Maternal mortality rates have dropped by 40% since 2000, largely due to improved access to essential health services. But WHO officials warn that the recent, deep cuts to international aid could be as disruptive as the COVID-19 pandemic, if not more so, to a woman’s chances of surviving pregnancy and childbirth. And in 2023, more […] Continue reading ->
CARTAGENA, Colombia — “When I met with taxi drivers in Abu Dhabi about the pollution from their cars, they told me to talk to the desert,” recalled Dr George Thurston, director of New York University’s research program on the health impacts of ambient and occupational air pollution. The taxi drivers’ retort points to a global […] Continue reading ->
The tariffs imposed by the United States on goods from several African countries on Wednesday will make it even more difficult for African countries to increase their health spending, said Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). These tariffs – ranging from 10% for Kenyan goods […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s budget crisis is even bigger than previously thought. The global health organization is short nearly $1.9 billion from a planned $4.2 billion budget for 2026-27, along with a $600 million deficit through end-2025, senior WHO officials revealed at a global ‘Town Hall’ meeting of WHO staff on Tuesday, heard by Health Policy Watch. The […] Continue reading ->
CARTAGENA – Colombia President Gustavo Petro launched into a blistering attack on the new administration of United States President Donald Trump on the closing day of a three-day WHO conference here on air pollution – warning that progress on critical environmental health and climate topics depends on the “common agenda” that has been fostered by […] Continue reading ->
Leaders of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) held a five-hour meeting with Dr Susan Monarez, newly appointed head of the US CDC, and other US officials on Wednesday – for the first time since the US slashed funding to Africa’s health sector. Discussion centred on health security, funding for Africa […] Continue reading ->
The United States plans to stop funding the global vaccine alliance, Gavi, which assists developing countries to buy vaccines to protect their children, according to a spreadsheet obtained by the New York Times. Gavi is one of the 5,341 US Agency for International Development (USAID) grantees that the US intends to cut, according to the […] Continue reading ->
CARTAGENA, Colombia – A small group of climate pollutants– including the air pollutants black carbon, methane, and ozone – are responsible for nearly half of global temperature increases to date. Reducing these emissions, which only remain in the atmosphere for a few weeks to decades, could serve as the “emergency brake” critical to halting runaway […] Continue reading ->
CARTAGENA, Colombia – A tour bus emits a cloud of black diesel smoke in front of Cartagena’s glittering white conference center. It is a vivid reminder that from the hottest tourist destinations to the slums of Latin America, Asia and Africa, nine out of ten people on the planet breathe dangerously unhealthy levels of air […] Continue reading ->
Bangladesh’s Anti Corruption Comission (ACC) has filed two cases against Saima Wazed, director of WHO’s South East Asia Regional Office (SEARO), for fraud, forgery and misuse of power in connection with her campaign to become the WHO’s top official in the South East Asia region. The charges against Wazed, who took office as Regional Director […] Continue reading ->