As Delhi’s officials finally take tough action on major pollution sources, the demand for a similar approach is rising in other states – as seen at the 8th Indian Clean Air Summit held this week in Bangalore. BANGALORE, INDIA – Two decades ago, authorities in Delhi switched public and heavy duty transport from largely diesel […] Continue reading ->
Lack of access to clean cooking fuel and technologies has extensive impacts on health, environment, economy, and women’s equality, say experts at the World Bank Group Spring Meeting. WASHINGTON– Nearly a billion people lack access to clean cooking on the African continent. A heavy reliance on charcoal, firewood, and kerosene pollutes homes with toxic particulate […] Continue reading ->
Some 4.6 billion people, or more than half the world’s population, still lacked access to a basic package of essential health services in 2023, a new World Health Organization-World Bank report notes. And around 2.1 billion people faced financial hardship in getting vital health services. And at current rates, the world will fall far short […] Continue reading ->
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 ->
Almost 15 years ago, when the University of Ghana established its Office of Research, Innovation, and Development, it did so with the goal of bolstering the West African nation’s research capacity. In the African region, where less than 0.5% of GDP is devoted to research, and a significant number of Africa’s educated is siphoned off […] Continue reading ->
When Felicia Knaul met Tonya Rosa, a Mexican woman undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, “she was there with a big smile on her face…even though her cancer had recurred.” But Rosa told Knaul that her first round of treatment had impoverished her family, “they had to sell their business, their home, their assets to be […] Continue reading ->
Progress on household electricity access suffered a setback for the first time in a decade – with 10 million more people lacking access in 2022 as compared to 2021, according to the 2024 Energy Progress Report released this week. As many as 685 million people were without electricity access in 2022. Some 2.1 billion people […] Continue reading ->
The devastating floods that submerged one-third of Pakistan in 2022 have severely disrupted the country’s vaccination programme, leaving millions of children at risk of preventable diseases. The floods severely damaged health infrastructure, causing overall immunization coverage in the country to drop to 64% in 2022, from a national average of 74% in 2020, according to […] Continue reading ->
Health systems in Africa are under considerable strain: rapid demographic change, rising non-communicable diseases, and emerging and re-emerging threats such as COVID-19 and Ebola are increasing demands on limited health services. Africa, however, faces a challenging period in health financing to meet these increasing needs. Health spending in most countries remains far short of what is […] Continue reading ->
The world is on track to miss the United Nations’ target of eradicating hunger by 2030 by 600 million people, according to a flagship UN report on food security released Wednesday. The report, jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health […] Continue reading ->