Heralding South Africa’s and Botswana’s decision to report the appearance of the Omicron coronavirus mutation last month, the UN health agency repeated that it will take another two weeks before more is known about how transmissible and how dangerous it actually is. Speaking in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier stressed that data suggesting that Omicron was highly transmissible was only… Read More

“It’s time for technology companies and policymakers to take digital violence seriously”, said UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem -“right now”.   The bodyright campaign highlights that corporate logos and copyrighted IP are more highly valued and better protected online than images of human bodies, which are often uploaded to the Internet without consent, and used maliciously.   The ⓑ symbol – which can be added to any image directly via Instagram stories using stickers, or by downloading it from the webpage – aims to… Read More

He highlighted the wide range of progress made through collaboration, from frameworks around peace, security and sustainable development, to joint missions and programmes for humanitarian operations, elections and peaceful transfers of power. Mr. Guterres also focussed on areas critical for an inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery on the continent, that are grounded in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and… Read More

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the consensus decision, reached during a special session of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the UN agency’s top decision-making body, attended by representatives from its 194 Member States.  Historic session  The three-day meeting began on Monday with the sole goal of considering the benefits of creating a new international agreement on pandemic prevention preparedness and how… Read More

Under the theme End Inequalities. End AIDS. End Pandemics, Abdulla Shahid underscored a connection between COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS, pointing out that both exacerbate inequalities and impact people, “particularly in terms of access to treatment and health services”. Moreover, COVID and the HIV epidemic not only impact the health of individuals, but together have also “impacted households, communities, and the development… Read More

Despite some improvement in people’s tolerance to the disease in the more than 40 years since the AIDS epidemic began, a survey of 55,000 people in 50 countries found that only one in two people knew that HIV cannot be transmitted by sharing a bathroom.  “It is shocking that, 40 years into the HIV and AIDS epidemic, myths and misconceptions are still so widespread,” said Chidi King,… Read More

In a statement on Tuesday, the World Health Organization Director-General said that it was “deeply concerning” that Botswana and South Africa, where the new variant was first identified, were “being penalized by others for doing the right thing”.  Dozens of countries have imposed travel bans on the southern African nations since the mutation was discovered at the end of last week.  Threat still… Read More

In an urgent call to action ahead of World AIDS Day on 1 December, the agency focused on ending the disease as a public health threat by 2030, said that if transformative measures are not taken, the world will stay trapped in the COVID-19 crisis and remain dangerously unprepared for all future pandemics. Infection every 2 minutes In a new… Read More