[WHO/UNICEF] Despite progress, a pregnant woman or newborn dies somewhere in the world every 11 seconds More women and their children are surviving today than ever before, according to new child and maternal mortality estimates released today by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). Since the year 2000, child deaths have reduced by nearly half […] Continue reading ->
NEW YORK – As heads of state and international organisations gather for the 74th United Nations General Assembly, Monday’s High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is one of the key events of this session. It aspires to elevate access to quality healthcare for the global population by 2030, and one billion more people by […] Continue reading ->
Kenya initiated a national pilot of the world’s first malaria vaccine today, joining Ghana and Malawi to introduce the landmark vaccine as a tool against a disease that remains a leading killer of children under the age of 5 years, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The vaccine, known as RTS,S, will be rolled out nationally in […] Continue reading ->
At a first-ever Global Vaccination Summit, health leaders worldwide ramped up efforts to tackle “vaccine hesitancy”, which has prompted the recent resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles. “After many years of progress, we are at a critical turning point. Measles is resurging, and 1 in 10 children continues to miss out on essential childhood […] Continue reading ->
Health equity in Europe has stagnated over the past decade, and in some case there are indications of a decline, a first-ever WHO report finds. However, advancing Universal Health Coverage (UHC) along with more inclusive policies for social welfare protection and political participation could put things back on track again. The Health Equity Status Report […] Continue reading ->
NEW YORK – Negotiations over a planned United Nations political declaration on universal health coverage (UHC) reopened last week after about a dozen countries reportedly objected to language in the final draft covering two sensitive issues – sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and the health needs of migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons and […] Continue reading ->
[Wellcome Press Release] A world-first research project will unravel how human embryos develop in the first weeks and months after fertilisation, improving our understanding of fertility, birth defects and regenerative medicine. The £10 million Wellcome-funded Human Developmental Biology Initiative (HDBI) will build a ‘family tree’ of how cells divide and specialise following fertilisation*, to understand […] Continue reading ->
A United States congressional committee met today to vote on whether or not to recommend Andrew Bremberg for confirmation as Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva. Bremberg is a controversial pick due to his extreme stance against abortion and his pledge to vote against any UN resolution that includes the right to abortion where […] Continue reading ->
Disclosure of costs for drug research and development (R&D) and “alternative financing mechanisms” for new health products remain outstanding points to be resolved by countries in finalising a draft United Nations General Assembly political declaration on universal health coverage (UHC). A final draft of the declaration had been expected this week, but as of Friday […] Continue reading ->
An estimated 820 million people went hungry in 2018, the third continuous year in a worldwide trend of rising hunger. And over one-quarter of the world’s population, or 2 billion people in all, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, according to the The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report for 2019. […] Continue reading ->