OHCHR, IOM, UNHCR and WHO joint press release: the rights and health of refugees, migrants and stateless must be protected in COVID-19 response. In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, we are all vulnerable. The virus has shown that it does not discriminate – but many refugees, those forcibly displaced, the stateless and migrants are at heightened risk. Three-quarters of the world’s refugees and […]
Coronavirus disease WHO situation update (COVID19) Report 71 No new countries/territories/areas reported cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours As mentioned by the Director-General in his regular media briefing yesterday, ensuring free movement of essential health products is vital for saving lives and curbing the social and economic impacts of the pandemic. WHO is […]
Ghana has made history by becoming the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to eliminate trachoma – the world’s leading cause of infectious blindness. In 2000, about 2.8 million people in Ghana were estimated to be at risk of trachoma. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has today (Wednesday 13th June) made the official announcement that the […]
Since April 2018, the WHO estimates the number of cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo at 42, including 23 deaths and with 2 confirmed laboratory cases. In the past Democratic Republic of Congo outbreaks, their remote nature helped implement containment measures to reduce the spread of the outbreak. In fact, the Democratic […]
Dramatic drop in global measles cases: In 2016, an estimated 90 000 people died from measles – an 84% drop from more than 550 000 deaths in 2000 – according to a new report published by leading health organizations. This marks the first time global measles deaths have fallen below 100 000 per year. ‘Saving […]
People affected by fatal snakebites in sub-Saharan Africa are in desperate need of affordable, quality antivenoms. Snakebite envenoming permanently disables hundreds of thousands of people and kills more than 100,000 each year all across the globe – more than any other World Health Organization (WHO)-designated neglected tropical disease – even though highly effective treatments exist. […]
When it comes to the G20 league table for healthcare, the UK is bumping along somewhere near the bottom. Turkey and Mexico are the only two countries in the G20 which have fewer nurses per 100,000 people than the UK, according to latest analysis of data held by the World Health Organisation, the Organisation for […]
To mark the WHO’s World Health Day 2017 which, this year, focuses on depression, we talk to Robin Hewings, head of policy for the charity Diabetes UK. People with diabetes are twice as likely to suffer from depression th the average adult living in the UK and may also have depressive periods for longer than those without […]
Populations around the world are ageing due to increased life expectancy and falling fertility. These shifts have been driven by improved healthcare, better infrastructure and medical innovations. But why do so many people struggle to see this as a good thing? The WHO’s recent World report on ageing and health recasts the “problem”. Rather than pointing the finger at older people and […]
The World Health Organisation is currently vaccinating 116 million African children against the preventable disease, polio. This week, 190,000 vaccinators are on the ground tackling the last remaining stronghold of polio across West and Central Africa. All children under the age of five in countries including Chad, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra […]