Category: Development

The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: a global analysis in the time of COVID-19, was published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).   It documents a raw gender pay gap of roughly 20 percentage points which jumps to 24 percentage points when factors such as age, education and working time… Read More

According to a new update on Wednesday from the World Health Organization (WHO), 35 countries in five regions of the world have now reported more than 1,010 probable cases of unexplained severe acute hepatitis, or liver inflammation, in youngsters, since the outbreak was first detected on 5 April. So far, 22 children have died, and almost half of the probable cases have been reported in… Read More

He reported that the Emergency Committee on COVID-19 last Friday concluded that “the virus remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern”. And while acknowledging that we are in a much better position than at the beginning of the pandemic, he reminded that new waves demonstrate the COVID-19 pandemic “is nowhere near over”.   Combined challenges Tedros outlined interlinked challenges… Read More

The UN agency has released its first-ever report on the pipeline of vaccines currently in development, geared at guiding further investment and research.  Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.   Millions of deaths … Read More

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s appeal comes as confirmed coronavirus cases jumped nearly 30 per cent in the past two weeks, with increased infections in four out of six regions of the world. Agreeing terms “Our organizations are still trying to finalize with Pfizer the appropriate terms and conditions for low and middle-income countries”, he told journalists, at his regular weekly briefing… Read More

While total fertility across the globe has fallen, the UNFPA report shows that women who began childbearing in adolescence, had almost five births by the time they reached 40, during the period examined in the report, between 2015 and 2019.  Gender-based and income inequalities are highlighted as key in fuelling teen pregnancies by increasing child marriage rates, keeping girls out of… Read More

There were four confirmed cases of Ebola and one probable case, all of whom died, the WHO said in a statement. The outbreak was the third in Congo’s north-west Equateur province. In the previous outbreak in Equateur Province that lasted from June to November 2020, there were 130 confirmed cases and 55 deaths. “Thanks to the robust response by the… Read More

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed in his weekly briefing to journalists that the global figure overall remains “relatively stable”, but nobody should be under any illusion, that the coronavirus is on the way out. “#COVID19, driven by BA.4 and BA.5 in many places, cases are on the rise in 110 countries, causing overall global cases to increase by 20%… Read More

Nneka Henry, who heads the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) Secretariat, noted that 500 children die in crashes every day, and that of the older population, women are 17 times more likely to be killed during a car crash than men, even when wearing seatbelts.  Challenge for all  Despite these statistics, road safety is not just a challenge for… Read More

The World Drug Report 2022 also details the environmental consequences of the illicit drugs trade, the expansion of synthetic drugs to new markets, and an all-time high in cocaine production. “Numbers for the manufacturing and seizures of many illicit drugs are hitting record highs, even as global emergencies are deepening vulnerabilities,” said UNODC chief Ghada Waly. “At the same time,… Read More