Page 11 - Who

WHO issues alert over another India-made syrup, flags' substandard' quality

Deaths due to toxic cough syrups first made headlines in October when the WHO issued a global alert for four such medicines manufactured in India

New Omicron sub-variant spreads in UK; no reported case in India so far

UK health agency says no indication that EG.5.1 is more severe than the others; WHO advises countries to remain cautious

World Hepatitis Day 2023: History, significance, symptoms and more

World Hepatitis Day aims to raise awareness about viral hepatitis and finding ways to prevent, test and treat the disease. Reports say someone dies every 30 seconds globally due to hepatitis

ICMR to explore vaccine against 'WHO Blueprint Priority Pathogens': Govt

The ICMR has collaborated with two global institutions to explore available vaccine candidates against "WHO Blueprint Priority Pathogens", the government told Lok Sabha on Friday. Minister of State for Health SP Singh Baghel was replying to a question on the steps being taken by the government to speed up the development of vaccines for "emerging/reemerging pathogens". The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has collaborated with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the International Vaccine Institute, Korea, for exploration of available vaccine candidates against "WHO Blueprint Priority Pathogens" and the feasibility of bringing available technology to India, he said. On the steps being taken by the government to promote development and production of vaccines for diseases such as polio, smallpox and measles, Baghel said the ICMR has been designated as the secretariat for the National authority for Containment (NAC) of polio viruses. The ICMR has approved .

Aspartame 'possibly' carcinogenic, yet safe at common use levels, says WHO

Citing the results of two new assessments of the health impact of the popular artificial sweetener, the WHO said that it has "limited evidence" that aspartame can cause cancer in humans

Serum meningococcal meningitis vaccine achieves WHO prequalification

Serum Institute of India (SII) on Wednesday said its vaccine to protect against the five predominant causes of meningococcal meningitis in Africa has been prequalified by the World Health Organisation. MenFive has been developed through a 13-year collaboration between Serum and PATH, a global nonprofit, with crucial funding from the UK government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. WHO prequalification, which ensures a vaccine meets strict international quality, safety, and efficacy standards, was supported by extensive clinical studies in The Gambia, India, and Mali. Importantly, prequalification allows MenFive to be procured by United Nations agencies and Gavi, the vaccine alliance. "As the first conjugate vaccine to safeguard against the five predominant causes of this deadly disease, MenFive offers hope for a future free from annual outbreaks and epidemics in the African meningitis belt," SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said in a statement. The vaccine protects against ...

FSSAI set to meet international regulators on food safety system

According to the apex food regulator, the food safety and regulatory system in India needs to constantly evolve to counter the emerging food hazards and pandemic scenarios

WHO issues guidelines for protecting children from unhealthy food marketing

WHO issued new guidelines to protect children from unhealthy marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages high in saturated fatty acids, trans-fatty acids, free sugars and/or salt (HFSS)

Intermittent fasting helps protect the brain from diseases like Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease is an increasingly urgent global issue. The World Health Organization predicts that the number of people with the condition will triple by 2050

WHO's cancer agency identifies aspartame sweetener as possible carcinogen

JECFA, the WHO committee on additives, is also reviewing aspartame use this year

Need to move from dangerous streets for cars to safe spaces for people: WHO

The governments and various stakeholders need to rethink mobility as there is an urgent need to move from the dirty and dangerous streets for cars to safe, green and vibrant spaces designed for the people, WHO's Head of Safety and Mobility, Nhan Tran, said on Monday. Road accidents kill more than 1.3 million people each year - more than two every minute - with 9 in 10 of these preventable deaths occurring in low-and middle-income countries. Road crashes are the leading global killer of children and youth aged 5-29. We must urgently move from an old model of drab, dirty and dangerous streets built for cars, to safe, green and vibrant spaces designed and built for people. Mobility underpins so many other aspects of public health and development. By making walking and cycling safe, we can reduce air pollution and fight climate change," Tran said at the Vision Zero Conference on Road Safety here in the Swedish capital. By prioritising the safety of vulnerable road users like pedestrians

India-made cold, cough medicines under WHO lens after nations flag concern

Reports of contaminated medicines came out in 2022 in The Gambia, with subsequent reports in Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Micronesia; all the products under the scanner are syrup-based

WHO prepares for increased spread of viral disease linked to El Nino

The WHO chief also warned that climate change is fueling the breeding of mosquitoes, and incidence of dengue has already risen sharply in recent decades, particularly in the Americas

IOC awards Olympic Order to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus

IOC presented the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, with the Olympic Order for his inspirational role in ensuring the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Cough syrup row: Zero tolerance on spurious medicines, says Mandaviya

71 companies have been issued show-cause notices following concerns raised in some quarters about reported deaths due to contaminated India-made cough syrups, 18 of them have been asked to shut shop

Swift action must to stop 'silent pandemic' from becoming catastrophic

By 2050, #AntimicrobialResistance is expected to claim 10 million lives a year globally, more than cancer and diabetes combined, with most of this burden falling on low- and middle-income countries

PM's efforts brought WHO's centre of traditional medicine to India: EAM

Jaishankar today visited the Badarpur Eco Park in the national capital on Saturday as part of his Vikas Tirth Yatra

Toxic cough syrup risk 'ongoing' and more countries hit, says WHO

The U.N. agency has already named nine countries where tainted syrups may have been on sale, after the deaths of more than 300 infants on three continents last year were linked to the drugs

Agency probes bribery claim in toxic syrup tests killing children in Gambia

A lawyer accused Haryana's drug controller of taking a bribe of Rs 50 million from local manufacturer Maiden Pharmaceuticals to help it switch the samples before an government laboratory tested them

Strengthen routine immunisation, focus on unvaccinated children: WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday called for focused efforts to provide life-saving vaccines to nearly 4.6 million unvaccinated children in Southeast Asia as countries intensify efforts to equal or surpass pre-Covid vaccination coverage levels. The number of unvaccinated or zero dose children more than doubled from 2 million in 2019 to 4.6 million in the region by 2021 despite efforts by countries to maintain or restore routine childhood immunisation, said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO, South-East Asia. "We need to urgently address gaps and challenges aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic," Singh said. She was addressing representatives of health ministries, national immunisation advisory groups and partner agencies participating in a four-day regional workshop to strengthen routine immunisation capacities post-Covid. "We need to accurately identify high-risk areas with high numbers of zero-dose children, and rapidly improve access and uptake of routine .