Last week, one phrase — “self-reliance” — did more work in global health than any medicine, as global agencies continue operationalising donor retreats they can no longer disguise. The strategy’s real-world test is unfolding in eastern Congo, where the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record is outrunning a struggling response. The institutions of global health spent […] Continue reading ->
The official death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes last week was 1,450 by Sunday, but over 50,000 people are still missing, and hopes of reaching them alive are fading fast. The first 72 hours are critical for earthquake rescue efforts before injuries, suffocation and dehydration take their toll, according to rescue experts. “Critical infrastructure remains […] Continue reading ->
Treatment tents are burning in Ituri, burial teams are facing hostility, and suspected patients are fleeing quarantine centres, disappearing into communities. These heartbreaking incidents are often described as obstacles to controlling the current Ebola outbreak. For the dedicated frontline workers risking their lives every day to contain the virus, these challenges are deeply frustrating. But […] Continue reading ->
Neither Russia’s delegate banging her desk to interrupt Ukraine’s representative speaking at the World Health Assembly (WHA), nor her request to dismiss debate, stopped member states from condemning Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s health system. A report by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General before delegates estimated that Russia’s aggression on Ukraine has caused 55,600 civilian […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA — The Ebola outbreak unfolding in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda poses a “low” risk globally, according to an expert committee of the World Health Organization (WHO). However, the national and regional risk is “high”, according to the International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee. Last Sunday, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom […] Continue reading ->
The grim impossibility of addressing rising health emergencies with dwindling budgets was raised at the World Health Assembly (WHA) on Tuesday – amid votes on attacks on healthcare in Lebanon and Israel. “Outbreaks are accelerating, while the systems designed to stop them are being weakened,” warned Dr Annette Heinzelmann, emergency director for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean […] Continue reading ->