Air pollution is barely acknowledged in the draft political declaration for the upcoming fourth UN High-Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health. The omission of the world’s leading contributor to disease threatens global progress in tackling heart disease, respiratory diseases, stroke, cancer, and other chronic illnesses. Since the last UN General Assembly High-Level […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced his new team of 36 directors at headquarters on Tuesday, according to an internal message to WHO staff, seen by Health Policy Watch. Nine of the appointments, including key positions heading the Departments of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, and the newly-combined Department of Environment, […] Continue reading ->
As the World Conference on Tobacco Control (WCTC) opened in Dublin on Monday, the world’s largest convening of tobacco control advocates, researchers, and policy strategists is positioned to play an influential role in shaping the technical and civil society contributions that will feed into a series of important multilateral processes taking place this year.  Between […] Continue reading ->
Mistrust undermined the pandemic agreement talks – but, ironically, the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) galvanised member states to reach agreement, according to Ambassador Anne-Claire Amprou, co-chair of the talks. “There was a lack of trust. That means that when member states wanted to make a proposal, sometimes it created suspicion […] Continue reading ->
In Nukus, Uzbekistan, 34-year-old surgical nurse Dilaram was devastated when she was diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB).  But instead of facing the standard treatment, including nearly 15,000 pills to be taken over two years and painful injections causing severe side effects, she could enrol in TB-PRACTECAL, the MSF-led clinical trial testing an all-oral, six-month regimen […] Continue reading ->