The dramatic global health budget cutbacks in services for maternal and reproductive health and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have produced 17 million unintended pregnancies, and more than 34,000 preventable maternal deaths in just the first year since cuts were made. That recent assessment by French and Washington DC-based analyses, was cited by Guyana’s UN Ambassador […] Continue reading ->
In 1994, Manvati Nag, an indigenous woman from Bijapur district in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, married and moved to Halbaras village in the forested Dantewada region about 80 kilometres away. Although the move was relatively short, it dramatically altered her health. Before moving, Nag never got sick. But after her move, she started […] Continue reading ->
An outbreak of Marburg, a highly infectious haemorrhagic fever, has been reported in western Uganda. The outbreak was discovered after a child died, according to Reuters, while Stat reports that two cases of Marburg were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) this week. Uganda is already trying to contain an outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo […] Continue reading ->
US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has broadened the terms of the country’s vaccine advisory committee in an apparent move to circumvent a judge’s ruling that his appointees lacked the requisite experience to serve as the country’s immunisation advisors. The new charter for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was published on the […] Continue reading ->
Treatment tents are burning in Ituri, burial teams are facing hostility, and suspected patients are fleeing quarantine centres, disappearing into communities. These heartbreaking incidents are often described as obstacles to controlling the current Ebola outbreak. For the dedicated frontline workers risking their lives every day to contain the virus, these challenges are deeply frustrating. But […] Continue reading ->
Human rights and legal experts have urged African governments not to support a draft charter being incubated by conservatives that will undermine the rights of women and girls. African women, girls and sexual minorities already face huge challenges to their health and safety from conflict, repressive laws and harmful cultural and religious practices. Now, one […] Continue reading ->
The United States and Russia were part of a group of eight countries that voted against the United Nations (UN) Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, which was adopted by 149 votes at the High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Tuesday afternoon. Israel, Burkina Faso, Burundi, North Korea, Niger and Senegal also voted against the declaration, while there were […] Continue reading ->
For decades, malaria has been one of Africa’s most persistent health challenges. In Ghana, it was once the leading cause of death for children under five. Bed nets and antimalarial drugs reduced deaths substantially, but by the mid-2010s, the pace of improvement had declined. Climate change was altering the length and intensity of transmission seasons. […] Continue reading ->
Where a person is born should not determine whether they survive, whether they live with dignity, or whether they are forced to endure years of preventable suffering while waiting for surgical care that may never come. Yet, across large parts of Africa, this remains the reality. At this year’s 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79) in […] Continue reading ->
Following a severe May heatwave, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued new global guidelines on Thursday in Berlin to accelerate climate adaptation and structurally overhaul health systems and urban spaces. Over the past four years, extreme heat has claimed more than 200,000 lives across Europe, positioning it as the deadliest climate-related hazard. As new climate […] Continue reading ->