Category: Development

Tobacco kills up to half of its users, claiming more than 8 million lives each year. Over 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke, according to WHO.  Smoking is also a known risk factor for many respiratory illnesses, and smokers are… Read More

“What we have learned about schooling during the time of COVID is clear: the benefits of keeping schools open, far outweigh the costs of closing them, and nationwide closures of schools should be avoided at all costs”, Robert Jenkins, UNICEF Global Chief of Education, said in a statement.  Closing schools did not help in the fight against COVID-19, but simply… Read More

“People at highest risk of serious disease or death as a result of age, are also a high priority group because protecting them will reduce severe disease and death and take the burden off health systems”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, speaking in Geneva.   “As supply increases, the next groups would include those who have higher risk… Read More

Ahead of World Soil Day, marked on 5 December, FAO launched its first ever report on “The State of Knowledge of Soil Biodiversity“. The report examines the potential of soil organisms in ensuring sustainable agri-food systems and mitigating climate change.    “Soil biodiversity and sustainable soil management is a prerequisite for the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals“, said FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo.… Read More

Principals from BioNTech and Oxford University – both pioneers in the COVID vaccine rollout  –participated in an online dialogue on Friday, held under the special session of the UN General Assembly devoted to the pandemic.  “There is no other option. We have to achieve it. And we can achieve it, and we will achieve it,” said Professor Uğur Şahin, Chief Executive Officer… Read More

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists at the regular Geneva briefing that progress on vaccines, in recent days, “gives us all a lift, and we can now start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.” “The #COVID19 pandemic still has a long a way to run and decisions made by leaders and citizens in the coming days will… Read More

Heads of UN agencies, along with scientists and other stakeholders, are holding interactive dialogues focused on the health and humanitarian response, the road to vaccines, and addressing the socio-economic impacts of the crisis.  Since the onset of the #COVID19 pandemic, the @UN System has pulled together in support of the most vulnerable. Very encouraged by the engaging conversation from heads… Read More

“Today marks an overdue and much needed moment of reckoning. None of us could have imagined, this time last year, what was to come”, said Assembly President Volkan Bozkir, speaking at the opening of the two-day gathering.  We are working for you. For the healthcare workers, who continue to work tirelessly on the frontline. For the people battling the effects… Read More

In reviewing a series of World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on marijuana and its derivatives, the CND zeroed-in on the decision to remove cannabis from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs — where it was listed alongside deadly, addictive opioids, including heroin.  The CND’s 53 Member States voted to removed cannabis – where it had been placed for… Read More

In a message, Secretary-General António Guterres urged the world to not lose sight of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.  “Despite significant successes, the AIDS emergency is not over. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) still infects 1.7 million people each year and kills some 690,000,” he said.  Mr. Guterres highlighted the impact of inequalities, leaving… Read More