Category: Development

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

Around 940 million people living in high-income countries are protected by these policies, but no one living in low-income countries has the same regulatory protection, so far.  Trans fat is an artificial compound that can be found in cakes, cookies, biscuits, packaged foods, cooking oils and spreads. WHO estimates that consumption of these fats cause around 500,000 deaths per year due to coronary heart disease.  According to the agency,… Read More

While plastic refuse littering beaches and oceans draws high-profile attention, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Assessment of agricultural plastics and their sustainability: a call for action suggests that the land we use to grow our food is contaminated with even larger quantities of plastic pollutants. “Soils are one of the main receptors of agricultural plastics and are known to… Read More

However, “the doomsday scenario” projected by the WHO has not materialised,” Dr Pedro Alonso, Director, WHO Global Malaria Programme said at the launch of the UN agency’s annual World Malaria Report in Geneva. According to the analysis, moderate disruptions in the delivery of malaria services contributed to 14 million malaria cases and 69,000 deaths. Two thirds (or 47,000) of the… Read More

Heralding South Africa’s and Botswana’s decision to report the appearance of the Omicron coronavirus mutation last month, the UN health agency repeated that it will take another two weeks before more is known about how transmissible and how dangerous it actually is. Speaking in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier stressed that data suggesting that Omicron was highly transmissible was only… Read More

“It’s time for technology companies and policymakers to take digital violence seriously”, said UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem -“right now”.   The bodyright campaign highlights that corporate logos and copyrighted IP are more highly valued and better protected online than images of human bodies, which are often uploaded to the Internet without consent, and used maliciously.   The ⓑ symbol – which can be added to any image directly via Instagram stories using stickers, or by downloading it from the webpage – aims to… Read More

He highlighted the wide range of progress made through collaboration, from frameworks around peace, security and sustainable development, to joint missions and programmes for humanitarian operations, elections and peaceful transfers of power. Mr. Guterres also focussed on areas critical for an inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery on the continent, that are grounded in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and… Read More

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the consensus decision, reached during a special session of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the UN agency’s top decision-making body, attended by representatives from its 194 Member States.  Historic session  The three-day meeting began on Monday with the sole goal of considering the benefits of creating a new international agreement on pandemic prevention preparedness and how… Read More

Under the theme End Inequalities. End AIDS. End Pandemics, Abdulla Shahid underscored a connection between COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS, pointing out that both exacerbate inequalities and impact people, “particularly in terms of access to treatment and health services”. Moreover, COVID and the HIV epidemic not only impact the health of individuals, but together have also “impacted households, communities, and the development… Read More