African countries at the World Health Assembly called for increased support to health systems across the continent following major cuts to all World Health Organization (WHO) regional office budgets amid a financial crisis triggered by the US withdrawal from the agency and falling global health spending. The African region suffered the largest total cut, losing […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – Although the past decade has seen progress in the fight against malnutrition, 148 million children remain stunted, 45 million suffer from wasting, and anaemia affects nearly one in three women globally, according to experts at the Geneva Health Forum (GHF). In 2023 alone, 733 million people experienced hunger—152 million more than in 2019—and […] Continue reading ->
There are tensions between World Health Organization (WHO) member states about how to approach the final negotiations on the pandemic agreement – an annex on Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system (PABS), according to Precious Matsoso, who co-chaired the negotiations. “There’s an argument about whether you invite experts to start working on a technical document […] Continue reading ->
Presidents, prime ministers and even opera singers, celebrated the unanimous adoption of the world’s first Pandemic Agreement by consensus at the World Health Assembly (WHA) plenary on Tuesday morning. Despite the 11th-hour insistence of Slovakia on a vote on the agreement in Committee A on Monday night, none of the World Health Organization (WHO) member […] Continue reading ->
In a surprise appearance Tuesday before WHO member states via pre-recorded video, new US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr extended a kind of olive branch to the World Health Organization, calling for “a new era of international health cooperation, free from political influence and corporate bias.” While Kennedy did not say […] Continue reading ->
An enormous list of World Health Organization (WHO) member states, 173 in all, lined up to speak in favour of the pandemic agreement at the World Health Assembly (WHA) on Monday – an extraordinary demonstration of the breadth of support for the document. By the end yesterday’s meeting of Committee A, member states passed […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) faces “significant challenges” amid “significant achievements”, characterised by a 21% budget cut alongside the imminent adoption of a pandemic agreement, Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the opening of the World Health Assembly on Monday. Tedros appealed to member states to support its “extremely modest” budget, reduced from $5.3 billion […] Continue reading ->
The United States appears set to skip this year’s World Health Assembly at a historic moment when other WHO member states are expected to agree to a Pandemic Agreement, that has been nearly three years in the making. A provisional list of WHA delegates, published late Sunday night by WHO, included no reference at all […] Continue reading ->
Dr Mohamed Yakub Janabi, of Tanzania, was elected as the new African Region nominee for Regional Director, in a special meeting of the WHO African Regional Committee on Sunday – replacing fellow Tanzanian, RD-elect Dr Faustine Ndugulile, who died suddenly in November, 2024. The WHO Executive Board will be asked to approve Janabi’s nomination at […] Continue reading ->
Essential research on tuberculosis and HIV cancelled. Clinical trial participants in limbo. Young researchers’ careers halted – and billions of dollars invested and expertise developed over 30 years potentially down the drain. These are some of the impacts on South Africa of the decision by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) barely a week ago […] Continue reading ->