Dr  Hanan Balkhy has been elected as the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO), becoming the first woman ever to have been chosen for the challenging position in the world’s most conflict-ridden region. A Saudi national, Balkhy will assume the position on 1 February 2024 for a period of […] Continue reading ->
Negotiations at the World Health Organisation (WHO) about how to amend the International Health Regulations (IHR) to make them fit to tackle the next pandemic will be extended until as far as May 2024. This was resolved at the Working Group on the IHR amendments, which ended on Friday following a week-long meeting with a […] Continue reading ->
The Mauritius Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a colonial-era law criminalising consensual sexual relations between men is “unconstitutional” and should be struck from the country’s criminal code with immediate effect. According to Section 250 of the Mauritian Criminal Code, men convicted of same-sex relations could be jailed for a maximum of five years. The […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean region (EMRO) is struggling to address “an unprecedented number of health emergencies” driven by state fragility and conflict, climate-change-related extreme weather events, mass displacement and economic disparities”, regional director Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari told a media briefing on Wednesday. The most pressing immediate problems involve assisting Libya after its […] Continue reading ->
WHO has stepped up its counteroffensive against tobacco companies that market cigarettes and other tobacco products to teens – with the release of a new set of guidance for school-based anti-smoking policies.  The guidance, “Freedom from Tobacco and Nicotine: Guide for Schools,” and “Nicotine- and Tobacco-free School Implementation Toolkit”, aims to support school policies banning […] Continue reading ->