Development Health Advice 

WHO launches Council to develop TB vaccines, hoping to save millions of lives

Tedros announced the creation of the TB Vaccine Accelerator Council at a high-level panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. During his opening remarks, he noted that one of the most important lessons from the COVID-19 response is that innovative health interventions can be delivered fast if they are prioritized politically and financed adequately: no new TB vaccines… Read More
Development Health Advice 

Nearly one billion served by healthcare facilities without reliable electricity

The study presents the latest data on electrification of healthcare facilities in low- and middle-income countries, and projects investments required to achieve adequate and reliable power. It was published by the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll). A matter of life and death “Electricity access in healthcare… Read More
Development Health Advice 

Global food crisis putting millions of young lives at risk

More than 30 million under-fives are suffering from wasting, or acute malnutrition, brought on by conflict, climate shocks, ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rising costs of living.  Children with the condition have weakened immune systems and are at higher risk of dying from common childhood diseases.  Eight million are severely wasted – the deadliest form of under… Read More
Development Health Advice 

COVID-19: WHO highlights critical importance of sharing virus sequences

“Since the peak of the Omicron wave, the number of sequences being shared has dropped by more than 90 per cent, and the number of countries sharing sequences has fallen by a third,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking during his latest media briefing.   The WHO chief recalled that the first sequence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was shared… Read More
Development Health Advice 

Flexible work arrangements, a benefit to all – ILO report

Issues surrounding working hours and conditions are “at the heart of most labour market reforms and evolutions taking place in the world today”, Branch Chief Philippe Marcadent said in the foreword to ILO’s Working Time and Work-Life Balance Around the World. “The number of hours worked, the way in which they are organized, and the availability of rest periods can… Read More
Development Health Advice 

Improve healthcare access to end ‘preventable tragedy’ of child mortality

In 2021, an estimated five million boys and girls died before their fifth birthday together with some 2.1 million counterparts aged between five and 24 years, according to the latest estimates by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).  A second report found that 1.9 million babies were stillborn during the same period.  Many of these… Read More
Development Health Advice 

WHO continues to urge China to share more data amid COVID-19 surge

“We continue to ask China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive, real-time viral sequencing,” he said, speaking from Geneva.  WHO is concerned about the risk to life in the world’s most populous country and reiterated the importance of stepping up vaccination coverage, including booster doses, particularly for vulnerable groups such as… Read More
Development Health Advice 

2022 Year In health: New Ebola and cholera outbreaks, mpox emergency, COVID-19 ‘not over’

A global population weary of the chaos caused by COVID-19 pandemic had to contend with a new, highly transmissible variant at the beginning of the year: Omicron. Omicron and on This latest version swept across Europe, leading to record weekly case numbers, although the number of deaths was relatively low, compared to previous outbreaks. And, although many countries began to… Read More
Development Health Advice 

UN chief issues global ‘wake-up call’ on Day of Epidemic Preparedness

“The costs have been catastrophic”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement marking the day. Since the pandemic struck, he pointed out that millions of lives have been lost, as hundreds of millions fallen ill. And economies have been shattered, health systems stretched, and trillions of dollars lost. Moreover, progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been “thrown off… Read More
Development Health Advice 

WHO revises recommendations on lifesaving HPV vaccine

A single dose of the vaccine can provide comparable efficacy and protection as a two-dose regimen, the UN agency said, which could result in greater global access to the life-saving drug.  Cervical cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in women, with roughly 604,000 new cases and 342, 000 deaths in 2020.  Preventing unnecessary deaths  More than 95… Read More