As posted by UN Environment in a World Environment Day press release: Nairobi, 15 March 2019 – Today, the head of Chinese delegation, Zhao Yingmin, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment, and Joyce Msuya, Acting Head of UN Environment, jointly announced that China will host the global World Environment Day celebrations on 5 June 2019 with a theme […] Continue reading ->
The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs appears set to delay any consideration this year of a recent World Health Organization recommendation to reschedule the status of cannabis and cannabis-related substances from “particularly dangerous” to a less dangerous category – with no timeline indicated for when the Commission might actually take up the contentious issue. Image […] Continue reading ->
Katy Athersuch, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Senior Policy Advisor – Medical Innovation & Access, spoke to Health Policy Watch about the recent proposal by Italy’s Minister of Health, Giulia Grillo, for a World Health Assembly resolution on transparency in drug pricing (Health Policy Watch 18 February). The far-reaching proposal asks countries to require disclosure by pharmaceutical companies of their R&D and, manufacturing costs, and public subsidies received, at the time a drug is registered. The resolution would also strengthen WHO’s role in global monitoring and assessment of available data on the costs and pricing of essential medicines. This is the first in a series of Q&As on the issue, looking towards April’s Fair Pricing Forum, where WHO member states will convene in South Africa, followed by the annual World Health Assembly in May. Continue reading ->
Policy leaders must redesign global economic incentives to advance healthy diets, and take a harder line against commercial interests promoting excessive production and consumption of unhealthy foods. Current trends are driving the inter-related pandemics of obesity and undernutrition as well as climate change, according to a new report by The Lancet Commission on Obesity. Continue reading ->