Category: Development

In the first assessment of its kind, the WASH (Water sanitation hygiene) in Health Care Facilities report, from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, also finds that one in five health care facilities has no toilet or latrine – a problem that affects at least 1.5 billion people, and likely reflects a lack of facilities in the wider community.  “The one thing… Read More

“Celebrate the diversity of our global community and strengthen our commitment to the full inclusion and participation of people with autism”, he said, as “a vital part of our efforts to uphold the core promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: to leave no one behind”.  It’s #WorldAutismAwarenessDay. People with #autism are often subject to stigma, unjust deprivation of… Read More

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and EU “Global Report on Food Crises 2019”, shows that the number going chronically-hungry has remained well over 100 million over the past three years, with the number of countries affected, rising. According to the report, nearly two-thirds of those facing acute hunger come from just eight countries: Afghanistan, the Democratic… Read More

Confirming the delivery, Christian Lindmeier from the UN World Health Organization (WHO), told journalists in Geneva, the shipment was already being unloaded, and would start on Wednesday. The protective measures are to be carried out in four areas: Beira city, Dondo district, Nhamatanda district and Buzi district, where “basically the whole population there will be vaccinated”, the WHO spokesperson explained.… Read More

Latest data from 26 March, indicates a total of 1,029 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola, while 642 people have died, making the latest outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic fever, which is endemic in the DRC, the worst in the country’s history. More than 320 patients have recovered and been discharged from treatment centres, according to the Government’s health ministry,… Read More

Condemning the attack on Kitaf District in northern Sa’ada Governorate – and intensified fighting in Taizz city in the south-west of the country that shut another hospital at the weekend, Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, said that it was “unconscionable” that facilities were being destroyed “just when people need them the most”. She added: “Cholera is starting to spread… Read More

Latest reports indicate that more than 400 are now confirmed dead in Mozambique alone, with a further 300 fatalities in Zimbabwe and Malawi. In Geneva, Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said that an estimated 300 square kilometres of land had been destroyed or submerged when 150 kilometre-per-hour-plus winds and… Read More

TB remains the world’s deadliest infectious killer, claiming nearly 4,500 lives each year and afflicting close to 30,000 others according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since 2000, global efforts to combat this preventable and curable disease have saved an estimated 54 million lives and reduced the TB mortality rate by 42 per cent. “The theme of this year’s World… Read More

UNICEF’s 16-nation study into how water supplies effect children caught up in emergencies, also shows that children under-five are on average more than 20 times more likely to die from illnesses linked to unsafe water and bad sanitation, than from conflict. “The odds are already stacked against children living through prolonged conflicts – with many unable to reach a safe… Read More

“UNAIDS is greatly concerned about the lack of progress for people who inject drugs, which is due to the failure of many countries to implement evidence-informed, human rights-based approaches to drug use,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, the UN agency dedicated to combatting the virus. The new UNAIDS report, Health, rights and drugs: harm reduction, decriminalization and zero discrimination… Read More