Ireland is becoming a global leader in the field of innovation in harnessing digital technologies as a tool to address various barriers for access to care. In alignment with WHO, Ireland recognizes the importance of mobilizing assistive technology to help the 2.5 billion people in need globally, including older persons, people with disabilities, and those living with health conditions. This… Read More

The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its updated Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (BPPL) 2024, featuring 15 families of antibiotic-resistant bacteria grouped into critical, high and medium categories for prioritization. The list provides guidance on the development of new and necessary treatments to stop the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer… Read More

A new vaccine for dengue received prequalification from the World Health Organization (WHO) on 10 May 2024. TAK-003 is the second dengue vaccine to be prequalified by WHO. Developed by Takeda, it is a live-attenuated vaccine containing weakened versions of the four serotypes of the virus that cause dengue.  WHO recommends the use of TAK-003 in children aged 6–16 years… Read More

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and WHO today signed a new Memorandum of Understanding, reaffirming the critical role that parliamentarians play in enabling good health to foster stable and equitable societies. The new five-year memorandum was signed by Mr Martin Chungong, IPU Secretary General, and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, at the 148th IPU Assembly, which is taking place in… Read More

Immediate action is needed to stem an unprecedented multi-year upsurge in cholera cases worldwide, according to the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision. Actions include investing in access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, testing and detecting outbreaks quickly, improving quality of and access to healthcare, and fast-tracking additional production of affordable oral cholera vaccine (OCV) doses to better… Read More

A high-powered intervention by 23 former national Presidents, 22 former Prime Ministers, a former UN General Secretary and 3 Nobel Laureates is being made today to press for an urgent agreement from international negotiators on a Pandemic Accord, under the Constitution of the World Health Organizaion, to bolster the world’s collective preparedness and response to future pandemics.  Former UN General Secretary Ban-ki Moon, New Zealand’s… Read More

Older women and women with disabilities face particular risk of abuse, yet their situation is largely hidden in most global and national violence-related data, according to two new publications released today by the World Health Organization (WHO). The health agency is calling for better research across countries that will help ensure these women are counted, and that their specific needs… Read More

WHO has launched a new network for coronaviruses, CoViNet, to facilitate and coordinate global expertise and capacities for early and accurate detection, monitoring and assessment of SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV and novel coronaviruses of public health importance. CoViNet expands on the WHO COVID-19 reference laboratory network established during the early days of the pandemic.  Initially, the lab network was focused on SARS-CoV-2,… Read More

WHO Member States agreed to resume negotiations aimed at finalizing a pandemic agreement during 29 April to 10 May. The decision came at today’s end of two weeks of intensive country-led discussions on critical subjects aimed at making all countries of the world better prepared for, and able to effectively and equitably respond to, future pandemics. This ninth meeting of… Read More

Ahead of World Health Day, focused on ‘My Health, My Right’, the World Health Organization (WHO) announces the launch of S.A.R.A.H., a digital health promoter prototype with enhanced empathetic response powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI). S.A.R.A.H. is a Smart AI Resource Assistant for Health that represents an evolution of AI-powered health information avatars, using new language models and cutting-edge… Read More