Category: Development

After earlier describing cases of infection in people with no travel history to China as possibly the “tip of the iceberg”, the World Health Organization Director-General warned in Geneva that while the spread of the respiratory disease appeared to be slow, it could accelerate. “The detection of this small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a bigger… Read More

At a news conference in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged against stockpiling to ensure that healthworkers and those infected with the virus could still obtain them.  Today in my media briefing on #2019nCoV I shared our concerns about severe disruption in the market for protective gear used by health workers and sick people. Demand is up to 100… Read More

Dr Michael Ryan, head of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme, was speaking in Geneva after confirmation that there are now 28,060 confirmed cases of infection in China and 564 deaths – with 225 cases in 24 other countries, where one death has been recorded, in the Philippines. “Although we are pleased that the numbers from today are the… Read More

New modelling by the UN agency to coincide with the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, marked on Thursday, reveals that the cost of treating the total health impacts of FGM would amount to $1.4 billion globally per year.  The figure sees individual countries devoting nearly 10 per cent of their yearly expenditure to treat FGM; for… Read More

Speaking in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that latest data indicated 24,363 confirmed infections in China and 490 deaths from the respiratory disease (2019-nCoV), which was declared on 31 December. “In the last 24 hours, we had the most cases in a single day since the outbreak started,” he said. Noting the concern generated by the virus, Tedros he added… Read More

And in the face of concerns that people of Chinese descent are being discriminated against as fears grow over the spread of the disease, UN chief António Guterres called for international solidarity and an end to any ill-founded discrimination of the outbreak’s victims. ‘Cloud’ rumours false WHO Director of Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness, Sylvie Briand, told journalists in Geneva on… Read More

Less than 15 per cent of these nations offer comprehensive cancer treatment services through their public health systems, compared with more than 90 per cent among their richer counterparts, according to the UN agency.  “At least 7 million lives could be saved over the next decade, by identifying the most appropriate science for each country situation, by basing strong cancer… Read More

At least 361 people have died from the novel coronavirus, which first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. More than 17,200 cases have been confirmed in China, and experts say they expect the numbers to rise in the coming weeks. Although the vast majority of cases have been in China, the virus, which can cause pneumonia,… Read More

Latest WHO figures state there are more than 7,800 confirmed cases globally, with 7,736 confirmed in China, and a further 12,167 suspected cases inside the country where the outbreak began in Wuhan, a city of around 11 million which remains in lockdown. Latest figures So far, 170 people have died in China, and 1,370 cases there are officially described as… Read More

According to a new scientific model produced by Johns Hopkins University, in the United States, improving pneumonia treatment and prevention services could prevent up to 3.2 million children under the age of five from dying. At the same time, it would create ‘a ripple effect’ that would prevent the deaths of an additional 5.7 million children from other major childhood… Read More