The World Health Organization will establish a new high level review of the Organization’s capacity to respond todisease outbreaks in the framework of the International Health Regulations (IHR) that govern emergency response.  The aim is to ensure that WHO is “as effective as possible in operations as they unfold,” announced Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus […] Continue reading ->
Although a proposal to include Taiwan as a World Health Assembly (WHA) observer was delayed until the WHA 73 session resumes again later this year, that didn’t prevent WHO member states from locking horns over the issue in statements on the second day of this week’s virtual WHA session.  The charge was led by a […] Continue reading ->
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there could be “a window of opportunity… that would be suicidal to miss” to revise the International Health Regulations that govern countries’ behaviour during health emergencies, said Gian Luca Burci, former World Health Organization head legal counsel and now professor of international law, at a panel hosted by […] Continue reading ->
After a total of 12.5 hours of consultations in five informal meetings, a bloc of countries led by Thailand won WHO Executive Board approval for a landmark decision to develop a new ten year-action plan to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. Representatives of Norway and the European Union joined as co-sponsors in a compromise […] Continue reading ->
As the number of novel coronavirus infections rose again on Thursday – to 28,060 confirmed cases in China and 225 abroad – a US Centers for Disease Control official raised the possible spectre that the epidemic could become a global “pandemic” – if countries fail to take assertive action now. “While unclear how the situation […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization Executive Board unanimously adopted two decisions that began to set the stage for global vaccine policy in the next decade – a draft resolution on “strengthening global immunization efforts to leave no one behind” and another on “eliminating meningitis by 2030,” after reviewing a report prepared by the Director-General on lessons […] Continue reading ->
The elements are all in place for expanding universal health coverage – what’s missing is more action at the country level, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the WHO Executive Board on Wednesday. “All the political work is actually done now,” Dr. Tedros said. He was reporting on WHO action since the […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization’s Executive Board tackled two big issues today – primary health care, a cornerstone of WHO’s Universal Health Coverage platform, and cancer, the world’s second leading cause of premature deaths. In a comprehensive report released on World Cancer Day, WHO outlined an action plan that could save 7 million lives from cancer […] Continue reading ->