Category: Development

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

The one-dose schedule is already authorized under the Emergency Use Listing Procedure, the agency explained in their updated recommendations, but now a second dose “may be appropriate”, the UN health agency said.   For WHO, in some circumstances, using one dose may have advantages.   Many countries face severe vaccine supply constraints, combined with a high disease burden.   In these cases, a single dose of the vaccine is efficacious and makes… Read More

The development follows reassurance from the World Health Organization (WHO) that available vaccines “hold up very well” in protecting people from the worst forms of coronavirus sickness for six months or more, with a “minor, modest reduction” thereafter, particularly among over-65s or those with underlying medical conditions. “The neutralization data has an underpinning, but it’s really the clinical data that… Read More

That was one key takeaway from Wednesday’s latest weekly briefing on the virus from WHO Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, speaking to journalists in Geneva.   So far, Omicron has been reported in 57 countries, and WHO expects the number to continue growing.  Tedros highlighted “a consistent picture of rapid increase in transmission” but said that the exact rate of increase relative to other variants remains difficult to quantify.  Despite some data from South Africa suggesting increased risk of… Read More

That was one key takeaway from Wednesday’s latest weekly briefing on the virus from WHO Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, speaking to journalists in Geneva.   So far, Omicron has been reported in 57 countries, and WHO expects the number to continue growing.  Tedros highlighted “a consistent picture of rapid increase in transmission” but said that the exact rate of increase relative to other variants remains difficult to quantify.  Despite some data from South Africa suggesting increased risk of… Read More