The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated government regulatory authorities in Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom as WHO-Listed Authorities (WLAs), a status granted to national authorities that meet the highest international regulatory standards for medical products. The recognition widens the pool of WHO-recognized authorities significantly beyond the previously recognized authorities in Europe, the United […] Continue reading ->
WHO says mRNA technology holds particular potential in developing vaccines against emerging epidemic threats. Scientists in the United States and abroad called on US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F Kennedy Jr, to release the data that informed his decision to cancel the US investments in mRNA vaccine research.  The World Health Organization […] Continue reading ->
“Africa needs health without aid,” former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo told the continental health sovereignty summit in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday. He appealed to leaders to establish a health fund under the auspices of the African Development Bank, funded initially by an airline tax on tourists flying to African countries – an idea that has […] Continue reading ->
Digital tests based on speech and smell are being developed to screen for cognitive decline, researchers told the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto. Two speech apps are already some way down the road, testing several markers including speech speed, vocabulary and rhythm in different languages to establish a baseline for testing, a session convened […] Continue reading ->
The proportion of the world’s population suffering acute hunger declined globally in 2024 to about 673 million people, but continued to rise in most African regions as well as western Asia, according to the new UN State of Food Security and Nutrition (SOFI) report, launched Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Global hunger levels have remained […] Continue reading ->
As negotiators prepare to meet in Geneva, 5-14 August in yet another attempt to finalize the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty addressing a pollution crisis affecting oceans and ecosystems worldwide – a critical linkage between health and environment governance seems to be largely missing from the draft text. After nearly three years of negotiations, the […] Continue reading ->
The United States’ decision last Friday to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) – aimed at improving the global response to disease outbreaks – is based on “inaccuracies”, according to the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). “We regret the US decision to reject the amendments adopted by consensus by the […] Continue reading ->