Half the world lacks access to essential health services – UN-backed report
Dec 14, 2017, at 09:45 am
New York, Dec 14(Just Earth News): At least half of the world's population cannot obtain essential health services, and nearly 100 million people are being pushed into extreme poverty each year due to the out-of-pocket health expenses they must pay, according to a United Nations-backed study.
One in 10 medicines in developing countries substandard or falsified – UN health agency
Nov 30, 2017, at 03:01 pm
New York, Nov 30(Just Earth News): Substandard or fake medicines that fail to prevent and cure disease – and could even cause death – are becoming more and more prevalent, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, calling on Governments to take urgent actions to tackle this global problem.
Nearly 21 million people now have access to HIV treatment – UN agency
Nov 22, 2017, at 11:12 am
New York, Nov 22(Just Earth News): About 20.9 million people now have access to the antiretroviral therapy, according to a new report by the UN agency leading the global push to end AIDS, spotlighting that this remarkable progress has been made possible by people living with HIV demanding their rights, strong leadership and financial commitment.
Some 25 million unsafe abortions occur each year, UN health agency warns
Sep 29, 2017, at 03:25 pm
New York, Sept 29(Just Earth News): About 25 million unsafe abortions, accounting for 45 per cent of all abortions, occurred every year from 2010 to 2014 worldwide, with 97 per cent of those unsafe procedures occurring in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, a new United Nations study has found.
‘All roads should lead to universal healthcare,’ says new WHO chief
May 25, 2017, at 01:39 pm
New York, May 25(Just Earth News): The newly-elected head of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, outlined his priorities for journalists at the agency’s headquarters on Wednesday in Geneva, where he stressed the need for Member States to provide healthcare for all and to implement international health regulations.
Low and middle income countries bear disproportionate burden of cervical cancer – UN agency
Feb 03, 2017, at 02:05 pm
New York, Feb 3 (Just Earth News): Noting that cervical cancer kills more than 250,000 women every year and that 85 per cent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, the United Nations health agency underlined the importance of vaccinating girls against the cancer-causing virus and screening programmes to detect and treat precancerous lesions.
New direct funding available for low- and middle-income countries to regulate tobacco – UN
Nov 09, 2016, at 01:39 pm
New York, Nov 9 (Just Earth News): New funding is now available to support tobacco control implementation for low and middle income countries through the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) , currently the strongest global instrument to control tobacco.
UN health agency names Michael Bloomberg Global Ambassador on noncommunicable diseases
Aug 18, 2016, at 01:22 pm
New York, Aug 18 (Just Earth News): The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday named Michael R. Bloomberg, former New York City mayor and philanthropist, as its Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs).
Jul 13, 2016, at 02:26 pm
New York, July 12 (Just Earth News): When Dr. Oriol Mitjà , a Spanish technical adviser for the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), arrived in Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea, he expected to stay only a month. But after meeting hundreds of children covered in debilitating lesions, he stayed on, found a cure for their ailment, and spurred an international campaign that, if successful, will lead to the eradication of only the second disease in history.
Films with on-screen smoking should carry warnings to protect children: WHO
Feb 02, 2016, at 02:14 pm
New York, Feb 2 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Noting that films showing on-screen smoking have enticed millions of young people around the world into tobacco addiction, the United Nations health agency on Monday called for them to be rated and display warnings to save children from subsequent disability and death.
Zika virus an international public health emergency: WHO
Feb 02, 2016, at 02:00 pm
New York, Feb 2 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Meeting on Monday on the Zika virus outbreak, the World Health Organization announced that the recent cluster of neurological disorders and neonatal malformations reported in the Americas region constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.
Five polio-free years in South-East Asia Region, announces WHO
Jan 13, 2016, at 02:47 pm
New York, Jan 13 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The United Nations health agency on Tuesday announced that the South-East Asia Region has completed five years without any case of wild poliovirus, a highly infectious disease that invades the nervous system and for which there is still no cure.
Oral cholera vaccines to double to 6 million doses after WHO approves new supplier
Jan 09, 2016, at 02:33 pm
New York, Jan 9 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Faced with a global shortage of oral cholera vaccines (OCV), the United Nations health agency announced on Friday that supply should double this year to six million doses, with further increases later, after it approved a third producer to fight a disease that kills up to 142,000 people annually.
'We can consign rabies to the history books' with plan to eliminate virus: WHO
Dec 11, 2015, at 02:59 pm
New York, Dec 11 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Against the backdrop of one person dying every 10 minutes from rabies and that treatment for those bitten can cost 40 days of wages in some countries, the United Nations announced on Thursday a new framework to eliminate human rabies and save tens of thousands of lives each year by ensuring ready availability of vaccines and treatment, and emphasizing mass dog vaccinations to tackle the disease at its source.
UN health agency outlines global trends and looks ahead to 2030 targets
Dec 09, 2015, at 03:16 pm
New York, Dec 9 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday issued a comprehensive analysis of global health trends since 2000, and laid out actions that should be prioritized over the next 15 years to achieve the newly-agreed United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), saying that universal health care is the “linchpin of development in health.â€
Children under five account for one third of deaths from foodborne diseases: UN
Dec 04, 2015, at 02:51 pm
New York, Dec 4 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Diarrhoeal diseases are responsible for more than half of all foodborne diseases globally and of all those who fall ill after consuming contaminated food, 420,000 people die – almost third of them children under the age of five, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday in its first ever report on the issue.
Widespread misunderstanding about antibiotic resistance threatens public health: WHO
Nov 17, 2015, at 01:40 pm
New York, Nov 17 (Just Earth News/IBNS): A recent multi-country survey revealed that people are confused about the rising threat of antibiotic resistance to public health and are unclear about how to prevent it from growing, World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday at the launch of a global campaign at the initiation of the first World Antibiotic Awareness Week.
Iraq: WHO mobilizes immunization campaign to help control cholera outbreak
Nov 04, 2015, at 01:23 pm
New York, Nov 4 (IBNS): The World Health Organization (WHO) has mobilized 510,000 dozes of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) to be administered to an estimated 250,000 displaced persons in Iraq, in an effort to curtail the cholera outbreak which is now feared to be spreading to neighbouring countries.
Tuberculosis deaths nearly halved since 1990, but 4,400 dying daily: WHO
Oct 29, 2015, at 03:33 pm
New York, Oct 29 (IBNS): The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that the fight against tuberculosis (TB) is paying off, with this year’s death rate nearly half of what it was in 1990, but 1.5 million still people died from the disease last year, with more than half occurring in China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan.
Two-thirds of world's population is infected with herpes: WHO
Oct 29, 2015, at 03:18 pm
New York, Oct 29 (IBNS): More than 3.7 billion people under the age of 50 are infected with herpes simplex virus type 1, which in most cases causes "cold sores" around the mouth, according to the first global estimates of the infection by the World Health Organization (WHO).
UN report reveals urgent need for systematic approach to youth violence prevention
Oct 28, 2015, at 02:51 pm
New York, Oct 28 (IBNS): While youth violence is not a simple problem with easy solutions, a new report launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) underscores that prevention programmes can improve a broad range of health, education and social outcomes – and lead to potentially substantial economic savings.
Yemen: 3.3 million people in need of critical aid in besieged Taiz, warns WHO
Oct 22, 2015, at 05:33 pm
New York, Oct 22 (IBNS): The top United Nations health official in Yemen is appealing for unrestricted access to Taiz, where "innocent lives are at risk" in the besieged highland city where more than 3.3 million people are in critical need of health assistance, safe drinking water, food and fuel.
Unvaccinated children in Ukraine at heightened risk of polio: UN agencies
Oct 10, 2015, at 01:54 pm
New York, Oct 10 (IBNS): With Ukraine's Ministry of Health recently confirming two cases of polio in the country, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) are calling for an immediate polio vaccine campaign in the country.
No new cases of Ebola reported for first time since March 2014: WHO
Oct 09, 2015, at 02:49 pm
New York, Oct 9 (IBNS): There were no new cases of Ebola reported in West Africa in the week ending last Sunday, making it the first week since March 2014 with zero cases recorded in the three countries most affected by the outbreak, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which cautioned that there remains a near-term risk of new cases.
People over 60 will double by 2050 but little evidence they will be healthier: UN report
Oct 01, 2015, at 02:46 pm
New York, Oct 1 (IBNS): The number of people over the age of 60 is expected to double by 2050 and require radical societal change because "unfortunately, 70 does not yet appear to be the new 60" contrary to widespread assumptions, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).
Darfur: UN humanitarian officials deplore fatal attack on health workers
Sep 11, 2015, at 03:19 pm
New York, Sept 11 (IBNS): United Nations humanitarian officials in Sudan have strongly condemned an attack carried out against health workers who were returning from a routine mission in West Darfur.
Liberia declared free of Ebola transmission as number of cases remains stable
Sep 04, 2015, at 02:34 pm
New York, Sep 4 (IBNS): The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared Liberia free of Ebola virus transmission after the disease had resurfaced in June, and as the country enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance, the number of cases in the rest of West Africa remained stable at three for the fifth consecutive week.
UN environment agency unveils low-cost device for air quality monitoring
Sep 02, 2015, at 02:42 pm
New York, Sep 2 (IBNS): A ground-breaking air quality measuring device expected to cost up to 100 times less than existing solutions has the potential to "revolutionize" air quality measurement in developing countries and help prevent deaths from air pollution that claim 7 million lives each year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Ebola case in Sierra Leone prompts expansion of experimental vaccine trial: WHO
Sep 02, 2015, at 02:40 pm
New York, Sep 2 (IBNS): The detection of a new case of Ebola in Sierra Leone over the weekend after the West African country had marked almost three weeks of zero cases has prompted the use of an experimental vaccine to fight the disease, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).
Yemen: Outbreak of dengue prompts WHO appeal for safe humanitarian corridor
Sep 01, 2015, at 01:28 pm
New York, Sep 1 (IBNS): The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) is appealing for a safe corridor to reach more than 3 million people in war-torn Yemen's most populated governorate, Taiz, where "an extreme spike" in cases of dengue fever has been recorded over the past two weeks.