Tag: Health News

As the historic United Nations Water Conference commences today – the first in nearly 50 years – the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) call on all nations to radically accelerate action to make water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) a reality for all. The numbers are staggering – around the world, 2 billion people lack… Read More

Partnership for Healthy Cities award recipients include Montevideo, Uruguay for food policy; Mexico City, Mexico for road safety; Vancouver, Canada for surveillance; Athens, Greece for overdose prevention, and Bengaluru, India for tobacco control. The first-of-its-kind Summit was convened in London by Bloomberg Philanthropies, World Health Organization, Vital Strategies, and Mayor Sadiq Khan of London. Today, during the inaugural Partnership for… Read More

WHO has updated its tracking system and working definitions for variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to better correspond to the current global variant landscape, to independently evaluate Omicron sublineages in circulation, and classify new variants more clearly when required. SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple variants of concern (VOCs) and variants… Read More

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) today signed an agreement to develop a strategic roadmap on bone health and ageing and advocate for a public health strategy to prevent fractures among older people. The five-year agreement was signed at the WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland… Read More

The World Health Organization (WHO) released today an updated WHO health workforce support and safeguards list 2023, identifying 55 countries as vulnerable for availability of health workers required to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal target for universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030. The impact of COVID-19 and widespread disruptions to health services has resulted in a rapid acceleration in… Read More

The World Health Organization (WHO) received allegations of misconduct against the Regional Director for the Western Pacific during the latter half of 2021 and in 2022.   In line with the Organization’s policy of zero tolerance for abusive conduct, the allegations were investigated and subsequently reviewed in accordance with the normal procedures applicable to all WHO staff members. This included the… Read More

A first-of-its-kind World Health Organization (WHO) Global report on sodium intake reduction shows that the world is off-track to achieve its global target of reducing sodium intake by 30% by 2025.  Sodium, an essential nutrient, increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and premature death when eaten in excess. The main source of sodium is table salt (sodium chloride), but… Read More

Countries of the World Health Organization have begun negotiations on a global accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, using the “zero draft” as a basis for negotiating an agreement to protect nations and communities from future pandemic emergencies. Ending Friday, discussions on the draft pandemic accord took place during the weeklong fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB),… Read More

The new policy replaces a 2017 policy, which investigations and audits found to have gaps in addressing the problems faced by victims and survivors of sexual misconduct. “The suffering of the survivors of the abhorrent cases of sexual misconduct during the response to the 10th Ebola outbreak in DRC has been the catalyst for a profound transformation of WHO’s approach… Read More

The Fifth Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety was held in Montreux, Switzerland on 23 and 24 February with the slogan “Less Harm, Better Care – from Resolution to Implementation” The Fifth Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety closed in Montreux, Switzerland on 24 February, after endorsing the Montreux Charter on Patient Safety with recommended actions to address avoidable harm… Read More