The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global status report on the public health response to dementia, reveals that the European Region hosts half of all countries offering effective support. Yet even in Europe, many plans are expiring, or have already expired, indicating a need for renewed government commitments. “Dementia robs millions of people of their memories, independence and dignity, but it also… Read More

PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne announced the launch of the Regional Platform to Advance the Manufacturing of COVID-19 Vaccines and other Health Technologies in the Americas, describing as an initiative that will “coordinate across sectors – health, science and technology and industry – to strengthen their capacity to produce new technologies”. The UN official explained the need for the platform,… Read More

In its weekly epidemiological update, published on Tuesday, WHO warned it was becoming increasingly prevalent in Colombia and Ecuador, and showed signs of possible resistance to vaccines. Mu was first identified in Colombia in January 2021, and since then, there have been “sporadic reports” of cases and outbreaks in South America and Europe, WHO said. While the global prevalence of Mu… Read More

The WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, will bring together diverse partnerships from several disciplines, and the latest technology, so that data and intelligence are shared for the common good. Critically, it will support experts and policy-makers worldwide to be able to forecast, detect and assess epidemic and pandemic risks so that they can respond rapidly to future public… Read More

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, and Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, expressed deep concern over the slow pace of vaccine redistribution from high-income to low-income countries. The two former leaders served as co-chairs of the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR), launched by WHO in July 2020. Its final report was published in… Read More

In addition to calling for all school staff to be included in nationwide coronavirus vaccination plans, children aged 12 and above who suffer from underlying health conditions should also be immunized amid rising Delta variant numbers, said UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). “It’s better to go to school because it’s the gateway to the future.”… Read More

The heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO) and World Trade Organization (WTO) met with the leaders of the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), Africa CDC, Gavi and UNICEF to rapidly scale-up vaccines in low- and lower middle-income countries, particularly in Africa. Less than 2% of adults are fully vaccinated in most low-income countries… Read More

Although the COVID-19 caseload stabilized last week, after nearly two months of increases, the level remains high, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus, speaking during his regular press briefing from Geneva.  Cases have surpassed 4.5 million globally, with 68,000 deaths.  “Some regions and countries continue to see steep increases in cases and deaths, while others are declining,” he reported. “As long as… Read More

The study, which was co-led by Imperial College London, found that 82 per cent of all people with hypertension, around one billion, live in low and middle-income countries.  The researchers found that Canada, Peru and Switzerland had among the lowest prevalence of hypertension in the world in 2019, while some of the highest rates were seen in the Dominican Republic,… Read More