Breast milk substitutes, long decried by global health specialists, are making new inroads into the markets of poor countries during the COVID-19 pandemic – including through new and more effective modes of digital marketing. Guidelines for distributing and donating such substitutes to households facing hunger and malnourishment due to the economic fallout of COVID-19 lockdowns, […] Continue reading ->
DELHI, India – As north India reels under ‘severe’ levels of air pollution for the fourth day in a row, the government has appointed a former Petroleum Ministry bureaucrat to chair a new national Commission For Air Quality – hastily set up by a presidential decree just 10 days ago. Dr M.M. Kutty, former head […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Assembly on Tuesday approved a resolution calling to strengthen WHO and global preparedness for health emergencies – with few new teeth but lots of symbolism attached. The resolution makes a sweeping, but still largely ceremonial, call to countries and the WHO to reinvigorate systems of emergency preparedness, vulnerability assessment,  alert, response, compliance […] Continue reading ->
World Health Assembly members set aside the contentious issue of restoring Taiwan’s observer status at the member state forum – to focus on the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and linked to that WHO reform.  That was despite a growing push by the United States, backed by Europe and their western Pacific allies for […] Continue reading ->
A WHO co-sponsored partnership is laying the groundwork for a worldwide distribution plan of $US 6 billion worth of the most effective COVID-19 drugs, including cutting-edge monoclonal antibodies treatments if proven effective – so as to ensure that high-income countries do not snap up all available new therapies as they arrive on the market. The […] Continue reading ->
This year’s 73rd edition of the World Health Assembly resumes virtually on Monday, after a two-day emergency huddle in May – against sharply rising COVID-19 infection rates in Europe and the United States, deep geopolitical divides – and calls for reform of the WHO that could strengthen its mandate but also may be resisted by […] Continue reading ->
There is so far no evidence that the outbreak of mutant SARS-CoV-2 virus strains exploding in Danish mink farms threaten the development of a successful COVID-19 vaccine, said top World Health Organization (WHO) officials on Friday. More than 200 mink farms in Denmark have reported cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections, prompting Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, […] Continue reading ->
BRAZZAVILLE – The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to key health services in Africa, raising worries that some of the continent’s major health challenges could worsen. A preliminary analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO) of five key essential health service indicators finds a sharp decline in these services between January and September […] Continue reading ->