The “Kick Big Soda Out!” campaign launched on July 8, 2024 ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics and ran through the end of the Paralympics. It’s all about holding sugary drinks companies – especially Coca-Cola – accountable for their impact on health and the environment. To discuss the campaign, Health Policy Watch spoke to Trish […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) received $1.7 billion in new pledges of financial support at the G20 meeting this week, taking the total of voluntary pledges so far to $3.8 billion for the coming four years. With this, the WHO has met 53% of its investment requirement for its 2025–2028 strategy, in WHO parlance, the 14th […] Continue reading ->
The director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is “back to work” following an overnight stay in a Rio hospital during his trip to the G20 summit, the WHO chief said Thursday. The reason for the hospital visit, first reported by the Brazilian paper O Globo, was not disclosed in a statement […] Continue reading ->
While this week’s CARICOM summit in Grenada has been postponed due to Hurricane Beryl, when it does convenes, a key item on the agenda will be the new ‘HeDPAC’ initiative to deepen South-South partnerships to meet shared global health challenges – from pandemic threats to climate change. In remote communities of Guyana, the introduction of […] Continue reading ->
WHA delegates spent over 10 hours in diplomatic maneuvers, debates and painful rollcount votes Friday, finally approving two measures that decried the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in sharply different, and sometimes contradictory terms. One motion co-sponsored by a coalition of Algeria, Russia, China, Cuba, Iran, Egypt and other Middle Eastern allies, condemns “indiscriminate attacks” by […] Continue reading ->
After two years of intensive negotiations – including long nights this week – the World Health Assembly (WHA) finally passed amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) and committed to completing pandemic agreement talks within a year. After failing to agree on the amendments before WHA opened on Monday, member states have been racing to […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – There were claps and cheers from inside Room XXVI of the UN’s Palais des Nations as World Health Organization (WHO) member states finally agreed on amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) after over two years of negotiations. After failing to reach an agreement on the amendments before Monday’s start of the World […] Continue reading ->
The fight against malaria is facing a new and urgent challenge as climate change and extreme weather events threaten to undermine decades of progress, according to warnings from several countries at the 77th World Health Assembly this week. “Recent extreme weather events such as flooding in Malawi and other countries have intensified malaria transmission, disproportionately […] Continue reading ->
At the 77th World Health Assembly, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, urged nations to prioritize vaccinating “zero-dose” children, particularly those in regions affected by humanitarian crises and complex emergencies. These children have not received any shots, putting them at a higher risk of preventable diseases. “We are scaling up routine immunization and reaching the estimated 14.3 […] Continue reading ->
Costa Rica’s and Malawi’s ministers of health, along with global health and policy experts, gathered in Geneva to discuss self-care. At an event organized by the Global Self-Care Federation (GSCF), participants advocated for a World Health Organization (WHO) resolution on self-care. Costa Rica, Egypt, and Malawi, the three countries that co-hosted the event, are working […] Continue reading ->