“I can’t breathe” could have been a slogan for those suffering the worst effects of COVID-19. But now it has become the battle cry of Americans angered over the police killing by strangulation of a Minneapolis man, George Floyd, last week.  While this is the latest in a years-long series of violent events involving African […] Continue reading ->
In light of millions of smokers attempting to quit the vice during the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has employed ‘very mean’, ‘very subtle’ and ‘very targeted’ tactics to hook young populations to “deadly’ tobacco products, according to WHO experts.  “The tobacco industry understands what they’re doing, they’re targeting these children and adolescents. And that’s deliberate. […] Continue reading ->
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus unveiled a bold new WHO Healthy Recovery Manifesto – including an unprecedented call to governments to stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry to the tune of US$ 400 bilion annually – driving both climate change, air pollution, and an epidemic of chronic diseases that also sharply increased mortality risks […] Continue reading ->
As global COVID-19 cases topped 5 million this past week, Latin America has surpassed Europe and the United States in terms of new cases being reported everyday, said WHO Regional Director for the Americas, Carissa Etienne, at a Pan American Health Organization press conference on Tuesday. There have been almost 32,000 new cases of COVID-19 […] Continue reading ->
More than 40 million health professionals from 90 countries worldwide have issued an open letter to G20 leaders and their chief medical advisors, urging them to support climate smart  development in their plans for economic recovery from COVID-19.  The appeal to the Group of 20  of the world’s most industrialized countries, supported by some 350 […] Continue reading ->
Women’s and children’s health advocates have lauded a landmark move by Sudan to finally criminalize the practice of female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C) – punishing perpetrators for up to 3 years in prison to ward them off the crime. Last Thursday, Sudan’s National Council for Child Welfare endorsed a long-awaited amendment to Criminal Law […] Continue reading ->
As the World Health Organization and WHO member states celebrate 15 years since the signing of the the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), the global uptake in e-cigarettes, as well as targeted advertising aimed at children and adolescents, threatens the worldwide gains that have been achieved in reducing tobacco use. The convention is the […] Continue reading ->