WHO confirmed that two cases of the recombinant strain – combining genomic elements of clades Ib and IIb of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) – have been identified to date: one in the United Kingdom and one in India. Both patients had recent travel histories, and neither experienced severe illness. No secondary cases were detected following […]
“This US investment will provide lifesaving support for millions of people in partner countries and help to ensure that the global HIV response remains efficient, data-driven and delivers results,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “I thank President [Donald] Trump and the US Congress for their continued commitment to HIV and global health.” The […]
“We are dying. Every day, between two and three patients die inside this hospital,” says Munther Abu Foul, a cancer patient lying on his bed in Gaza’s largest hospital. “I can’t get out of bed because of the pain. We want a solution – open the crossings.” His words capture the reality facing thousands of […]
This is occurring as the risk from pandemics, drug-resistant infections and fragile health services are on the rise, said the WHO Director-General. Addressing the WHO Executive Board in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed the impact of workforce reductions last year due to “significant cuts to our funding,” which have had significant consequences. “Sudden and severe […]
The UN agency’s new global guidance on evidence-based policies and interventions shows that healthy food in schools can help children develop healthy dietary habits for life. “The food children eat at school, and the environments that shape what they eat, can have a profound impact on their learning, and lifelong consequences for their health and well-being,” […]
The statement, released on Saturday, also includes a rebuttal of the US administration’s reasoning for the measures. In response to government statements that the WHO has “trashed and tarnished” and insulted it, and compromised its independence, the agency notes that “the reverse true,” and that the WHO has always sought to “engage with the United […]
Addressing heads of state, ministers and international partners, President of the UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock said today’s hunger crisis is not the result of scarcity, but of inequality, conflict and policy choices. Last year, more than 670 million people experienced hunger, and 2.3 billion faced moderate or severe food insecurity. “That is billions wondering […]
The number of children receiving school meals through government-led programmes has gone up by 20 per cent since 2020, found the latest edition of the WFP’s flagship biennial report The State of School Feeding Worldwide. Now, nearly 80 million more children are able to enjoy nutritious meals at school, bringing the global total to approximately 466 million. […]
Speaking on World Suicide Prevention Day, which is marked annually on 10 September, WHO’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “each life lost leaves a profound impact on families, friends, colleagues and entire communities.” All age groups are affected by suicide and was the third leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds globally in 2021, the last year for […]
One in 10 children aged 5 to 19 – 188 million worldwide – are now living with obesity, placing them at heightened risk of chronic diseases such as type-2 diabetes, heart conditions, and certain cancers. “When we talk about malnutrition, we are no longer just talking about underweight children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. […]
Disorders such as anxiety and depression are exacting a heavy toll on individuals, families and economies, yet most countries are failing to provide adequate support. Mental health problems are widespread across every society and age group and remain the second leading cause of long-term disability. They drive up healthcare costs for families and governments while […]
Corporal punishment refers most frequently to hitting children but can refer to any punishments inflicted by parents, caregivers or teachers which are intended to cause some degree of discomfort. It can happen in the home or in more public settings like the school classroom. But wherever it happens, this sort of punishment has wide-ranging […]
“The heavy rains, widespread flooding and the high level of displacement are all fuelling the risk of cholera transmission and putting the lives of children at risk,” said UNICEF regional director for West and Central Africa Gilles Fagninou. Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by consuming food or water contaminated with bacteria. The disease […]
The report estimates 8.2 per cent of the global population (673 million individuals) experienced hunger in 2024, down from 8.5 per cent in 2023 and 8.7 per cent in 2022. Latin America and Asia saw improvements, with the prevalence of undernourishment falling by 1.2 percent in Asia and 1 percent in Latin America and the […]
Mathare, one of the country’s largest slums, houses upwards of 500,000 people in five square kilometres, cramming them together and storing the human waste they produce in uncovered rivulets. But when he recounted the visit later to UN News, this was not the image that stuck with him the most. Without formal sewage systems, […]
The study, conducted by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in collaboration with Australia’s Burnet Institute, and published in the authoritative British Medical Journal (BMJ) Global Health, analyzed 210 outbreaks across 49 low-income countries over a 23-year period. It found that rapid vaccine deployment during outbreaks of cholera, Ebola, measles, meningitis and yellow fever, had led to […]
The 2025 Global AIDS Update released on Thursday by UNAIDS – the global body’s agency fighting AIDS and HIV infection – warns that a historic funding crisis now threatens to unravel decades of hard-won gains unless countries radically rethink how they fund and deliver HIV services. Yet even amid these challenges, many of the most-affected […]
The warning, issued jointly by UN agencies and the regional socio-economic bloc SAARC on Wednesday, underscores South Asia’s status as the “global epicentre” of anaemia among adolescent girls and women. An estimated 259 million already suffer from the condition, which impairs the body’s ability to carry oxygen, contributing to chronic fatigue, poor maternal outcomes, and […]
Loneliness is linked to approximately 100 deaths every hour – more than 871,000 deaths annually. By contrast, strong social connections are associated with better health and longer life, the UN health agency said on Monday. WHO defines social connection as the ways in which people relate to and interact with one another. Loneliness is the […]
“Our country can no longer tolerate children being born and growing up with HIV, when tools exist to prevent, detect and effectively treat this infection,” President Félix Tshisekedi declared at a recent government conference in the south-eastern Lualaba province, as he launched the five-year initiative. Backed by an initial commitment of $18 million in national […]