GENEVA/NEW YORK – The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) today issued new guidance to help protect children and schools from transmission of the COVID-19 virus. The guidance provides critical considerations and practical checklists to keep schools safe. It also advises national and local authorities on how to…
New evidence on the relationship between sexual health and social context finds a strong association between gender equality, education and family planning Twenty-five years ago, two global events – the International Conference on Population and Development and the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing – formally recognized that women’s health and reproductive choices cannot…
February: Garnering international support on the path to eliminate cervical cancer On 5 February, the WHO Executive Board recommended to the 73rd World Health Assembly the adoption of the draft Global Strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem, and urged its implementation. The proposed resolution urges Member States…
The 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action remains the world’s most progressive blueprint for advancing gender equality worldwide. Twenty-five years after it was affirmed by 189 countries, what progress has been made in raising this blueprint off the page? On International Women’s Day the World Health Organization, United Nations University – International Institute for…
As of today’s reports, the global number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has surpassed 100 000. As we mark this sombre moment, the World Health Organization (WHO) reminds all countries and communities that the spread of this virus can be significantly slowed or even reversed through the implementation of robust containment and control activities. China…
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 Masiko. She…
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…
UN Humanitarian Chief Mark Lowcock today released US$15 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help fund global efforts to contain the COVID-19 virus. The announcement came as the World Health Organization (WHO) upgraded the global risk of the coronavirus outbreak to “very high” – its top level of risk assessment. The WHO has…
The World Health Organization’s new action plan to speed up universal access to safe blood and blood products pulls together existing recommendations and recommends new improved ways of working. It’s the start of a four-year collaborative effort to improve blood transfusion and blood-based therapies in all countries. Safe blood saves lives in all sorts of…
As the current outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) continues to develop, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) are committed to working together in guiding the travel and tourism sectors’ response to COVID-19. On 30 January 2020, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19…