Category: Development

Humanitarian assistance to be scaled-up for millions of Venezuelans in need The United Nations humanitarian wing launched a new Response Plan (HRP) on Wednesday, that aims to help around 2.6 million people in Venezuela through to the end of the year, almost half of whom are youth.   Noting that the plan “only represents a limited number of all people in… Read More

“I am honoured to be joining UNAIDS as the Executive Director at such a critical time in the response to HIV,” said Ms Byanyima. “The end of AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is a goal that is within the world’s reach, but I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge ahead. Working with all its partners,… Read More

Security Council gravely concerned over Ebola outbreak in DR Congo The Security Council reiterated Friday its “grave concern” about the most recent outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and emphasized the need for continued cooperation with the DRC authorities to address the outbreak, as well as with other countries in the region. The statement also… Read More

World Breastfeeding Week 2019 to spotlight importance of family-friendly policies   World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world.   It commemorates the Innocenti Declaration signed in August 1990 by government policymakers, the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other organizations to protect, promote and support… Read More

On Wednesday, David Gressley, the UN Ebola Emergency Response Coordinator, and Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall, Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response at the World Health Organization (WHO), released a joint statement announcing that they are “working intensively” to halt any further spread. Surveillance is being stepped up at all entry and exit points in the area, but more needs to be… Read More

“This Ebola response is far more complex because it is in an active conflict zone,” Jerome Pfaffmann, a UNICEF health specialist, told reporters in Geneva, just back from his third visit to the country.  He underscored that “people in the (eastern Congolese) provinces of North Kivu and Ituri are facing humanitarian and public health crises,” and in addition, half the health facilities in Ituri had been damaged or destroyed over the last… Read More

With five billion people today – four times more people than a decade ago – living in countries that have introduced smoking bans, graphic warnings on packaging and other effective tobacco control measures, many governments are making progress in the fight against tobacco.   But a new WHO report out on Friday shows many countries are still not adequately implementing policies, including helping… Read More

A new study by WHO, published on Friday in Lancet Global Health, found that investing $6 billion per year in eliminating hepatitis in 67 low- and middle-income countries would avert 4.5 million premature deaths by 2030, and more than 26 million deaths beyond that target date.   A total of $58.7 billion is needed to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat in these 67 countries… Read More

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), initial studies had highlighted a possible link between DTG and birth defects of the brain and spinal cord, that cause conditions like spina bifida in infants born to women who used the drug at the time of conception. This safety concern came from a May 2018 study in Botswana, that found four cases… Read More

UN stands in solidarity with Japan following deadly arson attack at leading animation studio in Kyoto UN chief António Guterres said on Friday he was “deeply saddened” at the death of at least 33 people inside a popular Japanese animation studio, in the city of Kyoto, following an arson attack that constitutes one of the worst mass-killings in the nation’s history.  Japanese police… Read More