Development Health Advice 

Taliban backs WHO polio vaccination campaign across Afghanistan next month

The vaccination campaign will begin on 8 November, and will be the first in over three years to reach all children in Afghanistan.  This includes more than three million children in parts of the country who have previously remained inaccessible to inoculation campaigns against the infectious disease, which can cause paralysis and death.  UNICEF and @WHO welcome the decision by the Taliban leadership supporting the resumption of house-to-house… Read More
Development Health Advice 

UN chief urges lifesaving transformation of food systems

World Food Day is not only a reminder of the importance of what we eat to everyone on the planet, but also “a call to action to achieve food security around the world”, the UN chief said in his message marking the day on Friday. Commemorated annually on 15 October, Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that currently, almost 40 per… Read More
Development Health Advice 

Step up, urges WHO as figures reveal 1 in 4 adults don’t exercise enough 

Where opportunities do exist, older adults or people with disabilities may simply not have access to them.   To improve this situation, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for better and fairer opportunities for physical activity to improve overall health.   In a new advocacy brief, Fair Play: Building a strong physical activity system for more active people, the agency asks decision-makers across the health, sport, education and transport sectors, to promote the benefits more.  For WHO Deputy… Read More
Development Health Advice 

COVID-19 caused rise in TB deaths for first time in a decade, gains ‘reversed’ 

New data from the UN health agency highlighted how years of global progress in tackling the preventable disease had been “reversed” since the pandemic overwhelmed health care systems in 2020, preventing vulnerable people from seeking help.  Lockdowns had also stymied many people’s access to essential health care services, WHO’s 2021 Global TB report insisted, before issuing the additional warning that… Read More
Development Health Advice 

WHO establishes new scientific group to study COVID origins, prevent future pandemics

The proposed members of the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) were selected for their expertise in areas such as epidemiology, animal health, clinical medicine, virology and genomics.   WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the news during his regular briefing from Geneva.  “SAGO will advise WHO on the development of a global framework to… Read More
Development Health Advice 

COVID-19 deaths at lowest level in nearly a year, WHO reports

Agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported that the death toll from the disease is now at its lowest level in almost a year.  “Reaching 40% needs a whole of government and whole of society approach, which depends on political and civil society leadership. We are working with leaders to support the prioritization and planning that is needed to make 40%… Read More
Development Health Advice 

UN honours Henrietta Lacks, whose cells transformed medical research worldwide 

This Wednesday, the UN World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, recognized her world-changing legacy with a special award.    In 1951, while Ms. Lacks sought treatment, researchers took biopsies from her body without her knowledge or consent, and her cells became the first “immortal” cell line, now known as the “HeLa cells”.   ‘Reckoning’ with injustice  Shockingly, as WHO points out, the global scientific community once hid her race and her real story, a historical wrong that Wednesday’s recognition hopes… Read More
Development Health Advice 

WHO advisory group recommends COVID-19 booster shot for immunocompromised people

The recommendation follows a four-day meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization.  A final report will be issued in December. Risk of severe disease  SAGE said moderately and severely immunocompromised persons should be offered an additional dose of all WHO-approved vaccines “since these individuals are less likely to respond adequately to vaccination following a standard primary… Read More
Development Health Advice 

WHO: Global health community prescribes climate action for COVID recovery

Based on a growing body of research confirming numerous and inseparable links between climate and health, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health spells out that transformational action in every sector, from energy, transport and nature to food systems and finance is needed to protect people. “The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on… Read More
Development Health Advice 

Make mental healthcare for all a reality, urges Guterres 

Reminding that millions of people face grief over lost family members and friends, that many are anxious over job security, and that older people may experience isolation and loneliness, Mr. Guterres said that “without determined action, the mental health impact may last far longer than the pandemic itself”.   Children ‘alienated and distressed’  In his message for the Day, the UN chief also highlighted that… Read More
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