In an alert, WHO noted that although just eight per cent of hospitalised coronavirus patients also had bacterial infections which can be treated with antibiotics, a staggering three in four were given them on a “just in case” basis. At no point during the global pandemic did the UN health agency recommend using antibiotics to treat COVID-19, insisted WHO spokesperson… Read More

Data covering all three areas revealed that more than one in two 15-year-olds experimented with alcohol, while one in five teenagers recently used e-cigarettes, the UN health agency said, in a call for urgent preventive measures.  “The widespread use of harmful substances among children in many countries across the European Region – and beyond – is a serious public health… Read More

The Humanly Possible joint global communication campaign aims to boost vaccination programmes around the world, with support from the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “Thanks to vaccinations, more children now survive and thrive past their fifth birthday than at any other point in history,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. Indeed, global immunisation programmes… Read More

Dr. Jeremy Farrar, chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the avian influenza virus, which is also known as H5N1, has had an “extremely high” mortality rate among the several hundred people known to have been infected with it to date. However, no human-to-human H5N1 transmission has yet been recorded. “H5N1 is (an) influenza infection, predominantly started… Read More

Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope: Ending inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights, reveals that more than half of all preventable maternal deaths occur in countries which are in a state of crisis or distress. It highlights the role that racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination play in blocking progress on sexual and reproductive health issues.  Women and… Read More

The disease is the second leading infectious cause of death globally, with 1.3 million deaths per year, the same as tuberculosis, another top infectious killer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2024 Global Hepatitis Report. “This report paints a troubling picture,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Despite progress globally in preventing hepatitis infections, deaths are rising because far… Read More

That’s the assessment following a WHO-led multi-agency mission to  Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza on 5 April which examined the extent of destruction following a weeks-long Israeli offensive aimed at rooting out militant forces who were allegedly operating inside. The highly complex mission was conducted in collaboration with the acting Hospital Director. Prior to the mission, WHO’s efforts to reach… Read More