Category: Health Advice

Yemen’s public sector has been pushed to “a breaking point”, as the country enters its fifth year of conflict, prompting the closure of half of the country’s health facilities. As of 11 September, 1,095,072 health consultations were provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as part of its emergency lifesaving services and support to the health sector to ensure… Read More

Bolivia crisis: UN chief sends envoy to support peace, amidst renewed clashes UN chief António Guterres announced on Thursday that he had appointed a Personal Envoy who would be travelling to Bolivia later in the day, to offer support to national leaders, following the departure of former president, Evo Morales.  “The Secretary-General remains deeply concerned about the developments in Bolivia”, his Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York. “He reiterates his appeal to all Bolivians… Read More

Using a process known as Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) – developed decades ago to target crop-eating insects in the United States – UN researchers have spent the last 10 years adapting it to mosquitoes. Working with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) tropical diseases programme,  they have now drawn up guidelines for nations wanting to tackle disease outbreaks transmitted by the… Read More

That’s according to UN Special Envoy Josette Sheeran, writing in an op-ed published in The Miami Herald  last week, who reported that there have been no laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera in the entire country for the past nine months. She said the “momentous achievement” was the result of an innovative strategic partnership between the Government, the UN and key stakeholders.… Read More

Highlighting the dangers for the millions of people who clean toilets, sewers and septic tanks, ahead of World Toilet Day next Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) insisted that while the workforce performs an essential public service, their own health is compromised and they are often shunned. “Workers often come into direct contact with human waste, working with no equipment… Read More

UN leads bid for cheaper insulin, expanding access for diabetics worldwide Overly expensive insulin could be a thing of the past – and life-changing news – for millions of diabetics under a plan launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday to diversify production globally, just ahead of World Diabetes Day. The two-year pilot programme, launched Wednesday, aims to boost access to… Read More

Announcing the initiative in Geneva, the UN agency said that it had already had informal expressions of interest from pharmaceutical companies looking to produce insulin and have WHO assess whether it is safe for people to use. “The simple fact is, that the prevalence of diabetes is growing, the amount of insulin available to treat diabetes is too low, the… Read More

‘Forgotten’ pneumonia epidemic kills more children than any other disease    Pneumonia, an entirely preventable disease, kills more children than any other illness in the world, one child every 39 seconds.  But although that statistic is well known, funding to improve survival rates continues to come up short, the UN and partners warned on Tuesday, World Pneumonia Day.    In 2018 alone, pneumonia killed… Read More

The Panorama of Food and Nutritional Security 2019, jointly published by a group of UN health agencies, urged countries to take swift action to address the malnutrition issue across the region.  “The explosive increase in obesity, which affects 24 percent of the regional population, about 105 million people – almost double the global level of 13.2 percent – not only has huge economic costs, but also threatens the lives of hundreds of… Read More

 “For decades the leading killer of children has been a neglected disease and the world’s most vulnerable children have paid the price”, Leith Greenslade, Coordinator of a coalition to stop the disease, said in a joint statement with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other health leaders.  Every day, nearly 2,200 children under the age of five die from pneumonia, a curable and mostly preventable disease. Strong global commitment and… Read More