The Indian government has halted the Maiden Pharmaceuticals plant that produced the cough and cold syrups that WHO says were tainted with toxic chemicals – possibly linked to the recent deaths of some 66 children in The Gambia. A senior WHO official confirmed that Indian government health authorities had shut down the plant after WHO […] Continue reading ->
Routine childhood immunisation across 57 low income countries declined slightly for the second consecutive year in 2021, following massive pandemic-related interruptions in vaccine coverage in 2020, according to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Vaccine coverage stood at 77%, one percent less than in 2020. Preliminary data between January and May 2022, however, shows signs of improvement […] Continue reading ->
Seventeen-year-old South African Amanda Nkosi* is already a mother and living with HIV – thanks to what she describes as “doing things that teenagers do” without access to accurate health information or contraception. She discovered her HIV status recently when a youth-friendly clinic opened near her home in the coastal city of Durban and offered […] Continue reading ->
Children with type 1 diabetes living in rural parts of the world’s poorest countries often struggle to get life-saving insulin as programmes addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) tend to be urban-based and adult-focused. But an initiative to address life-threatening NCDs affecting children and young adults – particularly type 1 diabetes, rheumatic and congenital heart disease, and […] Continue reading ->
Famine “is at the door” in Somalia, with “concrete indications” that parts of the south-central Bay region will be in famine between October and December this year without an urgent surge in aid, the United Nations (UN) warned this week. “This is the final warning to all of us,” the UN’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, […] Continue reading ->
Consumers in Argentina are getting help to identify unhealthy food, thanks to new food promotion laws that mandate front-of-package warning labels, the first phase of which started recently. Last year, Argentina’s president signed one of the world’s strongest and most comprehensive food policy laws, requiring ultra-processed products with excess levels of sodium, sugar, fats and […] Continue reading ->
Nearly $575 million in global economic and human capital is lost every year due to insufficient government promotion of, and support for, breastfeeding, according to data from the latest report on The Cost of Not Breastfeeding. The 2022 report, released for World Breastfeeding Week (1 August – 7 August) finds that these losses are the […] Continue reading ->
In light of an unprecedented food crisis in the Horn of Africa, the World Health Organization has launched a $123.7 million funding appeal for urgently needed supplies to treat severe malnutrition and related health conditions. Driven by conflict, changes in climate and the COVID-19 pandemic, this largely arid Eastern African region of some 2 million […] Continue reading ->
Two years of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a cumulative 5% decline in basic vaccine coverage and disrupted routine immunizations globally from 2020 – 2021, reports a new analysis of the state of routine immunizations across 57 lower-income countries. The analysis, by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, indicates that signs of recovery are beginning to emerge […] Continue reading ->
MONTREAL – Progress against HIV has slowed down during the COVID-19 pandemic as donors pull back, countries test and treat fewer people and miss key targets, UNAIDS revealed on Wednesday. “Progress in prevention and treatment is faltering around the world, putting millions of people in grave danger. Eastern Europe and central Asia, Latin America, and […] Continue reading ->