World Health Organisation

WHO tells South East Asian nations to intensify efforts to prevent drowning

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries in the South-East Asia region to strengthen measures to prevent drowning, which it says disproportionately affects children and vulnerable populations. According to WHO's first Global Status Report on Drowning Prevention, South-East Asia reported 83,000 drowning fatalities in 2021, accounting for 28 per cent of the global drowning burden. This contributes substantially to the nearly 30 lives lost to drowning every hour globally. Nearly 43 per cent of drowning fatalities in the region involved children aged 14 years or younger, the report said. Drowning is the third leading cause of death for children aged 5-14 years and the fourth leading cause of death for children aged 1-4 years, the WHO report said. "To save lives and ensure equitable safety for all, expanding and scaling up proven drowning prevention interventions across the region is not just essential, but a moral imperative," said Saima Wazed, WHO Regional Director

Interim results of malaria vaccine Phase 2b trial show 'promising efficacy'

A new malaria vaccine appears to be "safe and highly immunogenic", with "promising efficacy", according to interim results of the phase 2b clinical trial conducted in African children. The vaccine candidate, named 'RH5.1/Matrix-M', is a blood-stage type, targeting the malaria-causing parasite when it is present in the blood -- the stage of the parasite's life cycle when symptoms begin to show in the affected person. The trial results were published in "The Lancet Infectious Diseases" journal. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites, spread to humans through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Symptoms usually appear in the 10-15 days following the bite, with mild symptoms being fever, chills and headache, while the severe ones can include fatigue, confusion, seizures, and difficulty in breathing. Researchers, including those at Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sant, Burkina Faso, and the University of Oxford, UK, enrolled 361 children in the African country,

Sick kids wait months for Israeli permission to leave Gaza for treatment

The 12-year-old Palestinian boy was lying in a hospital bed in central Gaza, wracked with leukemia, malnourished and whimpering in pain despite the morphine doctors were giving him, when Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF official, said she saw him in late October. Islam al-Rayahen's family had asked Israeli authorities six times over the past months for permission to evacuate him from Gaza for a desperately needed stem cell transplant, Bollen said. Six times, the request was refused for unexplained security reasons, she said. Islam died three days after she saw him, Bollen said. Thousands of patients in Gaza are waiting for Israeli permission for urgently needed medical evacuation from Gaza for treatment of war wounds or chronic diseases they can't get after the destruction of much of the territory's health care system by Israel's 15-month military campaign. Among them are at least 2,500 children who UNICEF says must be transported immediately. They cannot afford to wait. These children wi

Tamil Nadu govt declares snake bite as notifiable disease in the state

Tamil Nadu government has declared snake bite as a notifiable disease in the state, thus making it mandatory for all government and private hospitals to report data to it for comprehensive prevention and treatment strategies like ramping up clinical infrastructure and allocation of anti-snake venom to prevent deaths. Snake bite has been declared as a notifiable disease in the state under the Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939. A Government Order (GO) to this effect was issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department on November 4 followed by a Gazette Notification published on November 6, a release here said on Friday. "Snake bite envenomation is an acute life-threatening medical condition. It is a preventable public health condition often faced by rural population in tropical and subtropical countries," the release said. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched a global strategy for controlling snake bite-induced deaths and disabilities. And a National Action Plan for ..

India records 17.7% decline in TB incidence from 2015 to 2023: WHO report

India has recorded a 17.7 per cent decline in tuberculosis incidence from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 195 in 2023, which is more than double the global decline of 8.3 per cent, Health Ministry sources have said citing a WHO report. In its Global TB Report 2024 released on October 29, WHO has acknowledged the tremendous progress India has made in closing the gap of missed tuberculosis cases since 2015, the sources said. "In 2023, India is estimated to have had 27 lakh TB cases, of which 25.1 lakh were diagnosed and put on treatment. This has buoyed India's treatment coverage to 89 per cent in 2023 from 72 per cent in 2015, thereby bridging the gap of missing cases," an official source said. The source said WHO has "acknowledged a drop in India's tuberculosis incidence from 237 per lakh population in 2015, to 195 per lakh population in 2023 accounting for a 17.7 per cent decline. "This is more than double the pace of decline as compared to the global decline of 8.3 per cent,"

TB infects around 8 mn people in 2023, highest ever seen, says WHO

More than 8 million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis last year, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, the highest number recorded since the U.N. health agency began keeping track. About 1.25 million people died of TB last year, the new report said, adding that TB likely returned to being the world's top infectious disease killer after being replaced by COVID-19 during the pandemic. The deaths are almost double the number of people killed by HIV in 2023. WHO said TB continues to mostly affect people in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Western Pacific; India, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Pakistan account for more than half of the world's cases. The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. TB deaths continue to fall globally, however, and the number of people being newly infected is beginning to stabilize. The

WHO secures $1 billion for 2025-28, with $700 million in new funding

Germany pledged nearly $400 million over four years, with $260 million in new voluntary funding

Nadda elected as Chairperson of 77th Session of WHO Regional Committee

Ministers of Health and delegates from the region's member states have flown to Delhi to deliberate upon key priorities

WHO approves Abbott's Mpox test for emergency use in outbreak zones

Cases of the clade Ib strain of the virus have been confirmed in Sweden, Thailand, and India, outside of Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring nations

Kerala reports second Mpox case, third in India; strain being analysed

The first Mpox case in India this year involved a man from Haryana, with a less concerning strain. The second case, detected in Kerala, was the first instance of the more concerning clade 1b strain

Govt issues new advisory to states, UTs after first Mpox Clade 1b case

The advisory asks states and UTs to continue undertaking appropriate activities to make communities aware of the disease, its modes of spread, and the need for timely reporting and preventive measures

Unsafe food causes 600 mn illnesses, 420K deaths annually: WHO chief

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday highlighted the critical role of food regulators in combating unsafe food, which causes 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 4,20,000 deaths annually. In a video message to the second Global Food Regulators Summit in Delhi, Ghebreyesus said, "Our food systems are facing increasing challenges due to climate change, population growth, new technologies, globalisation and industrialisation." He revealed that 70 per cent of fatalities from unsafe food occur among children under five. "The food regulator community has a critical role to play in addressing these global challenges," the WHO Chief said, emphasising the need for coordinated efforts as over 3 million people cannot afford a nutritious diet. Ghebreyesus stressed that collaboration is essential to ensure safe and accessible food for all, as food systems cross borders and continents. Union Health Minister J P Nadda, Food Minister Prahlad Joshi, Health Secretary and

WHO grants first mpox vaccine approval to enhance response in Africa

The World Health Organisation on Friday said it has granted its first authorisation for use of a vaccine against mpox in adults, calling it an important step toward fighting the disease in Africa and beyond. The pre-qualification of the vaccine by Bavarian Nordic A/S means that donors like GAVI the Vaccine Alliance and UNICEF can buy it. But supplies are limited because there's only a single manufacturer. This first pre-qualification of a vaccine against mpox is an important step in our fight against the disease, both in the context of the current outbreaks in Africa, and in future, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The UN health agency chief called for urgent scale-up of procurement, donations and rollout to get the vaccine where it is needed most, along with other response measures. Under the WHO authorisation, the vaccine can be administered in people aged 18 or above in a two-dose regimen. The approval says that while the vaccine is not currently licensed fo

Ukraine faces dramatic health crisis ahead of its third winter at war: WHO

The World Health Organisation issued a stark warning on Thursday about a potential health crisis in Ukraine as the country faces its third winter of war since Russia's full-scale invasion. Ongoing Russian airstrikes have severely damaged the nation's energy and health care infrastructure, leaving millions vulnerable as temperatures drop, officials from the United Nations agency said. Ukraine is approaching its third winter amid a full-scale war likely its most challenging yet. The renewed focus on health is more critical than ever, Hans Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, told reporters in Kyiv. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UN agency has recorded nearly 2,000 attacks on Ukraine's health care infrastructure, which it said is having a severe impact on the largely public health system. Targeted attacks have damaged Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Frequent power outages are already taking a toll with danger signs for the winter, Klu

Mpox case confirmed, strain not part of WHO's health emergency: Govt

Union Health Ministry asks states/UT's to review preparedness, increase screening

India reports first suspected mpox case; patient's condition stable

Samples from the patient, put under isolation, currently being tested to confirm presence of the virus

South-east asian nations must take steps to reduce road mishap deaths: WHO

The World Health Organization on Monday called on countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region to accelerate measures to reduce road traffic deaths, a leading cause of mortality among young people aged 15-29. "Vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, bicyclists and two or three-wheelers constitute 66 per cent of all reported road traffic deaths in our region," said Saima Wazed, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, in her address at the 15th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion (Safety 2024) which began here today. She emphasised that the roads and their networks need to be designed prioritising those most at risk -- children and adolescents, people with disabilities, pedestrians and other vulnerable groups. The WHO South-East Asia Region accounted for 330,223 of the 1.19 million estimated global road traffic deaths in 2021, representing 28 pc of the global burden, the WHO said in a statement. With 70 per cent of the global population projected to live i

India's largest Chandipura outbreak in 20 years with 82 deaths, says WHO

The Ministry of Health recorded 245 AES cases with 82 deaths (33 per cent fatality) in 43 districts from June this year to August 15

Mpox alert: Govt tells airports to stay vigilant, assigns 3 nodal hospitals

Current assessment shows the risk of a large outbreak of the disease, with sustained transmission remains low in India, which has no detected cases of mpox so far

Mpox outbreak spreads in Africa with Burundi reporting 100 cases: WHO

The cases, 28 per cent of which were in children under five, have been reported since July in multiple districts