main conclusion […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on how human health and ‘planetary health’ are inextricably linked – through deforestation, urbanization and climate change, all of which increase future disease risks. This year’s Geneva Health Forum explores these and other critical global health challenges, as well as emerging solutions, just ahead of the World Health Assembly. […] Continue reading ->
The world remains fixated on getting new TB vaccines. But expanding the circle of progress on shorter TB regimes, and more early detection, may be more important to overcoming setbacks of the COVID pandemic, says one expert on World TB Day. IBADAN, Nigeria – The Government Chest Hospital in the city’s Jericho neighborhood is regarded […] Continue reading ->
Even while other parts of the world see upticks, or in the case of Asia, huge spikes in COVID-19 cases, an increasing number of African countries are scaling back COVID-19 surveillance and quarantine measures – a trend that the World Health Organization finds worrisome in the continent that still has the lowest rates of vaccination […] Continue reading ->
A month after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, almost 10 million people have been displaced, 64 attacks on health facilities have been verified – and the situation is set to worsen. This was the grim assessment of World Health Organization (WHO) officials briefing the media on Wednesday. “Nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s population […] Continue reading ->