Page 2 - World Health Organisation

PM's principal secy holds meeting to review preparedness for Mpox

Prime Minister's Principal Secretary P K Mishra on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness for Mpox amid enhanced surveillance for prompt detection. A statement said there is no reported case of Mpox in the country as of now, and the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is low, as per the current assessment. It may be noted the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in view of its prevalence and spread across many parts of Africa. Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to monitor the situation, it said. It was briefed during the meeting that Mpox infections are generally self-limiting, lasting between two and four weeks, and its patients usually recover with supportive medical care and management. The Mpox transmission happens through prolonged and close contact with an infected patient. Among the steps taken so far, a meeting of experts was convened by the National Centre

Mpox triggers second global alert in 2 years as new variant spreads rapidly

A new mpox variant, clade Ib, detected in Sweden and Pakistan, spreads mainly through household contact and has a higher fatality rate, prompting increased global alert

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 now a global health emergency; 'easily transmitting': Causes, symptoms

Monkeypox (or Mpox) is part of the same virus family as smallpox but typically causes milder symptoms, such as fever, chills, and body aches

Sweden reports case of more infectious form of mpox 1st identified in Congo

Swedish health officials said Thursday they have identified the first case of a person with the more infectious form of mpox first seen in eastern Congo, a day after the World Health Organisation declared the outbreaks there and elsewhere in Africa to be a global emergency. The Swedish public health agency said in a statement the patient recently sought health care in Stockholm. In this case a person has been infected during a stay in the part of Africa where there is a major outbreak of (the more infectious mpox), the agency said. Magnus Gisslen, a state epidemiologist with the Swedish health agency, said the person had been treated and given rules of conduct. The fact that a patient with mpox is treated in the country does not affect the risk to the general population," Swedish officials said, adding that experts estimate that risk to be very low. They said, however, that occasional imported cases may continue to occur. Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a n

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

Africa declares mpox a public health emergency. Here are the key details

On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation is convening its own expert meeting to consider making a similar emergency declaration over mpox

1.6 million children unvaccinated in India; Afghanistan and Pak rank better

Persistent socio-economic barriers and geographical disparities hinder immunisation efforts, with significant impact on global health

IMA announces national alliance of medical professionals to tackle AMR

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines such as antibiotics, antibacterials, and antivirals, according to the World Health Organisation

As Covid-19 ticks up, US advisers recommend a fall vaccination campaign

With fresh COVID-19 cases bubbling up in some parts of the country, health officials are setting course for a fall vaccination campaign. An influential government advisory panel on Thursday recommended new shots for all Americans this fall. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must endorse the recommendation. Officials acknowledged the need for vaccinations is not as dire as it was only a few years ago. Most Americans have some degree of immunity from being infected, from past vaccinations or both. COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations last month were at about their lowest point since the pandemic first hit the United States in 2020. But immunity wanes, new coronavirus variants keep emerging and there are still hundreds of COVID-19-associated deaths and thousands of hospitalizations reported each week. What's more, health officials have reported upticks this month in COVID-19-associated emergency room visits and hospitalizations, and a pronounced increase i

Rare flesh-eating bacteria that can kill in two days spreads in Japan

At the current rate of infections, the number of cases in Japan could reach 2,500 this year, with a 'terrifying' mortality rate of 30%

US govt to fund up to $500 mn for studies on oral, nasal Covid vaccines

The funding is part of Project NextGen, a $5 billion initiative led by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)

India logs second ever human case of bird flu in Bengal: How to stay safe

A bird flu case of infection in a human being was detected in a four year old in West Bengal. The patient, admitted to a local hospital since February, has been treated and discharged

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 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 ...

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

WHO hopes to bring countries together on reinforcing pandemic preparedness

The World Health Organisation begins its annual meeting on Monday with government ministers and other top envoys hoping to reinforce global preparedness for the next pandemic in the devastating wake of COVID-19. But the most ambitious project, to adopt a pandemic treaty, has been shelved for now after 2 1/2 years of work failed to produce a draft that countries could unite behind by Friday, as originally hoped. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insists it's not a failure and the World Health Assembly this week can still plot the way forward. When diplomats, health officials and activists were still attempting to produce a draft treaty, he predicted the assembly could be one of the most significant in WHO's 76-year history. Not anymore. WHO officials and others have been eager to build on the momentum of concern from the coronavirus pandemic, with the risk that the more it fades into history, the less the public and policymakers will be interested in preparing for a

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

AstraZeneca withdraws its Covid-19 vaccine, cites 'surplus availability'

According to media reports, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has previously admitted in court documents that the vaccine causes side-effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts

Productivity loss due to oral cancer in India in 2022 at $5.6 bn: Study

A study by the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), a premier cancer treatment and research institute here, has estimated that the productivity loss of the country due to oral cancer in year 2022 was approximately USD 5.6 billion. India contributes two-thirds of the global mortality due to oral cancer and has a younger population at risk, said the study, which analysed how the disease affected 100 patients treated between 2019 and 2020 with a follow-up of 36 months. The median age of these patients was 47 years at the time diagnosis, and the majority of them were male. The disease-specific survival for early and advanced stages of the disease was 85 per cent and 70 per cent, with a median age of 47 years. "With (a total of) 671 years (referring to these 100 cases) lost prematurely, the loss of productivity was USD 41, 900 for early stage and USD 96, 044 for the advanced stage. Based on population level rates, the total cost of premature mortality was USD 5.6 billion in 2022, representing ..