Measles cases and deaths have skyrocketed worldwide, with 37 countries experiencing large or disruptive outbreaks in 2022 compared to 22 in 2021, according to a joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report, published on Wednesday, highlights the devastating impact of declining vaccination […] Continue reading ->
Fierce gun battles between Israeli and Hamas forces raged in the vicinity of several strategically located hospitals in northern Gaza over the weekend and into Monday – leaving the fate of the remaining patients hanging in the balance. At Al Shifa hospital, hospital staff were reportedly trying to keep some 37 premature babies warm by […] 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 ->
On the morning of October 10, 2022, Russia launched a barrage of over 100 cruise missiles and suicide drones at Ukraine’s power grid and water supply, striking civilian areas across the country. One of the first targets hit were the streets around Kyiv City Clinical Hospital 5, a medical facility with hundreds of beds in […] Continue reading ->
The devastating floods that submerged one-third of Pakistan in 2022 have severely disrupted the country’s vaccination programme, leaving millions of children at risk of preventable diseases. The floods severely damaged health infrastructure, causing overall immunization coverage in the country to drop to 64% in 2022, from a national average of 74% in 2020, according to […] Continue reading ->
The WHO has officially recommended a second malaria vaccine for children, the R21/Matrix-M, co-developed by researchers at Oxford University and the Serum Institute of India. Global rollout could greatly improve access to immnization against a disease that kills over 600,000 people a year, 96% in Africa. But experts stress that vaccines can complement — but […] Continue reading ->
BAD HOFGASTEIN, Austria — Belgium, which takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union in January 2024, plans to make the healthcare workforce crisis a central item on its agenda, the first time the issue will be prioritized at the highest level of EU policymaking in over a decade. “We are actively […] Continue reading ->
WHO has stepped up its counteroffensive against tobacco companies that market cigarettes and other tobacco products to teens – with the release of a new set of guidance for school-based anti-smoking policies. The guidance, “Freedom from Tobacco and Nicotine: Guide for Schools,” and “Nicotine- and Tobacco-free School Implementation Toolkit”, aims to support school policies banning […] Continue reading ->
NEW YORK – While the world’s leaders set new global health goals and appraised existing ones at the United Nations (UN) last week, implementing these noble goals falls on the shoulders of people like midwife Ashu Martha Agbornyenty. Agbornyenty works in poor communities in Cameroon, where the deaths of women and newborn babies are relatively […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, explicitly excluded the world’s five largest emitters of greenhouse gasses – China, the United States, Russia, India and Japan – from his Climate Ambition Summit, held Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The United Kingdom, another major polluter, was notably absent from the summit, amid reports […] Continue reading ->