The new Deputy Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) is Dr Mike Ryan, who will assume the position alongside his current post as the executive director of Health Emergencies, Preparedness and Response. Ryan, who succeeds Zsuzsanna Jakab, who retired in February, assumed the position on 1 April according to an internal staff communique […] Continue reading ->
Each woman in the health workforce is powerful, capable of transforming individual lives, communities, and nations when supported in her role. Women health workers deliver care to approximately five billion people, mostly as nurses, midwives, and community health workers. They contribute $3 trillion to global health annually, half in unpaid work.  Despite constituting 70% of […] Continue reading ->
At a time when the world is negotiating the best way forward for sustained preparedness to address pandemics, it is still exhibiting collective failure to learn from past outbreaks and a glaring gap in global health security. Mpox is one case in point – and a test case for global intent on pandemic preparedness.  In […] Continue reading ->
The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), famous for busting Volkswagen’s Dieselgate, has a new ambition: Taking immediate action to shift to zero-emissions vehicles, significantly cutting ozone (O3) nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and PM2.5 pollution, and avoiding millions of cases of early death and paediatric asthma. Business-as-usual vehicle scenarios will lead to an increase.  Because they […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a new network, CoViNet, aimed at identifying, monitoring, and evaluating SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and emerging coronaviruses that pose significant public health risks. The program expands on the WHO COVID-19 reference laboratory network, established in January 2020, in the early days of the pandemic. Originally, the network’s primary goal was […] Continue reading ->
The fractious pandemic agreement talks – supposed to end with an agreement on Thursday (28 March) – have limped into extra time, with World Health Organization (WHO) member states resolving to hold an additional intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) meeting from 29 April to 10 May. The World Health Assembly (WHA), which begins on 27 May, […] Continue reading ->