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Tropical Data, an initiative led by the World Health Organization, is being launched today. Tropical Data provides an end-to-end epidemiological survey support service – from planning and protocol development to training, data processing, health ministry review and approval, and through to application of the survey outputs – to assist national neglected tropical disease programmes.
For the first time, delegations from all 193 Member States of World Health Organization (WHO) reached consensus at the World Health Assembly on a resolution to confront the harmful use of alcohol -- which contributes to poor health globally, can devastate families and damage the structure of communities. Facts on alcohol Every year, the harmful use of alcohol kills 2.5 million people, including 320 000 young people between 15 and 29 years of age. It is the eighth leading risk factor for deaths globally, and harmful use of alcohol was responsible for almost 4% of all deaths in the world, accord
Measles strategy works – Now it must expand to more countries Cape Town Measles Declaration pledges to cut measles deaths by half By 2005, almost half a million children will be saved every year if there are expanded efforts to immunize and protect all children against measles, international health experts declared today. At a landmark World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) meeting in Cape Town, leading players in the fight against measles spelled out what it will take to stop 2000 children dying every day from this preventable disease. Together with UNICEF spe
Remarks by Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, World Health Organization Assistant Director-General, Emergency Response Good afternoon. I hope that your busy week was interrupted, like mine, with a moment of joy on Tuesday. That moment was the celebration of a woman being discharged from an Ebola treatment centre in Beni. Her name is Masika. She was the last person in the Democratic Republic of the Congo confirmed to have Ebola. Health workers and other responders sacrificed a lot to get to this point. Since the outbreak was declared in August 2018 there have been 420 attacks on health facilities in DRC, r
Today, the World Health Organization announced that a new pathogen, a member of the coronavirus family never before seen in humans, is the cause of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The speed at which this virus was identified is the result of the close international collaboration of 13 laboratories from 10 countries. While many lines of evidence have found strong associations between this virus and the disease over the last weeks, final confirmation came today.
Today, the World Health Organization is removing Taiwan, China, from the list of areas with recent local transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Taiwan is the last area to be removed from the list. It has been 20 days, or two consecutive 10-day incubation periods, since the last case on June 15. Based on country surveillance reports, the human chains of SARS virus transmission appear to have been broken everywhere in the world. However, due to the many questions remaining about SARS and the possibility that cases may have slipped through the surveillance net, WHO warns that c
The global health community has taken a key step towards ensuring rapid action against future outbreaks of infectious diseases and other threats to international public health. A resolution adopted today confirms and underlines the World Health Organization’s (WHO) authority to verify disease outbreaks from all available official and unofficial sources, and, when necessary to determine the severity of an outbreak through on-the-spot investigations to ensure it is appropriately controlled. The resolution is a major step in the ongoing revision of the International Health Regulations, which were
A statue commemorating the 30th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox is being unveiled today in front of the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters by the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Margaret Chan. Prior to eradication, smallpox epidemics were common in many countries, leaving death, blindness and disfigurement behind. The eradication of this devastating, infectious disease has been called one of the greatest achievements in public health. A reminder of the value of smallpox eradication "The eradication of smallpox shows that with strong mutual resolve, te
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, addressed Heads of State at today’s extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit focused on COVID-19. He told them, “You have come together to confront the defining health crisis of our time: We are at war with a virus that threatens to tear us apart - if we let it.“ He welcomed the G20‘s initiative to find joint solutions and work together: “This is a global crisis that requires a global response.” “Fight, unite, ignite“ Dr Tedros’ call was clear. First, he urged leaders to fight without excuses, without regrets – thanking
The people of Iraq are in urgent need of better health care and their situation is deteriorating by the day. The UN has today appealed for at least $325 million in emergency funds to meet the immediate health, nutrition, water and sanitation needs of the most vulnerable populations. Out of this amount, the World Health Organization urgently appeals for $185 million. This request is part of the wider United Nations humanitarian appeal for $2.1 billion to provide assistance to the people of Iraq over the next six months. This appeal is being launched jointly by all the UN humanitarian agencies i
Geronimo Stilton author to kickstart exclusive children’s book reading initiative amid COVID-19 pandemic Much-loved children’s authors are joining an initiative to read extracts of their books to millions of children and young people currently living in isolation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the World is a collaboration between the International Publishers Association (IPA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. It kicks off today, on International Children’s Book Day, at 15.00 GMT/17.00 CET with Italian author Elisabetta Dami, creator of the popular character Geronimo Stilton. “
FIFA has joined forces with the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in supporting the #BeActive campaign launched on the UN International Day of Sport for Development and Peace to encourage people to be #HealthyAtHome as the world comes together in the fight against COVID-19, today and every day. WHO recommends all healthy adults do at least 30 minutes a day of physical activity and children at least 60 minutes per day. As part of this, #BeActive and remain #HealthyAtHome include the following suggestions along with any other form of recreation to stay healthy at home:
All over the world, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant loss of life, disrupting livelihoods, and threatening the recent advances in health and progress towards global development goals highlighted in the 2020 World Health Statistics published by the World Health Organization (WHO) today. “The good news is that people around the world are living longer and healthier lives. The bad news is the rate of progress is too slow to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and will be further thrown off track by COVID-19,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “The pandemic h
The Smithsonian Science Education Center, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP)—a partnership of 140 national academies of science, engineering and medicine—has developed “COVID-19! How can I protect myself and others?,” a new rapid-response guide for youth ages 8–17. The guide, which is based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, aims to help young people understand the science and social science of COVID-19 as well as help them take actions to keep themselves, their families and communities safe. Through a set of seven cohesive st
COVID 19 is disrupting life-saving immunization services around the world, putting millions of children – in rich and poor countries alike – at risk of diseases like diphtheria, measles and polio. This stark warning comes from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance ahead of the Global Vaccine Summit on 4 June, at which world leaders will come together to help maintain immunization programmes and mitigate the impact of the pandemic in lower-income countries. According to data collected by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi and the Sabin Vaccine Institute,
On 7 June 2020, the United Nations will mark the second global World Food Safety Day, led by two of its specialized agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Food safety is a shared responsibility, and everyone has a role to play including governments, industry, producers, business operators and consumers. This is reflected in the theme of the day ‘Food safety: everyone’s business!’ FAO and WHO are supporting their Members in efforts to provide enough safe food for all and to enable people to trust that what they eat is
Half of the world’s children, or approximately 1 billion children each year are affected by physical, sexual or psychological violence, suffering injuries, disabilities and death, because countries have failed to follow established strategies to protect them. This is according to a new report published today by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNESCO, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the End Violence Partnership. “There is never any excuse for violence against children," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Direc
World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus today joined the leadership of Spain, paying homage to those who have lost their lives in the country due to COVID-19, saluting the heroic efforts of heath workers and praising the government’s resolute and robust response to reverse the virus’s transmission. “It is with great respect that I join the King of Spain, the Prime Minister and the entire government of the country to pay tribute to the people who have fallen victim to COVID-19,” said Dr Tedros. “I extend my deepest condolences to the families of all people who h
Launching today, the COVID-19 Law Lab initiative gathers and shares legal documents from over 190 countries across the world to help states establish and implement strong legal frameworks to manage the pandemic. The goal is to ensure that laws protect the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities and that they adhere to international human rights standards. The new Lab (at www.COVIDLawLab.org) is a joint project of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the O’Neill Institute for Nat
With the number of under-five deaths at an all-time recorded low of 5.2 million in 2019, disruptions in child and maternal health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic are putting millions of additional lives at stake The number of global under-five deaths dropped to its lowest point on record in 2019 – down to 5.2 million from 12.5 million in 1990, according to new mortality estimates released by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the World Bank Group. Since then, however, surveys by UNICEF a
