Category: Development

Although the COVID-19 caseload stabilized last week, after nearly two months of increases, the level remains high, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus, speaking during his regular press briefing from Geneva.  Cases have surpassed 4.5 million globally, with 68,000 deaths.  “Some regions and countries continue to see steep increases in cases and deaths, while others are declining,” he reported. “As long as… Read More

The study, which was co-led by Imperial College London, found that 82 per cent of all people with hypertension, around one billion, live in low and middle-income countries.  The researchers found that Canada, Peru and Switzerland had among the lowest prevalence of hypertension in the world in 2019, while some of the highest rates were seen in the Dominican Republic,… Read More

Poverty, conflict and displacement are contributing to the return of the centuries-old illness for the first time in more than a decade, and new research supported by the agency revealed children are especially vulnerable.    Grave consequences for children  The research focused on three health zones in Ituri, where more than 490 cases were recorded between 2020 and 2021, with… Read More

UN agencies have pledged to stay in the country, despite the recent takeover by the Taliban, and to support communities which even prior to recent events were in urgent need of aid. Dr Khali Ahmadi* told UN News in an exclusive interview from the Afghan capital Kabul, that he and other healthcare workers are continuing to work despite the lack… Read More

International efforts to slow the COVID-19 Delta variant have been hampered by its particularly virulent nature, which has led to hot spots of hospitalizations and deaths throughout regions with low vaccination levels and limited public health measures. Tedros insisted that there are solutions to the challenge, such as the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. However, this plan urgently needs an… Read More

Drastic measures to prevent coronavirus spread, and heightened focus by health systems on response, led to disruptions in other essential health services on the continent.  Cancer screening and treatment, including for childhood cancers, were hit especially hard.  ‘Truly heartbreaking’  A WHO survey found screening was affected in 46 per cent of countries, while 13 per cent reported a more than… Read More

The move, announced late on Thursday, comes after a joint report was issued in March by WHO and China into the origins of the coronavirus. .@WHO calls for all governments to depoliticize the situation and cooperate to accelerate the #COVID19 origins studies, and importantly to work together to develop a common framework for future emerging pathogens of pandemic potential. —… Read More

The therapies — artesunate, imatinib and infliximab — will be tested on hospitalized COVID-19 patients in 52 countries under the Solidarity PLUS programme.   WHO’s #COVID19 Solidarity clinical trial enters a new phase – Solidarity PLUS – with three new candidate drugs:-artesunate-imatinib-infliximab 👉 https://t.co/K6tk22NnFf — World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) August 11, 2021 There have been more than 203 million… Read More

 Addressing the gathering in China via video message, Secretary-General António Guterres pushed for a Global Vaccine Plan to combat the global pandemic that has claimed more than four million lives.    “This is a matter of fairness and justice – but it’s also critical to avoid the emergence of further variants that can resist the current vaccines and undermine national vaccination efforts”, he said.  The inaugural gathering marks an intensification in global vaccine diplomacy to… Read More