Category: Development

The outbreak began in August 2018 and is the largest and longest running that the DRC has experienced, with more than 3,000 cases and  2,137 deaths.  The latest figures released by WHO on Friday for the week ending 1 October, showed  20 new confirmed cases reported in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, versus 29 in the previous week. The agency said this… Read More

Under FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme, the project will work to fight the spread of Fusarium wilt, a fungal plant disease that can wipe out plantations of banana crops, upon which millions of people depend for their livelihoods.   FAO assistant chief and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Julio Berdegué, stressed that “the role of bananas in providing food and household income in this region cannot be understated.”  … Read More

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), made the appeal on Tuesday upon completion of a visit to the island nation. “It breaks my heart to see the devastation to communities and families who have lost friends and loved ones as well as their homes, possessions and access to crucial services,” he said. “Hurricane Dorian is another… Read More

So far, there have been 215 confirmed cases, including eight deaths, since an outbreak was declared in Blue Nile state on 8 September. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN children’s fund, UNICEF, will support an oral cholera vaccination campaign aimed at covering 1.6 million people there and in neighbouring Sinnar state. The first round is expected to start… Read More

“It’s not over, until it’s over” said Tedros Adhanom Gheybreyesus, speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, after a meeting co-hosted by WHO and the DRC Government, on the margins of the UN General Assembly, bringing together regional ministers for health, on Ebola preparedness and response. Huge thanks to my brother @SecAzar & the government of the ??… Read More

In the wake of Monday’s universal health commitments, WHO chief Tedros Adhammom Ghebryesus said the document would serve as “a new milestone in our journey towards a healthier, safer and fairer world”, dovetailing with the launch of the agency’s own pledge to boost healthier living.  “World leaders have unified around a shared vision of the world we want”, he said. “ Today, the international health community is doing the same”, introducing the WHO Global Action Plan for health.  Speaking to health… Read More

During a meeting of heads of State, ministers, health leaders, policy-makers, and universal health coverage champions, the UN chief called UHC “the most comprehensive agreement ever reached on global health – a vision for Universal Health Coverage by 2030”. World leaders made the public commitment during the meeting at the beginning of the high level week of the UN General… Read More

A pregnant woman receives medical care at a mobile health clinic in Nigeria. © 2018 European Union The study, “Primary Health Care on the Road to Universal Health Coverage”, estimates that around 60 million lives could be saved by upping annual spending on primary health care in low and middle-income countries by some $200 billion per year. Whilst overall coverage has… Read More

Despite progress in childbirth safety, one woman or baby dies every 11 seconds Although childbirth survival rates are a “staggering success” compared with the year 2000, one pregnant woman or her child, still dies every 11 seconds from largely preventable causes, UN health experts have revealed. In a joint appeal for all nations to provide better medical care for all,… Read More

In a joint appeal for all nations to do more to provide better medical care for all, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) outlined several ways to help protect the 2.8 million pregnant women and newborns who die every year. A skilled pair of hands to help mothers and newborns around the time of birth,… Read More