In resource-restricted countries like Nigeria, parents of children with special needs, particularly mothers, bear the entire burden of care. In an unexpected turn of events in early 2015, Modupe Famodun’s baby son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. A neurologist at the Federal Neuropsychiatry Hospital (FNPH) in Lagos in South-West Nigeria, had been strolling down the […] 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 ->
There will be close to 10 billion people in the world by 2050, and if the World Health Organization estimates are correct, as many as 22% of them – or 22 billion people – will be over 60. A separate study by American doctors found that by that same year, the number of people living […] Continue reading ->
The US government will commit $4 million to tackle lead poisoning, supporting developing countries to curtail lead in consumer goods like paints and toys in which the use of lead is still widespread, USAID administrator Samantha Power announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Power also called for more resources and action towards the […] Continue reading ->
“It’s not just about people with disabilities, this is about all of us,” stresses Pascal Bijleveld, the CEO of ATscale Global Partnership, an organization established in 2018 to advocate for assistive technologies (AT) access, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The first-ever global campaign to expand access, ‘Unlock the Everyday’, was launched on Tuesday at […] Continue reading ->
An ambitious Polish state policy that aims to replace 50% of the country’s coal and wood household furnaces/boilers with electric heat pumps or natural gas could dramatically improve air quality in a country with some of the worst ambient air pollution levels in the European Union, says a new assessment by the European Clean Air […] Continue reading ->
In early December, I was one of the nearly 100,000 delegates at COP28, the biggest climate conference ever held. As a senior health professional and campaigner for gender equity in health, I was pleased to see the adoption of the first ever COP health declaration. Who among us can still deny that climate change is a […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has added the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine to its list of ‘prequalified’ vaccines, paving the way for bulk procurement and mass deployment of the new vaccine across malaria-endemic countries by UNICEF and other global health agencies. The prequalification of the world’s second malaria vaccine, developed by Oxford University and manufactured by […] Continue reading ->
The worldwide shortage of nurses should be considered a “global health emergency” – yet governments are failing to invest in measures to retain these essential workers, according to Howard Catton, CEO of the International Council of Nurses (ICN). “The US has lost 100,000 nurses since 2020 and is predicted to lose up to 600,000 by […] Continue reading ->
Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), a blood loss of 500 ml or more within 24 hours of birth, is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Around 14 million women die a year, said Metin Gülmezoğlu, executive director of the Concept Foundation. Yet, PPH is mainly preventable. Some 99% of PPH […] Continue reading ->