Category: Health Advice

At this ‘critical moment’, UN chief urges anti-corruption conference to adopt united front As we enter the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world must “unite against corruption” to stop precious resources from being drained by illicit financial flows, an international conference on the issue heard on Monday in Abu Dhabi. “You meet at a… Read More

A new report, published in the British medical science publication The Lancet on Monday, suggests that, globally, almost 2.3 billion children and adults are overweight, and more than 150 million children are stunted, and warns that undernutrition and obesity can lead to effects across generations.  We are facing a new nutrition reality. All relevant policies and investments must be radically… Read More

A year on from Yemen talks breakthrough, top UN Envoy hails ‘shift’ towards peace, despite setbacks When warring parties in Yemen met in a renovated castle outside the Swedish capital last December for UN-brokered talks, they showed that perhaps there could be a way out of brutal conflict and the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the UN Special Envoy for the… Read More

Describing it as an “important landmark” on our “journey to health for all”, Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday welcomed the UN Political Declaration on universal health coverage, or UHC, which commits countries to advance towards full coverage for their citizens in four major areas around primary care. Read More

 Human Rights Day celebrates ‘tremendous activism’ of world youth Activists, students and UN officials came together on Tuesday to pay tribute to young people’s “tremendous activism” in promoting human rights for everyone.  Speaking at UN Headquarters during an event to mark Human Rights Day, the Secretary-General António Guterres urged governments to “invest in progress and hope” by paying attention to youth and engaging with them.  Read our full… Read More

Measles epidemic continues to grip Samoa, as WHO figures show impact of social media ‘misinformation campaigns’   In Samoa, the UN is leading efforts to counter a massive outbreak of measles which continues to spread, mainly among babies and children. Since a state of emergency was declared on 15 November, there have been more than 4,200 cases on the tiny… Read More

In a warning over dangerously low vaccination levels and large outbreaks in several countries – spurred on by social media “misinformation campaigns” – the UN health agency insisted that anything less than 95 per cent coverage risked sparking an outbreak. Samoa epidemic In the Pacific island nation of Samoa, just 31 per cent of the island’s people have immunity against… Read More

“We’re seeing encouraging signs, but the burden of suffering and death caused by malaria is unacceptable, because it is largely preventable”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), the agency behind the World malaria report 2019. Progress stalled The report notes a significant increase in the number of pregnant women and children in sub-Saharan Africa… Read More

Only one in five countries has a healthcare strategy to deal with climate change Protecting people’s health from climate change dangers such as heat stress, storms and tsunamis has never been more important, yet most countries are doing too little about it, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. In its first global review of more than 100 countries,… Read More

In its first global review of more than 100 countries, the UN agency found that while around half of them have developed a strategy on the issue, fewer than one in five is spending enough to implement all of their commitments. “Climate change is not only racking up a bill for future generations to pay, it’s a price that people… Read More