World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lauded the success of tobacco control measures at the Wednesday evening session of the Executive Board meeting, but expressed concerns about the growing use of harmful products like e-cigarettes among youth. He urged member states, “to take swift action to counter this emerging threat” of children […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) executive board discussed ways to deliver Universal Health Coverage (UHC) on Wednesday, and while most member states expressed support for UHC, they highlighted bottlenecks of lack of finance and  trained healthcare workers for being off track with its implementation. In its report to the board, the WHO estimated that over […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) executive board confirmed the appointment of three new regional directors on Tuesday, which are both controversial and historic. The election of Saima Wazed,  the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister, to lead the South-East Asia region has already been mired in allegations of nepotism. Tonga’s Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala steps into his […] Continue reading ->
As we approach the final months of member-state negotiations over a World Health Organization Pandemic Accord, due to come before the World Health Assembly in May, the efforts to forge a consensus have witnessed modest progress. However, the original divide between developed and developing countries on key issues such as finance, access and benefit sharing, […] Continue reading ->
Improving disease surveillance, strengthening primary healthcare, and being able to expand quickly during a crisis are some of the important lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic that can be applied to ‘Disease X’, according to health experts speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. “Disease X is a placeholder for unknown diseases,” […] Continue reading ->