On Monday, the Geneva-based NCD Alliance launched the first-ever fund to bolster the efforts of NGOs worldwide fighting chronic diseases alongside the COVID-19 pandemic with some $US 300,000 in initial seed capital. The effort is unique in that it links major pharma interests that develop and produce drugs for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to the support […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization announced a new program on Friday to help more than 1 billion tobacco users – a group at high risk for coronavirus complications – quit smoking during the pandemic. The project, the Access Initiative for Quitting Tobacco, will be first rolled out in Jordan, where 82.5% of men over the age […] Continue reading ->
To mark Olympic Day, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) launched a partnership with the WHO and the UN to inspire healthy behavior around the world, announced a WHO statement on Tuesday. As COVID-19 upends daily routines and lives around the world, we need to pay attention to our own mental and physical health and help […] Continue reading ->
In what he described as a great “public health victory,” the World Trade Organization has ruled that Australia’s plain packaging requirements for tobacco products did not infringe on international trade, said the World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday. The decision by the WTO on Tuesday comes just as it also opened […] 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 ->
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 ->
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 ->
[WHO Africa Regional Office] In a strong move for the African state, the Ethiopian Parliament has passed landmark excise tax legislation on tobacco with the express aim of curbing smoking in the country – resulting in some of the strongest taxes on tobacco products on the continent. As a result of the legislation, Ethiopia has […] Continue reading ->
The International Health Regulations are in need of reform, experts say – to create a more nuanced system of alerting the public about international health emergencies that goes beyond the existing yes-no decision, and to improve compliance to IHR laws by member states during such outbreaks. A high level panel of experts reviewed key concerns […] Continue reading ->
WHO member states were locked away in late-night negotiations over the shape of a proposed new WHO roadmap for reducing harmful alcohol consumption. A group of member states, led by Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Sri Lanka and Thailand, have been pressing the WHO Executive Board (EB) to support the rapid development of a tough new WHO […] Continue reading ->