Within hours, the Delhi government closed schools and announced traffic and construction curbs, but experts are questioning whether the government is tackling the right causes. Meanwhile, a database reporting the contribution of pollution from farm fires has been discontinued by the national government. The air quality forecast remains bleak. Delhi’s air pollution suddenly got a […] Continue reading ->
Better access to NCD medicines and treatments isn’t enough to ensure effective prevention and treatment of the conditions, responsible for 74% of premature deaths in the world. More attention needs to be focused on training, retention and effective use of health care workers, said a panel of experts at the World Health Summit. BERLIN – […] Continue reading ->
WHO has stepped up its counteroffensive against tobacco companies that market cigarettes and other tobacco products to teens – with the release of a new set of guidance for school-based anti-smoking policies. The guidance, “Freedom from Tobacco and Nicotine: Guide for Schools,” and “Nicotine- and Tobacco-free School Implementation Toolkit”, aims to support school policies banning […] Continue reading ->
NEW YORK CITY – A leading killer, hypertension, receives barely a nod in many of the world’s health systems – even though it’s the key contributor to deaths from cardiovascular disease, which claims about 17.9 million lives annually and is the single largest cause of deaths in the world today. Addressing this systemic neglect is […] Continue reading ->
Some 300 million people have been protected from becoming smokers in the 15 years since WHO launched the ‘MPOWER’ package of recommended policies for reducing smoking prevalence in countries worldwide, declared Kelly Henning, of Bloomberg Philanthropies, at a press conference in Geneva this week. She was speaking at a WHO briefing launching the 2023 WHO […] Continue reading ->
Some 5.6 billion people – 71% of the world’s population – are now covered by at least one tobacco protection policy adopted by their national governments, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report published today. That is five times more people than were protected in 2007, when the comprehensive set of anti-smoking policies, […] 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 ->
Tobacco companies in Indonesia, India and Mexico circumvented international football governing body FIFA’s advertising ban on their products by associating them with the World Cup, according to a new social media analysis by public health group Vital Strategies. Data recorded by Vital Strategies’ digital media monitoring system found 354 instances of tobacco marketing in public […] Continue reading ->
On the occasion of Universal Health Coverage Day, thought leaders on the front lines outline the challenges and opportunities of health systems in conflicts. The last decade of 12-year-old Zaynab’s life has been spent in an informal settlement in Lebanon, after her family fled from the Syrian conflict. She shares a three-room tent with her […] Continue reading ->