BRUSSELS – European Union citizens suffering from health effects caused by air pollution could soon be entitled to seek financial compensation from polluters under a proposed revision of the EU’s pollution regulations. The proposal is part of a broader overhaul of EU air pollution laws, expected to be completed in late 2023 or early 2024, […] Continue reading ->
WHO is set to release new data on Friday, 14 July on the carcinogenic risks of consuming aspartame, the artificial sweetener that is omnipresent in low-calorie soft-drinks, sweets and other processed foods, its head of nutrition, Dr Francesco Branca confirmed on Wednesday. A full WHO risk assessment on safe levels of exposure to the sugar […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a new guideline on Monday in a bid to push governments to adopt more stringent regulations on the marketing of unhealthy foods high in saturated fatty acids, trans-fatty acids, free sugars or salt (HFSS) to children. The UN health body has hardened its stance on what it describes as […] Continue reading ->
Overburdened by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and threatened by climate change, health ministers of Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) met in Barbados over the past few days and adopted the Bridgetown Declaration on NCDs and Mental Health. The declaration commits the SIDS to a number of actions including implementing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended “Best […] Continue reading ->
The burgeoning health issues of small island developing states – which are on the front lines of climate change, but also awash in handguns and ultra-processed food imports – is the focus of a high level ministerial meeting taking place in the Caribbean island of Barbados today and tomorrow. The SIDS Ministerial Conference on NCDs […] Continue reading ->
On World No Tobacco Day on Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) appealed to governments to end tobacco growing subsidies and use the savings to support farmers to switch to “more sustainable crops that improve food security and nutrition”. Over three million hectares of land in over 120 countries are being used to grow tobacco […] Continue reading ->
Pandemic treaty negotiations need to be completed by member states and there’s just one year left to meet that deadline, warns the World Health Organization’s Director General. As the World Health Assembly closed its doors on it’s 75th Anniversary edition (WHA 76), which had to be extended by an extra day due to the prolonged […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Assembly (WHA) on Monday greenlit a slew of decisions and resolutions that aim to bring another one billion people under the coverage of universal health coverage (UHC), as the 76th WHA session drew closer to its end. The plan is the bedrock of WHO’s vision to deliver on so-called “triple billion targets” […] Continue reading ->
When Elvis Ndikum Achiri, a long-time veteran of tobacco control campaigns, began collecting data on air pollution in his community in Cameroon, he was surprised to discover how many people around him, both young and old, suffered from related illnesses even though they had never smoked – including a beloved high school teacher who had […] Continue reading ->
An impossibly long list of member states lined up to address universal health coverage (UHC) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at the World Health Assembly on Thursday afternoon, indicating the centrality of these issues for countries. There was near-universal support for primary health services to be the backbone of UHC, with disease prevention as the other […] Continue reading ->