Food safety incidents During the first quarter of 2020, the INFOSAN Secretariat was involved in 38 food safety incidents involving 109 WHO Member States and 9 territories of WHO Member States. There were 25 incidents involving a biological hazard (Salmonella spp. [8], Listeria monocytogenes [5], Norovirus [3] Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli [2], Clostridium botulinum [2]…
Severe disruptions to insecticide-treated net campaigns and in access to antimalarial medicines could lead to a doubling in the number of malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa this year compared to 2018, according to a new modelling analysis released by WHO and partners ahead of World Malaria Day (25 April). WHO urges countries to move fast…
Shutting down immunization services in the COVID-19 pandemic risks triggering a resurgence of diseases that can be prevented with safe and effective vaccines, warns WHO in the lead-up to World Immunization Week (24-30 April). When immunization services are disrupted, even for brief periods during emergencies, the risk of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks, such as measles and…
The right to a positive maternity healthcare experience at every stage Each pregnancy is unique and clinical needs can change across the pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal periods. One thing that never changes is the right to a positive experience at every stage. Achieving the best possible physical, emotional, and psychological outcomes for every individual and…
A new case of Ebola virus disease was confirmed today in the city of Beni in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). “While not welcome news, this is an event we anticipated. We kept response teams in Beni and other high risk areas for precisely this reason,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. …
This Medical Product Alert relates to a number of confirmed falsified chloroquine products circulating in the WHO region of Africa. Please note that this Medical Product Alert n°4/2020 will be updated as new reports of falsified chloroquine are received and validated by WHO. Between 31 March and 2 April 2020, the WHO global surveillance and monitoring…
Tuberculosis (TB) is a major yet preventable global health problem, with an estimated 10 million new cases worldwide in 2018, resulting in more than 1.5 million deaths, making it the leading infectious disease cause of death worldwide. An estimated one fourth of the world’s population is infected with the TB bacterium, of whom 5–10% advance…
WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Programme (WHO/GTB) and the European Respiratory Society convened a technical meeting on digital innovations, TB and implementation research, in Geneva on 7 February 2020. This meeting brought together funders, partners, representatives of national TB programmes, civil society and scientists to discuss the challenges and opportunities when evaluating, integrating and scaling up digital technologies under programmatic settings. …
WHO today released a Checklist to enable Member States and their partners to assess the status of work at the national level to strengthen accountability to End TB, principally: national commitments made, actions taken on those commitments, monitoring & reporting approaches, and the nature of any high-level review mechanisms. The Checklist has been developed in…
GENEVA, 9 April 2020 – A new story book that aims to help children understand and come to terms with COVID-19 has been produced by a collaboration of more than 50 organizations working in the humanitarian sector, including the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the…