The global health benefits of reducing air pollution and reaching the climate targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement could be as “high as $54.1 trillion dollars, at a cost of only $22.1 trillion,” according a new UN Environment analysis, to be released in full tomorrow. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons. Continue reading ->
Calling it a “historic moment,” World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Gheyebresus today announced wide-ranging reforms in the organization’s structure – claiming they would prove to be the most significant ones in WHO’s 71-year history. Continue reading ->
Registration has begun for a closed-door gathering allowing governments and stakeholders to hold open discussions about a fairer pricing system for medical products, led by the World Health Organization. The second meeting of the Fair Pricing Forum, this time in South Africa, comes as debates over drug pricing and access rise ever higher in developing and developed countries alike. Continue reading ->
The United Nations has launched a new road safety strategy to establish a coordinated approach for preventing road traffic crashes, which is a leading cause of death for UN personnel. 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 ->
Grammy award-winning musician Ricky Kej performed a “Sound of Life” concert at the World Health Organization to help launch the first-ever global standard for safe listening devices, aimed at raising awareness and inspiring action to prevent sound-induced hearing loss. Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization today announced the membership of its advisory committee that will assist in the development of global standards for the governance and oversight of human genome editing. Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have partnered to develop the first-ever international standard for “safe listening” devices, including smartphones and audio players, to raise awareness and to prevent sound-induced hearing loss. Over 1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of hearing loss around the world due to unsafe levels of sound, according to the WHO. Continue reading ->
Switzerland, considered to be one of the richest countries in the world and home to significant medical research and development, has begun feeling the pressure of high drug prices for its citizens. This has led it to begin talking with other countries exploring joint procurement initiatives aimed at lowering prices, the Swiss global health ambassador told Health Policy Watch in a recent interview. Continue reading ->
Universal health coverage, access to medicines, and noncommunicable diseases are priorities for Switzerland in global health policy. Amb. Nora Kronig Romero is the head of the International Affairs Division and Vice Director General of the Federal Office of Public Health, as well as Swiss Ambassador for Global Health. She sat down with Health Policy Watch while in Geneva last week for the meeting of the World Health Organization Executive Board, which Switzerland attended as an observer to the governing board comprised of 34 WHO member states. Continue reading ->