“Africa needs health without aid,” former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo told the continental health sovereignty summit in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday. He appealed to leaders to establish a health fund under the auspices of the African Development Bank, funded initially by an airline tax on tourists flying to African countries – an idea that has […] Continue reading ->
As South Africa marks Women’s Month this August, the global health community is preparing to spotlight the vital role women play in tackling tuberculosis—often in overlooked and underfunded areas of research, care, and advocacy. A special webinar, hosted by Global Health Strategies, the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism, and Health Policy Watch, will recognize and […] Continue reading ->
The proportion of the world’s population suffering acute hunger declined globally in 2024 to about 673 million people, but continued to rise in most African regions as well as western Asia, according to the new UN State of Food Security and Nutrition (SOFI) report, launched Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Global hunger levels have remained […] Continue reading ->
LONDON – Summit it was not as there were no heads of state or even Bill Gates, although the UK’s Minister for Climate Change made a compelling presentation showing the kind of policy leadership starkly absent in the United States. Even so, the recent Climate and Health Summit, hosted by the UK Physiological Society, the […] Continue reading ->
After 2024 became the warmest year on record, with temperatures rising 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels for the first time ever, humanity is “moving into the unknown,” said Andy Haines, professor of environmental change and public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. “We are now above the Paris Agreement’s preferred target […] Continue reading ->
The global childhood vaccination rate in 2024 held steady with 85% of infants and children receiving three doses of the vaccine for diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT), used as a global benchmark for immunization rates overall. However large, continued gaps in coverage are propelling outbreaks, including the highest rate of measles cases since 2019. “In […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization has reduced its global headcount by about 221 people since January, down to 9,231 as compared to 9452 at the start of January – largely through a termination of temporary contracts and a freeze in renewals. Most of the cutbacks have been at the Geneva Headquarters, WHO’s largest office, where […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization has a draft $4.295 million contract with the Boston Consulting Group pending in its Global Management System (GSM), Health Policy Watch has learned – even while Save the Children has suspended its connection to BCG, over the reported involvement of two former staff members in the development of controversial projects in […] Continue reading ->
A team of Israeli team of experts in law and gender have called on the United Nations to hold Hamas accountable for systematic use of sexual violence during attacks on Israeli communities near Gaza on 7 October, 2023, and in the course of holding some 251 Israelis and foreigners hostage over subsequent months. Speaking at […] Continue reading ->
The world faces a global health funding crisis, but John-Arne Røttingen believes the solution goes beyond money. It lies in stronger partnerships between governments, researchers, and citizens. “Science is not enough to change the world,” said Røttingen, the newly appointed CEO of Wellcome, one of the world’s largest global health foundations. “It must be allied […] Continue reading ->