In a call for action to protect workers, ILO Country Coordinator in Iraq Maha Kattaa has urged that measures be put in place to reduce the risks for those working under extreme heat.  Dangerous sectors According to the recent Labour Force Survey, one in four workers in Iraq is employed either in construction or agriculture – already considered among the most… Read More

In cooperation with IAEA and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), scientists there was able to use a UN-developed nuclear-based sterile insect technique (SIT) to eradicate the medfly, more commonly known as the fruit fly. Threatening farmers’ livelihoods The Colima outbreak, detected in April 2021 in the country’s largest port, Manzanillo, posed an immediate risk to crops, including guavas, mangoes,… Read More

More than 37 million people are facing acute hunger, with approximately seven million children under the age of five acutely malnourished in the region.   While finding food and safe water is the absolute priority, WHO said that ensuring a strong health emergency response is needed to avert preventable disease and deaths.   The UN agency is calling for $123.7… Read More

Speaking from Dakar, Senegal, WHO Assistant Director-General for Emergencies Ibrahima Soce Fall said that “we have been working on monkeypox in Africa for several years, but nobody was interested”. Once referred to as a “neglected tropical disease,” he said that WHO had been working on Monkeypox with very few resources. However, once northern countries began getting affected by the disease… Read More

The new Global Alliance for Ending AIDS in Children by 2030, made up of UN agencies, civil society groups, governments and international partners, was announced at the landmark International AIDS Conference, which comes to a close in Montréal, Canada, on Tuesday. ‘Healthy, informed generation’ Addressing the conference, Limpho Nteko from Lesotho shared her journey from a surprise HIV diagnosis to… Read More

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UNICEF chief Catherine Russell, issued a joint statement on Monday, marking the start of World Breastfeeding Week, and pointed out that global crises, supply chain shocks and insecurity threaten the health and nutrition of millions of babies and children like never before. This World Breastfeeding Week, under its theme Step up for breastfeeding: Educate and Support, UNICEF and… Read More

Mandeep Dhaliwal, the director of HIV and health at the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is concerned that the proliferation of such laws is hampering the UN’s response to the virus, which is also being hit by a host of interconnected global crises. Mandeep Dhaliwal: It is a pivotal time and opportunity to galvanize people around getting the AIDS response back… Read More

New World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines advise countries to use the new potentially game-changing drug which is not yet available for sale, as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV, and as part of a comprehensive approach to prevent the virus from spreading. Those using most PrEP medications on the market, have to remember to take their medication daily, a greater challenge… Read More

The current uptick focuses attention on the thousands of acute viral hepatitis infections that occur every year among children, adolescents, and adults. Treat hepatitis WHO, together with scientists and policymakers in affected countries, are working to understand the cause of this infection that does not appear to belong to any of the known five types of hepatitis viruses: A, B,… Read More

Globally, the number of new infections dropped by only 3.6 per cent between 2020 and 2021, the smallest annual decline in new HIV infections since 2016, said UNAIDS. The agency warned that progress in prevention and treatment has faltered worldwide, putting millions of lives at risk. “In 2021, there were 1.5 million new HIV infections and 650,000 AIDS-related deaths. This translates… Read More