WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus deplored renewed fighting Monday and Tuesday in and around northern Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, the largest medical compound in the besieged enclave, saying that “hospitals should never be battlegrounds.”  He also noted that the hospital, originally the largest and most advanced in Gaza, had only “recently restored minimal health […] Continue reading ->
Average concentrations of small and fine particulates (PM2.5 and PM10)  decreased across Europe between 2003-2019 – with the largest reductions in PM10,according to a new study published in Nature on trends over the past two decades. Despite air quality improvements, more than 98 of the European population lives in areas exceeding the WHO recommended annual […] Continue reading ->
A new declaration by health ministers from African countries that have the highest malaria burden has reaffirmed the “unwavering commitment to the accelerated reduction of malaria mortality”. The declaration, issued Wednesday by ministers convening in Yaoundé, Cameroon at an African-wide WHO conference on malaria, aims to revitalise the campaign to drive deaths from malaria further […] Continue reading ->
A United Nations report released Monday said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that multiple incidents of sexual violence, including rape and gang rape of Israeli women, occurred during the Hamas-led incursion into some 22 Israeli communities near the Gaza border on 7 October. More than 1,200 people were killed in the incident, mostly civilians.  […] Continue reading ->
COPENHAGEN –  In Lebanon, international donors are supporting a network of public primary health care centers to test for diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), offering treatment equally to Lebanese nationals and Syrian refugees who are unlikely to return anytime soon to their war-torn homeland.  In Kenya, a new national insurance law aims to make […] Continue reading ->
COPENHAGEN –  While conflict and natural disasters are usually played out in the media against dramatic scenes of mass casualty response and rescue teams, there’s an iceberg of chronic health conditions that can be even more life threatening and these need far greater attention in emergency response.  That is the theme of a global high […] Continue reading ->
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), has announced the creation of a pooled African medicines procurement mechanism at the 37th African Union Summit, which ended yesterday.  The mechanism aims to spearhead “a new era of predictable demand for African manufacturers, empowering them to plan for the long-term and establish a robust […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization says it is making contingency preparations for a possible Israeli incursion into the Gazan city of Rafah. The city hugging the Egyptian border remains under the control of the militant Palestinian Hamas government, nearly four months after Israel’s devastating invasion that followed a Hamas assault October 7 on some 22 Israeli […] Continue reading ->