Eating too much salt kills nearly two million people every year, and without the rapid introduction of global policies to limit sodium content in processed foods, another seven million preventable deaths will occur by 2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a new report. Unhealthy diets are a major global health challenge, and sodium’s […] Continue reading ->
Millions of African girls are married before they turn 18, while others suffer female genital mutilation (FGM) and a multitude of preventable conditions, the closing plenary of the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) heard on Wednesday. The plenary promised “bold and honest conversations” about the “backsliding on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)” […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization on Wednesday said it is terminating the contract of the Director for the agency’s Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO), following a prolonged investigation of allegations of abusive conduct towards his staff. The terse WHO announcement came at the conclusion of a two-day special session of the WHO Executive Board, tasked with […] Continue reading ->
Respiratory infections contracted in early childhood nearly double the risk of dying prematurely from respiratory diseases as an adult, according to a new study published in The Lancet. The study followed a British cohort of over 3,500 people from their births in 1946, and then again between the ages of 26 and 73 years of […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s Executive Board is set to meet again next week in a special closed session to consider the fate of the Regional Director of WHO’s Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO), who has been accused of racism and harassment of staff at the Manila-based office. In a meeting earlier this week, WHO member states from the […] Continue reading ->
A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines through channels ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense. That vast pool of U.S. public funding was indispensable […] Continue reading ->
No date has yet been set for the recently-elected Director General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Jean Kaseya to take over his new tasks, said acting director Dr Ahmed Ogwell Ouma on Thursday. But he promised that the transition period would be a smooth one, saying: “After the decision by […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization (WHO) officials have sounded alarm bells following the death of an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia from the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza, the first such death in the country in nearly 10 years. At least 12 people in Cambodia have now been tested for infection with H5N1 following the girl’s death, […] Continue reading ->
By the time you finish reading this article, at least two women will have died from complications in pregnancy or childbirth. In the next 24 hours, another 798 will lose their lives. Nearly all of these women will be from low-and lower middle-income countries, and nearly all of their deaths will have been preventable. These […] Continue reading ->
As Malawi struggles with its biggest-ever cholera outbreak, its response is being hampered by the global shortage of vaccines, warned Dr Patrick Otim Ramadan, World Health Organization (WHO) Africa’s Incident Manager for Regional Cholera Response at a media briefing on Thursday. By Wednesday, Malawi had recorded 40,284 cases and 1,316 deaths, with a case fatality […] Continue reading ->