As many as 65 million people in over a dozen Southern and Eastern African countries from Mozambique to Ethiopia are facing unprecedented challenges with food security, extreme weather events and conflict, UN officials say. The crises disproportionately affect women, who are already in a more vulnerable situation due to their gender, said Lydia Zigomo, UN […] Continue reading ->
Global health and parliamentary leaders have offered to support The Gambia to maintain its  ban on female genital mutilation (FGM), expressing “profound concern” over a recent attempt to reverse the ban.  The business committee of Gambia’s parliament is currently contemplating whether to allow the passage of a Private Members Bill which aims to reverse the […] Continue reading ->
Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, which championed the country’s restrictive abortion laws, was voted out of power last October, but the path to improving access to abortion is not fast or straight forward. “First of all, we need accessible abortions and we need, which is extremely important, the decriminalisation of abortion support,” activist […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s director general says the battle against maternal mortality has stalled; Somalia calls for a new WHA resolution committing to stepped-up action on maternal and child deaths, a leading global health inequality.  The battle against maternal mortality has stagnated and high rates of deaths continue to plague sub-Saharan Africa, as well as other low- and […] Continue reading ->
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country has introduced the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine into its routine immunization system, aiming to reach 7.7 million girls – in the continent’s largest-ever vaccination drive against the virus that causes nearly all cases of cervical cancer.  Girls aged 9–14 years will receive a single dose of the vaccine, which is […] Continue reading ->