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Major milestone for WHO-supported Ebola vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announcement recommending a conditional marketing authorization for the rVSV-ZEBOV-GP vaccine, which has been shown to be effective in protecting people from the Ebola virus. Today’s announcement by EMA, the European agency responsible for the scientific evaluation of medicines developed by pharmaceutical companies, is a key step before the European Commission decision on licensing. In parallel, WHO will move towards prequalification of the vaccine. “The conditional authorization of the world’s first Ebola vaccine

Health

Shortage of personal protective equipment endangering health workers worldwide

WHO calls on industry and governments to increase manufacturing by 40 per cent to meet rising global demand The World Health Organization has warned that severe and mounting disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) – caused by rising demand, panic buying, hoarding and misuse – is putting lives at risk from the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases. Healthcare workers rely on personal protective equipment to protect themselves and their patients from being infected and infecting others. But shortages are leaving doctors, nurses and other frontline workers d

Health

Joint statement by WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

COVID-19 has rapidly progressed to become a global pandemic, causing unprecedented, far-reaching impact on the health, social and economic well-being of communities around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) and World Trade Organization (WTO) are committed to responding effectively to the situation, working together with other international organizations and our respective memberships. Global, coordinated action is required to deal with the extraordinary challenges the pandemic poses to people’s health as well as their livelihoods. Protecting lives is our top priority, and these eff

Health

ITU-WHO Joint Statement: Unleashing information technology to defeat COVID-19

The World Health Organization, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) with support from UNICEF are set to work with telecommunication companies to text people directly on their mobile phones with vital health messaging to help protect them from COVID-19. These text messages will reach billions of people that aren’t able to connect to the internet for information. Now more than ever, technology must ensure that everyone can access the information they need. The collaboration will start in the Asia Pacific region and then roll out globally. The goal is to reach everyone with vital healt

Health

WHO guidance helps detect iron deficiency and protect brain development

Detecting iron deficiency early during pregnancy and in young children is crucial. Iron deficiency in children under two years of age can have significant and irreversible effects on brain development. This can lead to negative consequences on learning and school performance later in life. Cognitive development of a child can also be affected if a mother is iron deficient during her last trimester of pregnancy. New World Health Organization guidelines on the use of ferritin concentrations to assess iron status in individuals and populations will help health workers to detect iron deficiency ea

Health

WHO and UNHCR join forces to improve health services for refugees, displaced and stateless people

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency today signed a new agreement to strengthen and advance public health services for the millions of forcibly displaced people around the world. The agreement updates and expands an existing 1997 agreement between the two organizations. A key aim this year will be to support ongoing efforts to protect some 70 million forcibly displaced people from COVID-19. Around 26 million of these are refugees, 80 per cent of whom are sheltered in low and middle-income countries with weak health systems. Another 40 million internally displace

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Health

Stop tobacco industry exploitation of children and young people

The World Health Organization is today launching a new kit for school students aged 13-17 to alert them to the tobacco industry tactics used to hook them to addictive products. Every year the tobacco industry invests more than USD 9 billion to advertise its products. Increasingly, it is targeting young people with nicotine and tobacco products in a bid to replace the 8 million people that its products kill every year. This year’s WHO’s World No Tobacco Day campaign focuses on protecting children and young people from exploitation by the tobacco and related industry. The toolkit has a set of cl

Health

WHO welcomes preliminary results about dexamethasone use in treating critically ill COVID-19 patients

The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the initial clinical trial results from the United Kingdom (UK) that show dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, can be lifesaving for patients who are critically ill with COVID-19. For patients on ventilators, the treatment was shown to reduce mortality by about one third, and for patients requiring only oxygen, mortality was cut by about one fifth, according to preliminary findings shared with WHO. The benefit was only seen in patients seriously ill with COVID-19, and was not observed in patients with milder disease. “This is the first treatment to be s

Health

The World Health Organization reminds public to remain vigilant through Mr Bean’s Essential COVID-19 Checklist

Public Service Announcement reminds people about the importance of washing hands, physical distancing and showing kindness The World Health Organization (WHO), Project Everyone and Tiger Aspect Productions have partnered to launch a Public Service Announcement (PSA) using global comedy cartoon star, Mr Bean. With cases of COVID-19 continuing to rise globally, “Mr Bean’s Essential COVID-19 Checklist” is a reminder to people about the importance of washing hands, physical distancing and demonstrating kindness to their neighbours. The PSA features a cartoon sketch of Mr Bean comically tackling a

Health

In WHO global pulse survey, 90% of countries report disruptions to essential health services since COVID-19 pandemic

WHO to roll out learning and monitoring tools to improve service provision during pandemic The World Health Organization (WHO) today published a first indicative survey on the impact of COVID-19 on health systems based on 105 countries’ reports. Data collected from five regions over the period from March to June 2020 illustrate that almost every country (90%) experienced disruption to its health services, with low- and middle-income countries reporting the greatest difficulties. Most countries reported that many routine and elective services have been suspended, while critical care - such as c

Health

WHO and Switzerland launch global BioHub for pathogen storage, sharing and analysis

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Swiss Confederation today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch the first WHO BioHub Facility as part of the WHO BioHub System, which was announced in November 2020. This facility will enhance the rapid sharing of viruses and other pathogens between laboratories and partners globally. Based in Spiez, Switzerland, the facility will serve as a centre for the safe receipt, sequencing, storage and preparation of biological materials for distribution to other laboratories, in order to inform risk assessments, and sustain global preparedness again

Health

New collaboration targets better bone health and ageing

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) today signed an agreement to develop a strategic roadmap on bone health and ageing and advocate for a public health strategy to prevent fractures among older people. The five-year agreement was signed at the WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland by Dr Anshu Banerjee, WHO Assistant Director-General ad interim, Universal Health Coverage/Life Course and Dr Jean-Yves Reginster, President of ESCEO. “This agreement is an important step

World

El Nino set to intensify before peaking in December, UN warns

The United Nations warned on Thursday that El Nino will intensify before peaking in December, bringing higher temperatures to much of the planet and compounding the effects of man-made climate change. The World Meteorological Organization added that this naturally occurring weather phenomenon could be the strongest since at least 1950.

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Health

The Republic of Korea and WHO discuss joint priorities, challenges and trends around global health

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Republic of Korea have a long-standing partnership spanning over 75 years. As a result of their fruitful collaboration, there has been significant progress in health and development all around the world. The Republic of Korea has gone from being a donor-recipient country to a donor-country and is now a leader in global health and playing a critical role on the world stage. Dr Catharina Boehme, Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Governance (WHO) and Dr Hye-Jin Kim, Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination (Ministry of Health an

Health

WHO and the Netherlands renew their partnership on climate change and health

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands have renewed their strategic partnership in addressing the growing impacts of climate change on global health. The Netherlands is providing a new allocation of €500 000 for 2024 to WHO, reinforcing its commitment to climate resilience and sustainable healthcare systems worldwide. This allocation supports WHO’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health Secretariat and advance climate change and health programmes globally. This contribution builds on the partnership established

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