Page 14 - Who

WHO appeals for $392 mn healthcare donations to help war-torn Yemen in 2023

The appeal was made on the eve of a high-level pledging event for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, a UN-led fund-raising activity held on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, Xinhua news agency reported

A woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth every 2 minutes: UN estimates

This report highlights that the world must significantly accelerate progress to meet global targets for reducing maternal deaths, or else risk the lives of over 1 mn women by 2030

WHO to set up mRNA vaccine hub in Hyderabad: IT Minister KT Rama Rao

The World Health Organisation will be setting up mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccine hub in Telangana, Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao said on Tuesday here. mRNA is becoming a promising technology to address a growing number of infectious diseases. Speaking to reporters on various steps being taken by the state government to promote the life sciences sector, Rama Rao said Telangana has a target of making the industry worth USD 100 billion from USD 50 billion in 2021 and the workforce from the existing four lakh to eight lakh in the next five years. "In fact, this will be another big announcement. WHO is going to set up its mRNA vaccine hub in Hyderabad," he said refusing to provide details. In an interview to a TV channel in Davos in January, KTR said the WHO was keen to set up the hub in Hyderabad and hopefully it will happen soon. Rama Rao said more than USD 3 billion worth of investments and trade took place during the past 19 editions of BioAsia, a flagship an

Urgent and accelerated efforts needed for universal eye coverage: WHO

The World Health Organisation on Tuesday called for accelerated action to provide quality, affordable, integrated and people-cantered comprehensive eye care for everyone, addressing the increasing disproportionate burden of vision impairment and blindness in the WHO South-East Asia Region. Nearly 30 per cent of the 2.2 billion people living with vision impairment or blindness globally are in the WHO South-East Asia Region, it said. Addressing a high-level meeting of member countries on 'Integrated People-Centred Eye Care' in Hyderabad, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, said, "This huge burden is unacceptable as nearly half the global vision impairment could have been prevented or are yet to be addressed." Young children and older people are most vulnerable, while women, rural populations and ethnic minority groups are more likely to have vision impairment and less likely to access care, she said. The increased prevalence of vision impairment and blindness in the region

Over 33 million kids vaccinated against polio in southern Africa: WHO

More than 33 million children in several southern African countries have been vaccinated against polio, part of ongoing efforts to eradicate the infectious paralytic disease that has been largely contained in much of the world, the World Health Organization announced on Friday. About 80 million drops of the inoculation have been placed in the mouths of children across Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe since the launch of an emergency response in March last year, WHO said in a statement. Malawi detected the wild poliovirus disease in a young child in its capital, Lilongwe, in February last year the first time the strain was reported in Africa in five years. The virus spread to neighboring Mozambique, causing other countries in the region to be on alert. Africa was certified as free of indigenous wild polio in 2020, according to WHO, which says the recent strain originated from Pakistan. The South Asian country and its neighbor, Afghanistan, are the only two countries

WHO chief Ghebreyesus vows to push for answers on coronavirus origins

Solving the mystery of where the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from and how it began spreading among humans is considered vital for averting future pandemics

World Cancer Day: WHO calls for action for prevention, early detection

On World Cancer Day, World Health Organization (WHO) has called for intensified action across the Southeast Asian region to strengthen health systems to prevent and detect cancers early.

Urgently address gaps in leprosy services disrupted by Covid pandemic: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday urged countries, especially those in the South-East Asia Region, to urgently address gaps in leprosy services disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The global health organisation asked these countries to accelerate efforts towards achieving the goal of zero leprosy disease, stigma and discrimination -- the vision of the WHO Global Leprosy Strategy 2021-2030. Leprosy is 100 per cent curable when detected early, yet today in addition to COVID-19-related challenges, stigma and discrimination, both institutionalised and informal, continue to impede prompt diagnosis and treatment and facilitate onward spread, said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director of WHO South-East Asia. "This has to change, she said on the eve of World Leprosy day. In 2021, 1,40,000 new leprosy cases were reported, with 95 per cent of new cases coming from the 23 global priority countries. Of these, 6 per cent were diagnosed with visible deformities or grade-2 ...

WHO calls for action to protect children from contaminated medicines

In the wake of fatalities among children linked to cough syrups and medicines made by manufacturers based in India and Indonesia, the WHO has issued an "urgent call to action to countries to detect and respond to incidents of falsified medical products and protect children from contaminated medicines. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that over the past four months, countries reported several incidents of over-the-counter cough syrups for children with confirmed or suspected contamination with high levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG). The cases are from at least seven countries, associated with more than 300 fatalities in three of these countries, with most young children under the age of five. The WHO said the contaminants are toxic chemicals used as industrial solvents and antifreeze agents that can be fatal even in small amounts, and should never be found in medicines. WHO is releasing an urgent call to action to countries to prevent, detect and ...

WHO says it backs global health agenda of Indian presidency set at G20 meet

The Health Track of the G20 India Presidency would comprise four Health Working Group (HWG) Meetings and one Health Ministerial Meeting (HMM)

Kerala mask mandate precautionary measure, no major rise in cases: Experts

They say there is no major rise in cases, and state just following WHO guidelines

Pakistan PM Shahbaz Sharif kicks off nationwide polio eradication drive

The resurfacing of the cases has certainly raised concerns among the partners, including World Health Organization (WHO) and other stakeholders

WHO seeks deeper cooperation from China on origins of Covid-19 pandemic

'I appreciated the release of detailed information, which we request they continue to share'

No new Covid-19 variants found in China but mutation threat lingers

China has yet to detect any dangerous Covid mutations in the six weeks since the virus was unleashed on the country's 1.4 billion people after the abandonment of the rigid curbs

TMS Ep346: Telecom sector, investment cycle, Q3 results, WHO warning

Has the telecom sector recovery lost steam? Does higher demand point to the start of an investment cycle? Banks' earnings growth touched a peak in Q3? What is WHO's warning about alcohol? Answers here

WHO issues a 'medical product alert' for Marion Biotech cough syrup

The WHO has said Marion Biotech had not provided guarantees to them on the safety and quality of these products

Covid-19 variant XBB.1.5: What Is the 'Kraken' and how dangerous is it?

XBB.1.5 is "the most transmissible sub-variant which has been detected yet," said the WHO's Covid-19 technical lead

After WHO's warning on cancer link, a look at how India consumes alcohol

According to NFHS-5, alcohol consumption is higher in rural parts of the country than the urban areas

No amount of alcohol 'safe', even low consumption hikes cancer risk: WHO

The agency has previously found that alcohol causes at least 7 types of cancer, including the most common cancer types, such as bowel cancer and female breast cancer

Best of BS Opinion: Cut down on sugar, next level in AI, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today