Loss of biodiversity around the world is happening at an unprecedented rate, damaging ecosystems and threatening grave impacts to human well-being, a new landmark report warns. But it’s not too late to make a difference, it says, through transformative, system-wide change across technological, economic and social factors.Continue reading ->

Image Credits: IPBES/Yildiz Aumeeruddy-Thomas, IPBES.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) this week launched its new five-year strategy that aims to overcome final hurdles in eradicating polio transmission. However, remaining pockets of transmission in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria pose challenges of geographic isolation, migration and insecurity, leading to “missing children” in polio vaccination efforts.Continue reading ->

Image Credits: Jean-Marc Giboux, GPEI.

A festering civil conflict fueling rampant fear and distrust has been a major obstacle in the World Health Organization’s efforts to end the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). But now, funding shortages could further cripple the already strained response – unless the global community steps up quickly, Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned yesterday.Continue reading ->

Image Credits: WHO.

New York – Strengthening references to sexual and reproductive health and rights, marginalised people, and public-private partnerships that ensure rights and inclusion, were among the core proposals pitched yesterday at a United Nations multi-stakeholder meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), involving representatives of government, UN agencies, civil society and the private sector.

The milestone meeting set the tone for the next steps in the UHC process leading up to the UN High Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage on 23 September, where heads of states are expected to approve a declaration on the issue.Continue reading ->

Image Credits: UN, Women in Global Health.