Page 3 - Who

Mpox emergency response hit by scarce financing amid WHO calls for support

WHO has released $1.45 mn from its contingency fund for emergencies, while African Union has approved $10.4 mn from its existing Covid funds for Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

Mpox outbreaks in Africa declared global health emergency. What is mpox?

The World Health Organization has declared that the increasing spread of mpox in Africa is a global health emergency, warning the virus might ultimately spill across international borders. The announcement by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus came after a meeting of the UN health agency's emergency committee. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared mpox a public health emergency on the continent on Tuesday. WHO on Wednesday said there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in Africa this year, which already exceed last year's figures. So far, more than 96% of all cases and deaths are in a single country -- Congo. Scientists are concerned by the spread of a new version of the disease there that might be more easily transmitted among people. Here's a look at what we know about mpox, and what might be done to contain it: What is mpox? Mpox, also known as monkeypox, was first identified by scientists in 1958 when there were outbreaks of a

Mpox vaccines maybe months away even as WHO, Africa CDC discuss emergency

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared public health emergency of continental concern for first time ever, and today, a WHO-led panel meets to decide if it represents global threat

WHO lists 30 pathogens likely to cause next pandemic, check the list here

30 pathogens are likely to trigger the next global public health crisis, claims WHO. More than 200 scientists surveyed some 1,652 pathogen species to reduce it down to 30 priority pandemic triggers

WHO calls emergency meeting over surge in mpox cases spreading from Congo

"The committee will meet as soon as possible and will be made up of independent experts from a range of relevant disciplines from around the world," Tedros posted on X

UN convenes experts to determine if mpox in Africa is global emergency

The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday he will convene an expert group to determine if the increasing spread of the mpox virus in Africa warrants being declared a global emergency. At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that given the increasing spread of mpox cases beyond Congo, he has decided to ask independent experts to advise WHO as soon as possible. Last week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that mpox, also known as monkeypox, has now been detected in 10 African countries this year including Congo, which has more than 96% of all cases and deaths. Compared with the same time period last year, the agency said cases are up 160% and deaths have jumped by 19%. Officials at the Africa CDC said nearly 70% of cases in Congo are in children younger than 15, who also accounted for 85% of deaths. Mpox was reported last week in Burundi and Rwanda for the first time while other countries includin

What is Chandipura virus: All you need to know about how it spreads?

Fifteen kids were reported dead in Gujarat after they were infected with the Chandipura virus. Safeguarding children from this infection has become the priority. The virus was first recognised in 1965

Population of country not considered in the latest WHO-Unicef data

India's population, which is many times more than several nations, has not been taken into account while comparing children's vaccination data with 19 other countries in the latest WHO and UNICEF estimates of national immunisation coverage (WUENIC), official sources have said. They asserted that India is steadfast in its commitment to reduce the number of zero-dose children. "Even though India has the second highest (number of) zero-dose children in the world, it accounts for 0.11 per cent of the country's total population," Union health ministry sources said on Tuesday. The sources were reacting to the WUENIC data released on Monday which stated that India had the second highest number of children, nearly 16 lakh, who did not receive any vaccine in 2023, just after Nigeria with 21 lakh zero-dose children. "The comparison is flawed as the base population has not been taken into consideration," a source said. The WUENIC data showed that India's rank improved from 2021 when the coun

World Food Safety Day 2024: Date, history, theme, importance, quotes

On June 7, 2019, World Food Safety Day was first observed. The day aims to highlight the importance of food safety and to promote actions that assists prevention and management of food borne risks

Mexico death linked to bird flu strain never before seen in humans: WHO

The current risk posed by the H5N2 virus to the general public is low, according to the WHO, which said no further cases were reported after an investigation

WHO calls for boosting collaboration between health, environment sectors

The WHO on Wednesday called for strengthening collaboration between the health and environment sectors to address shared challenges. It is imperative to advocate for policies that prioritise environmental sustainability and public health, and invest in research and innovation to develop sustainable healthcare practices, Saima Wazed, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia said on the World Environment Day. She urged the public health community to join the efforts towards land restoration, halting desertification and building drought resilience "The worrying reality is that our region records the highest number of deaths from climate change annually amongst all WHO regions. Climate change and biodiversity loss already pose major threats to health, the regional economy and livelihoods across our region," Wazed stated. World Environment Day is celebrated annually on June 5, after it was established at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. This year the focus is

Groundwater to heat over 3 degrees C by century end, risking safety: Report

Groundwater is projected to warm by 2-3.5 degrees Celsius before the turn of this century, potentially risking water quality and safety, apart from threatening ecosystems depending on the resource, a new research has found. The "world's first global groundwater temperature model" predicted the highest warming rates in Central Russia, Northern China and parts of North America, and the Amazon rainforest in South America. A team of researchers, led by those from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, said while a lot of focus on climate change concerns weather events and water availability, we also need to think about how it impacts groundwater, critical to life on the planet. Warming of groundwater can adversely impact ecosystems relying on them, they said. "Rivers rely on groundwater to keep flowing during dry times. Warm waters hold less dissolved oxygen," explained study co-author Gabriel Rau from the University of Newcastle, UK. The model also estimated that by 2100, 60

WHO members approve steps to bolster health regulations for pandemics

The World Health Organization says member countries on Saturday approved a series of new steps to improve global preparedness for and response to pandemics like COVID-19 and mpox. Countries agreed to amend the International Health Regulations, which were adopted in 2005, such as by defining a "pandemic emergency" and helping developing countries gain better access to financing and medical products, WHO said. The agreement came as the UN agency wrapped up its six-day World Health Assembly this year, after plans to adopt a more sweeping pandemic "treaty" at the meeting was shelved largely over disagreements between developing countries and richer ones about better sharing of technology and the pathogens that trigger outbreaks. But countries agreed to complete negotiations on the pandemic accord with the year, "at the latest", WHO said. Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University, hailed a "big win for health security", and posted on X that the move "will ...

Health secy highlights India's achievements, future goals at WHO assembly

India, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), intends to further strengthen the drug regulatory system to ensure quick access to high-quality medical products for all, Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra said on Wednesday. Chandra, who is leading the Indian delegation, addressed the Plenary Session of the 77th World Health Assembly of WHO in Geneva. The health secretary started his address by highlighting the similarities of this year's theme, "All for Health, Health for All" with the age-old Indian tradition of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' which means "world is one family", a health ministry statement said. He stated that under this theme, "India launched the 'Ayushman Bharat' meaning Live Long India to promote Universal Health Coverage by operationalizing more than 1,60,000 health and wellness centres (Ayushman Aarogya Mandir)". Chandra highlighted that as per the WHO SPAR report, India has a core capacity score of 86 per cent to detect, assess, report and respon

Which are the tests women should undergo in their 30s and 40s?

Every woman should undergo certain tests in their 30s and 40s to avoid further complications as they are more susceptible to certain diseases as they age as compared to men

WHO chief refers to Indian traditional medicine centre at Geneva address

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday referred to the Global Traditional Medicine Centre set up in India and the first global summit on traditional medicine hosted by the country as he underlined that the year 2023 was a productive one in the UN health agency's work supporting access to medicines and other health products. "We also established the Global Traditional Medicine Centre in India, and hosted the first global summit on traditional medicine," Ghebreyesus said in his remarks as he presented his report to the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva. In March 2022, the Government of India and the UN health agency had signed an agreement to establish the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine. This global knowledge centre for traditional medicine, supported by an investment of USD 250 million from India, aims to harness the potential of traditional medicine from across the world through modern science and technology to improve the health of peopl

Covid-19 effect: Global healthy life expectancy slumps to 2012 level

According to WHO's latest report, global life expectancy and healthy life expectancy dropped to 2012 levels of 1.8 and 1.5 years, respectively, eradicating a decade of progress

Efforts to draft pandemic treaty falter as countries disagree on steps

A global treaty to fight pandemics like COVID is going to have to wait: After more than two years of negotiations, rich and poor countries have failed for now to come up with a plan for how the world might respond to the next pandemic. After COVID-19 triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. In 2021, member countries asked the U.N. health agency to oversee negotiations to figure out how the world might better share scarce resources and stop future viruses from spreading globally. On Friday, Roland Driece, co-chair of WHO's negotiating board for the agreement, acknowledged that countries were unable to come up with a draft. WHO had hoped a final draft treaty could be agreed on at its yearly meeting of health ministers starting Monday in Geneva. We are not where we hoped we would be when we started this process," he said, adding that finalizing an international

'India's nurse shortage worsens as they emigrate for jobs abroad'

India already faces a poor nurse-population ratio and the situation is set to worsen with nurses emigrating to other countries in large numbers, doctors and medical experts have observed, noting this creates a big gap in addressing the country's healthcare needs. The experts issued a joint statement here, expressing concerns over the shortage of nurses in the country. Citing figures from the regulatory body Indian Nursing Council, Association of Healthcare Providers (India) director general Dr Girdhar Gyani said there are more than 33 lakh nursing personnel registered in the country but this figure is dismal given India's 1.3 billion population. With 1.96 nurses per 1,000 population, India falls short of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended rate of three nurses per 1,000 population, he said. Director of the Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals, Dr Shuchin Bajaj said, "While the shortage of nurses and their massive emigration to foreign countries is a cause for worry, there is

Mumps in Delhi/NCR: Everything you need to know to keep your child safe

Many instances of mumps have been reported in India, including Delhi-NCR area, Maharashtra, Telangana. Mumps is a viral disease spread via direct contact or airborne droplets