Category: Development

Announcing the initiative in Geneva, the UN agency said that it had already had informal expressions of interest from pharmaceutical companies looking to produce insulin and have WHO assess whether it is safe for people to use. “The simple fact is, that the prevalence of diabetes is growing, the amount of insulin available to treat diabetes is too low, the… Read More

‘Forgotten’ pneumonia epidemic kills more children than any other disease    Pneumonia, an entirely preventable disease, kills more children than any other illness in the world, one child every 39 seconds.  But although that statistic is well known, funding to improve survival rates continues to come up short, the UN and partners warned on Tuesday, World Pneumonia Day.    In 2018 alone, pneumonia killed… Read More

The Panorama of Food and Nutritional Security 2019, jointly published by a group of UN health agencies, urged countries to take swift action to address the malnutrition issue across the region.  “The explosive increase in obesity, which affects 24 percent of the regional population, about 105 million people – almost double the global level of 13.2 percent – not only has huge economic costs, but also threatens the lives of hundreds of… Read More

 “For decades the leading killer of children has been a neglected disease and the world’s most vulnerable children have paid the price”, Leith Greenslade, Coordinator of a coalition to stop the disease, said in a joint statement with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other health leaders.  Every day, nearly 2,200 children under the age of five die from pneumonia, a curable and mostly preventable disease. Strong global commitment and… Read More

The Health Evidence Synthesis report, from WHO’s Regional Office for Europe, analysed evidence from over 900 publications supporting ways in which the arts can help improve physical and mental health, in the most comprehensive review of its kind to date. The report reviewed the health benefits (either through active or passive participation) in five broad categories of arts: performing arts… Read More

The Organization’s latest Food Outlook, published on Thursday, anticipates ASF will lead to a contraction of at least 20 per cent in the output of pork products in China, the world’s largest producer, accounting for half of all global production.  As a result, the combined output of cattle, sheep, poultry and pig meat is forecast to total 335 million tonnes in carcass weight equivalent – one per cent lower than the previous year, according to FAO.  ASF prompted soaring prices for pig meat earlier this… Read More

Latest figures from Sudan’s health ministry indicate that there have been 332 suspected cases of cholera and eight deaths, mainly in Blue Nile and Sennar States, since the disease was declared on 2 September. Two cases of cholera were confirmed in Khartoum state in mid-October. “The risk of cholera spreading is very real,” said Dr Naeema Al Gasseer, World Health… Read More

US withdrawal from Paris Agreement to take effect in November 2020 The United States announced on Monday that it was formally beginning the process of withdrawal from the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, signed by 193 countries in 2015. The UN Spokesperson’s Office issued a note to correspondents, in reaction to the notice of withdrawal, which came from US Secretary of State,… Read More

Speaking at a public event in Geneva, Dr Mike Ryan from the World Health Organization (WHO), said that in his 25-year humanitarian career, violence carried out deliberately against health workers and hospitals had never been so bad. The “overwhelming impact” had been on local health workers, not international staff, Dr Ryan told a Geneva Peace Week event, in his capacity… Read More

According to IOM, they were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups in Isebi, Morobo County, in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria region. The volunteers had been manning an Ebola virus screening point in border areas between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. It is understood that the four-year-old child… Read More