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 ->
As much as 99% of the world population breathes in air with pollution levels higher than WHO’s permissible limits. The majority of the world’s most polluted cities are in South Asia. Air pollution is linked to higher rates of miscarriages, pregnancy complications and stillbirths, affecting women’s reproductive health. The pandemic is always on the back […] 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 ->
In some of his most forceful remarks to date, WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other senior WHO officials slammed both Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Ethiopia’s blockade of Tigray for both withholding vital health and humanitarian aid – as well as deliberately targeting civilians or putting them in harms way. Speaking from […] 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 ->
The government of India and the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday signed an agreement to set up a one-of-its-kind Global Centre for Traditional Medicine. India will invest $250 million in this centre which will be established in Jamnagar city in the state of Gujarat. The centre will work towards harnessing the potential of ‘traditional […] 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 Swiss Confederation has been a key financial backer of the Geneva Health Forum since its early days. As the GHF prepares for its 2022 edition, 3-5 May, Pierre Strauss, health attaché to the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations, spoke with Health Policy Watch about the evolution of the Forum and its […] Continue reading ->
Delegates from most of the world’s nations met in Bali this week to review progress in tackling the worldwide problem of mercury poisoning from artisinal gold mining and other environmental sources as well as in the health care industry, in line with the 2013 Minamata Convention. The parties were meeting for the fourth time since […] Continue reading ->
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