The United States’ dismantling of its vast network of global health aid and assistance programmes constitutes “greatest disruption to global health finance in memory” and it is “sowing chaos in public health”, that threatens to roll back decades of progress on infectious and neglected diseases of poverty that affect billions of people, said WHO’s Director […] Continue reading ->
African countries like Uganda and South Africa are rewriting the rules of emergency response. The rest of the world must follow – or fall behind. Every April, World Immunisation Week is observed with predictable rhetoric: health leaders celebrate progress, governments make declarations, and global agencies issue reports highlighting gains and gaps in vaccination. But as […] Continue reading ->
Urgent measures are needed to curtail the rising “medicalization” of female genital mutilation (FGM) and to engage health workers to prevent the practice, according to a new guideline published by the World Health Organization (WHO). The guideline recommends professional codes of conduct that expressly prohibit health workers from performing FGM and stresses the need to […] Continue reading ->
There’s an urgency to scale climate change solutions quickly, was the unofficial mantra at the World Health Summit, as delegates called for faster change and more funds. NEW DELHI – It doesn’t cost much to ensure that a mother does not deliver her baby by candlelight, increasing the chances of the newborn’s and mother’s survival.  […] Continue reading ->
NEW DELHI – The theme was “Scaling Access to Ensure Health Equity”, but that hardly reflected the intense concerns raised at the first World Health Summit regional meeting with the storm of Trump administration’s cutbacks and closures of global health programmes since January.   Traditional medicine, climate and health, data transparency, and the role of artificial […] Continue reading ->
Self-care can be a key strategy in tackling the global crisis of non-communicable diseases that are responsible for three-quarters of premature deaths globally and 86 percent of early deaths (before age 70) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Moreover, dentists, pharmacists and community health workers are trained professionals who can provide innovative forms of self-care […] Continue reading ->