Peru shows the way forward and the courage of Ander Martinez “When Ander was diagnosed, I didn´t have the possibility to cover the cost of the treatment. It was very expensive, and I had nothing,” says Rosalina Tocto, 29 years mother of Ander Martínez Tocto. Ander had just been diagnosed with acute leukemia at the…
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, Ghana and Zambia have licensed an Ebola vaccine, just 90 days after World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification. Registration of the vaccine is expected in additional countries in the coming weeks. The licensing of the vaccine means that the manufacturer can stockpile and widely distribute this vaccine to…
Government ministers and senior officials from over 100 countries will meet in Stockholm, Sweden from 19-20 February to discuss new steps to halve road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030, in line with global targets agreed in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “The fact that an estimated 1.35 million lives are lost every…
Geneva, Switzerland – 10 February 2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) announced today that a memorandum of understanding has been signed by the two organizations to formalize a strategic collaboration that will strengthen diagnosis in resource-poor countries by closing major diagnostic gaps at country level and…
More than 25 000 people across the globe have accessed real-time knowledge from WHO experts on how to detect, prevent, respond to and control the new coronavirus in the 10 days since the launch of an open online training. The learning team of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme worked with technical experts to quickly develop…
Joint statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the occasion of International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation – “When Tabitha was growing up in rural Kenya, most of her 16-year-old peers…
Female genital mutilation (FGM) exacts a crippling economic as well as human cost, according to World Health Organization (WHO). “FGM is not only a catastrophic abuse of human rights that significantly harms the physical and mental health of millions of girls and women; it is also a drain on a country’s vital economic resources,” said…
A new study indicates that playing video games for a limited amount of time each week may provide benefits to children, but too much can be detrimental. The findings are published in the Annals of Neurology. There’s much debate over the potential benefits and risks of video gaming in children and teens. To provide some…
Major League Baseball players have become overwhelmingly overweight and obese during the last quarter century, say health researchers. David E. Conroy, Penn State professor of kinesiology, and colleagues looked at 145 years of data on professional baseball players’ body mass. The researchers found that the athletes’ weight held steady for over 100 years, with the…
Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have announced the results of a study that may change how nutrition therapy is delivered to overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes. The “Nutrition Pathway Study” compared three models of nutrition therapy and found that a highly structured nutrition plan provides the most significant impact on A1C, body…