UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has said it is “deeply alarmed” by the worsening humanitarian situation in Burundi, which has reached a crisis point following a rapid influx of refugees and asylum-seekers fleeing a new wave of violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Since early December, over 84,000 […] Continue reading ->
The World Food Programme (WFP) is warning of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian emergency in Sudan on Friday, with conditions in the besieged city of El Fasher in Sudan’s Darfour region described as “beyond horrific.” Speaking at a briefing to UN reporters in Geneva, Ross Smith, WFP’s Director of Emergency Preparedness, said “anywhere between 70 and […] Continue reading ->
Global leaders pledged US$ 1.9 billion to advance polio eradication on Monday, including a new $1.2 billion commitment by the Gates Foundation. The pledges, made on the margins of Abu Dhabi Finance Week, reduce the remaining budget gap for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s (GPEI) to just $440 million through 2029. That’s in comparison by […] Continue reading ->
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has pared down its staff in its Geneva headquarters, Washington DC and New York by 33% – from 643 to 440 people, the agency confirmed today, following a June replenishment drive that fell about $2 billion short of a $11.9 billion fundraising goal for 2026-2030. Beginning in 2026, the agency will […] Continue reading ->
The post-pandemic decline in infection-prevention practices, along with the broader crash in global health finance, are undermining progress against antimicrobial resistance – one of the planet’s most urgent health threats. At a recent panel discussion co-hosted by the Geneva Health Forum (GHF), leading experts from WHO, academia, biotech, and patient advocacy warned that national AMR plans […] Continue reading ->
In August 2025, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali removed all taxes and customs duties on feminine hygiene products. Now, Guyana’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva calls on other countries to follow suit. In most developing countries male condoms are distributed freely. Free access to condoms is a globally recognized harm reduction strategy in public health. […] Continue reading ->
The United States, backed by Argentina, was reportedly blocking the G20 consensus on the final G20 Health Ministers’ statement – following their fourth and final working group meeting of the year Friday in Limpopo, South Africa, Health Policy Watch has learned. In a visible snub to the rest of the group, the US delegation also […] Continue reading ->
At least $7 billion is needed to rebuild Gaza’s health system, which has no fully functioning hospitals, and critical shortages of essential medicines, equipment and health workers, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on Thursday. While Tedros welcomed the ceasefire negotiated by US President Donald Trump on […] Continue reading ->
From killing over 600,000 elderly from dementia to an almost equal number of infants under the age of one-year, air pollution’s impact on young and old is explained simply through hard-hitting numbers in the latest State of Global Air (SOGA) report, by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute. The report identifies plenty of scope for immediate […] Continue reading ->
Beyond the rehabilitation of bodies, mind and critical Gaza health, housing, water and sanitation infrastructure, both Israelis and Palestinians need to confront the darks side of their respective narratives around the two-year war in Gaza in order to advance a cease-fire and, beyond that, a more durable peace. As hopes of a cease-fire between warring […] Continue reading ->