Category: Development

“When COVID-19 community transmission increases and stringent public health measures become a necessity, schools must be the last places to close and the first to re-open”, argued Henrietta Fore. The new cases are being fuelled, increasingly, by Omicron; the new variant of concern that public health experts and scientists are working hard to understand and assess. Amid rising uncertainty, many governments are weighing… Read More

“Shortages of equipment, supplies and medicine, a lack of fuel and heating facilities, especially now with winter approaching, and uncertain support from partners are just some of the challenges we’re facing,” said Shahla Oruzgani, head midwife at the maternity hospital. At the Ahmad Shah Baba Hospital, where Dr. Aqila Bahrami works, the outlook is no less bleak. “We used to… Read More

As exemplified by the many roles of migrants considered ‘essential’ during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report highlights an increase in demand for their labour. Foreign doctors account for 33 per cent of the United Kingdom’s physicians, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and there is an overall reliance on foreign healthcare workers in Europe and the… Read More

Dr. Carissa Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), delivered her final briefing of the year, providing a regional update and reflections on the crisis.  📢 “#COVID19 does not simply go away, so we need to employ all the resources we have to ❌ stop it: 💉 vaccines, 😷 masks,🧍🏾‍♂️ ⬅️➡️ 🧍🏾‍♂️social distancing, and, of course, 🔬surveillance”, @DirOPSPAHO… Read More

IOM’s Chief of Mission, Christa Rottensteiner, explained that “immunizing people on the move is key to combatting the spread of the disease.”  An estimated 36,000 migrants have been stranded on their journeys due to mobility restrictions, nearly 3,500 in Ma’rib alone. Many are sleeping in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions where the virus can easily spread.   “Vaccinating against COVID-19 is even more crucial in places like Ma’rib where ongoing conflict continues… Read More

“Unless we can vaccinate the world, there is no way out of this. You see different types of variants coming out, and this is going to continue,” Abdulla Shahid told journalists in New York.   He said he would convene a high-level event in the General Assembly on 13 January with the goal of ensuring equitable access and delivery of vaccines… Read More

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, told reporters from WHO headquarters in Geneva that the variant was now present in 77 countries. Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant. We’re concerned that people are dismissing Omicron as mild”, he said. “Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus… Read More

The Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines, launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the United States, seeks to counter an “unacceptable imbalance” in survival rates.  It offers an innovative approach in cancer care by addressing medicine availability in low and middle-income countries, which WHO said is often complicated by higher… Read More

Seven out of ten deaths in the world are caused by NCDs – which include heart disease, diabetes, cancer and respiratory disease – but the vast majority of these deaths are preventable, according to a new report released by WHO on Monday. The UN health agency’s tried and tested NCD so-called ‘Best Buy’ interventions are evidence-based effective public health interventions,… Read More

The findings launched on International Universal Health Coverage Day, highlighting the devastating impact of COVID-19 on people’s ability to obtain healthcare and pay for it. The #COVID19 pandemic has made it increasingly difficult for people to pay for care. Even before the pandemic, half a billion people were being pushed into extreme poverty as they had to pay for health care… Read More