Category: Development

The call comes against a backdrop of Marburg and mpox outbreaks, the more than 10,000 COVID-19 deaths still being reported weekly, and the ongoing emergency response to the deadly earthquake in Syria and Türkiye, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “Together, these current conditions point to the critical need for all countries to build health systems” that can successfully handle… Read More

The rare yet severe viral haemorrhagic fever is similar to Ebola and has a fatality rate of up to 88 per cent.   So far, there have been nine deaths and 16 suspected cases with symptoms including fever, fatigue and blood-stained vomit and diarrhoea, WHO reported on Monday. Further investigations are ongoing.  Rapid action, expert meeting  “Marburg is highly infectious.… Read More

The initiative will support a holistic approach to phase out the harmful chemical and promote the beauty of all skin tones.  Consumers unaware of risks  Skin lightening products inhibit the body’s production of melanin, the pigment that plays a role in determining skin, hair and eye colour.    They have been used around the world for years, by both men… Read More

The devastating impact of 12 years of civil war has been compounded by the 6 February earthquake which has left tens of thousands of people dead and millions more in need of support on both sides of the border between Syria and Türkiye.  WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Dr. Ahmed Al Mandhari, was just in the historic… Read More

Participants in a panel headlined, Challenges and Opportunities in Creating an Early Warning System for Global Pandemics, on Tuesday warned that we are witnessing the dismantling of essential infectious disease monitoring programmes, at a time when climate change is driving greater risks to public health. “Any platform will need to include data from outside of traditional public health epidemiology, specifically about… Read More

“This new research highlights the vast economic and political power of the big formula milk companies, as well as serious public policy failures that prevent millions of women from breastfeeding their children,” said Nigel Rollins, one of the authors of a series on the $55 billion-a-year industry and their marketing “playbooks”, published in the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet. “Actions… Read More

It is estimated that some 584 million children have limited or no access to basic drinking water services at school.    Nearly half live in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).  A supportive environment  Furthermore, even though practically all countries… Read More

The study focuses on the environmental dimensions of AMR, which occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines.  It calls for strengthening action to reduce the emergence, transmission and spread of “superbugs” – strains of bacteria that have become resistant to every known biotic – and other instances of AMR, which are… Read More

Each year, more than 2.3 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer, making it the most common cancer in the world affecting all adults, according to WHO. Although a limited number of high-income countries have been able to reduce breast cancer mortality by 40 per cent since 1990, for women in poorer countries, one of the main challenges is to… Read More

The first ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance to end AIDS in children marked a step up in action to ensure all boys and girls with HIV can access life-saving treatment, and that HIV-positive mothers can have babies free from the virus.  Ministers and representatives laid out plans which include providing testing to more pregnant women and linking them to… Read More