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 ->
High income countries like the United States and Canada are casting a wide net in their vaccine strategy for monkeypox, vaccinating people exposed to an infected case and groups at risk of exposure while scrambling to study the results in terms of efficacy. That was the upshot of a WHO-sponsored symposium on monkeypox research involving […] Continue reading ->
MONTREAL – HIV is one of the most studied diseases of all time and an arsenal of treatment and prevention tools have been amassed over the past 40 years – the latest being an antiretroviral (ARV) injection taken every eight weeks that can prevent 99% of infections. But HIV is still spreading – primarily amongst […] 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 ->
The mystery around the rash of acute, serious hepatitis cases that have afflicted over 1000 children under the age of 16 may have been unravelled by a group of Scottish researchers who say that the interaction of two common adenoviruses, or related herpes viruses, may have caused the condition in genetically susceptible children who failed […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization has issued a call for people around the world to “do one thing” to prevent drowning, on the occasion of World Drowning Prevention Day. Drowning tragically claims more than 236,000 lives each year, and is one of the leading causes of death globally for young children and young people aged 1 – […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic was a stress test for the health sector, which is one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world, and also one of the largest employers of women. Women are 70% of the health and social care workforce and 90% of nurses but they are clustered into jobs that are lower […] Continue reading ->
Should the corporate sector be allowed to engage in negotiations around the new binding instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response that is being developed by World Health Organization member states? This week’s closed-door debate by WHO member states to decide who should get a seat around the table risks opening a Pandora’s box of […] Continue reading ->