The stakes are high for this year’s World Health Assembly, the UN’s premier health forum, where officials will tackle a sweeping agenda – from pandemic readiness and climate-related health risks to mental health, maternal care, and environmental justice. But with geopolitical tensions running high, international collaboration on these and other vital issues will be tested. Here […]
Mr. Hassan and his fellow Youth Councillors advise and actively engage with the WHO Director-General and the agency’s senior leadership, designing and expanding the agency’s programmes and strategies. In an interview with UN News ahead of the 2025 World Health Assembly – the UN’s highest forum for global health – Mr. Hassan, who was born and raised […]
“Behind every data point is a person – a child who didn’t reach their fifth birthday, a mother lost in childbirth, a life cut short by a preventable disease,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as the organization’s latest statistics report revealed the pandemic’s deeper health impacts. Warning that overall progress is under threat today, […]
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, reported on Wednesday that most of the new arrivals are women and children. Many have come from Zamzam camp and the city of El Fasher, locations targeted by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who’ve been fighting forces of the military government for more than two years. In Chad, the high numbers […]
Across 73 countries, 308 million people now rely on humanitarian aid – a number that continues to rise. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by these crises, facing preventable pregnancy-related deaths, malnutrition, and alarming levels of sexual violence. Despite the growing need, the humanitarian system is facing severe funding shortfalls, threatening life-saving services for women […]
Since the aid blockade began on 2 March, 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, according to the Ministry of Health. If the situation persists, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next 11 months. Briefing journalists in Geneva, WHO’s representative in the […]
“I hate earthquakes. Earthquakes took my mother and my aunt away,” five-year-old Khin Yadanar told the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), after both her mother and aunt were killed when a brick wall collapsed on them. Around 6.5 million children were already in need of humanitarian assistance before the earthquake, which compounded existing vulnerabilities resulting from the […]
But despite their critical role, UN support for midwifery is under serious threat due to severe funding cuts. Each year, three-quarters of all maternal deaths occur in just 25 countries, the majority of them located in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, according to the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA. Midwives are often the first and […]
The study by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that they can be responsible for a dramatic reduction in life expectancy in both rich and poor countries alike. For example, people living in the country with the highest life expectancy will on average live 33 years longer than those born in the country with the […]
FMD is a highly contagious viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and various wild species. Europe is currently facing its worst outbreak so far this century at the same time as an exotic viral strain has been introduced in Iraq and other countries in the Near East. Concern for potential spread […]
And with nearly seven million people forcibly displaced by violence since advances by M23 rebels earlier this year, the DRC is facing one of the world’s most complex displacement crises, according to the UN migration agency (IOM). Living in overcrowded and under-resourced camps, displaced populations are increasingly vulnerable to both disease and attack. Since January […]
Thein Zaw Win, Communications and Advocacy Analyst in the Yangon Office of the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA) saw the devastating consequences of the quake during a week-long visit to the Mandalay region, one of the regions most severely affected by the disaster. Thein Zaw Win, Communications and Advocacy Analyst at UNFPA’s Yangon […]
One displaced woman told UN News’s correspondent in Gaza: “In all camps, we suffer from biting insects, especially fleas,” adding that “our children suffer from severe pain due to itching and stinging. “We tried to treat it in simple ways, but the right medicines are not available at the medical centre.” While biting insects found in […]
While the health sector worldwide plays a key role in stopping the abusive practice of FGM and supporting survivors, in several regions, evidence suggests otherwise. As of 2020, an estimated 52 million girls and women were subjected to FGM at the hands of health workers – that’s around one in four cases. “Health workers must […]
Ahead of World Malaria Day on Friday, UN health agency WHO is calling for renewed efforts at all levels – from global policy to community action – to accelerate progress towards elimination. Malaria is spread by some types of mosquitoes and is mostly found in tropical countries. Symptoms – which can be mild or life-threatening – […]
Each year, more than 21 million adolescent girls in low and middle-income countries become pregnant. About half of these pregnancies are unintended. Nine in 10 adolescent births occur among girls who were married before turning 18. “Early pregnancies can have serious physical and psychological consequences for girls and young women,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director […]
It follows a campaign last year that reached hundreds of thousands of young children under the age of 10. Polio virus was recently detected in wastewater samples in Gaza, indicating that circulation is ongoing, thus putting young lives at risk. The campaign is being led by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and implemented with support […]
The findings, published in Nature Medicine on Monday, warn that if current trends continue, the world will see 3.2 million new breast cancer cases and 1.1 million related deaths each year by mid-century. The burden will be disproportionately felt in low- and middle-income countries, where access to early detection, treatment and care remains limited. “Every […]
In an alert on Tuesday, UN aid coordinators OCHA said that six humanitarian workers have been killed since January – the latest victim was shot during clashes last week near a hospital in Masisi Territory about 80 kilometres west of Goma, in North Kivu. The same clashes reportedly killed three other civilians and injured a […]
The agency is this week celebrating the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) – one of the most widely embraced UN treaties in history. The Convention provides a legal framework and a comprehensive package of evidence-based tobacco control measures which include large pictorial health warnings […]