Page 14 - Who

WHO calls for intensified whole-of-government approach to end tuberculosis

On World TB Day, WHO Friday called for an intensified whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to end the disease globally. It also highlighted the urgent need for strengthening high-level leadership and investments and accelerating the uptake of innovations and new recommendations of the world health body. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has not just stalled but reversed years of progress towards ending tuberculosis, said WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh. In 2021, the estimated burden of new and relapse tuberculosis cases globally was 10.6 million, a half-a-million increase from 2020. Mortality from TB and TB-HIV infection stood at 1.6 million, an increase of around 200,000 from pre-COVID-19 levels, she said. The WHO South-East Asia Region bears the world's highest tuberculosis burden. In 2021, the region accounted for more than 45 per cent of global tuberculosis incidence and more than half of global TB deaths. Throughout the COVID-19

Cyclone Freddy deepens cholera risks in worst-hit countries: WHO

According to the WHO Regional Office, cholera cases had more than doubled in Mozambique over the past week from 1,023 to 2,374 as of March 20, reports Xinhua news agency

Covid affected access to essential meds for cancer, heart diseases: WHO

The report reviewed the impact of the pandemic on NCD medicines from manufacturing, procurement, and importation to delivery, availability, and affordability

Biden signs bill to declassify information related to origins of Covid

US President Joe Biden on Monday signed a Bill, the "COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023", that requires the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information related to the origins of COVID.The US President in a statement on Monday said: "My Administration will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID-19's origins, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology; will declassify & share as much of that information as possible.""Today, I am pleased to sign into law S. 619, the "COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023." I share the Congress's goal of releasing as much information as possible about the origin of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). In 2021, I directed the Intelligence Community to use every tool at its disposal to investigate the origin of COVID-19, and that work is ongoing," Biden said in a statement released by The White House."We need to get to the bottom of COVID-19's origins to help ensure we can better prevent future pandemics. My

China should share raccoon dog's genetic data in Covid Probe, says WHO

The data could have and should have been shared three years ago, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday at a press conference

India eighth most polluted country in the world; Lahore most polluted city

Bhiwadi, located on the outskirts of Delhi, was ranked among the two most polluted cities in the world. Delhi followed it closely behind

Exceeding WHO ozone limit linked to heart disease hospitalisations: Study

Exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) ozone limit is associated with substantial increases in hospital admissions for heart attack, heart failure and stroke, according to a new study. The first evidence making this association is published in the European Heart Journal. Even ozone levels below the WHO maximum were linked with worsened health, the study said. "During this three-year study, ozone was responsible for an increasing proportion of admissions for cardiovascular disease as time progressed," said study author professor Shaowei Wu of Xi'an Jiaotong University, China. "It is believed that climate change, by creating atmospheric conditions favouring ozone formation, will continue to raise concentrations in many parts of the world. "Our results indicate that older people are particularly vulnerable to the adverse cardiovascular effects of ozone, meaning that worsening ozone pollution with climate change and the rapid ageing of the global population may produce even gre

Two H3N2 deaths reported so far, cases likely to decline by March-end: Govt

NITI Aayog to hold an inter-ministerial meeting to review the situation on Saturday

H3N2 influenza: Symptoms, spread, prevention, what do experts say?

Common symptoms of seasonal influenza include a sudden fever, a cough (usually dry), a headache, muscle and joint pain, a sore throat, and a runny nose

Countries must make 'massive efforts' to reduce salt intake, says WHO

Implementing highly cost-effective sodium reduction policies could save an estimated seven million lives globally by 2030, the WHO said

WHO fires director in Asia accused of racist and unethical conduct

The World Health Organization has fired its top official in the Western Pacific after the Associated Press reported last year that dozens of staff members accused him of racist, abusive and unethical behaviour that may have compromised the U.N. health agency's response to the coronavirus pandemic. In an email sent to employees on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Dr. Takeshi Kasai's appointment had been terminated after an internal investigation found findings of misconduct. It is the first time in WHO's history that a regional director has been dismissed. This has been an unprecedented and challenging journey for all of us, Tedros wrote. He said that the process of electing a new regional director for the Western Pacific would begin next month. A summary of an internal WHO investigation presented at a meeting of the agency's executive board this week in Geneva found Kasai regularly harassed workers in Asia, including engaging in aggressive communicati

Flu cases on rise, experts blame mutated strain, dropping of masks

Current H3N2 strain has its origin in the 1968 pandemic; experts also cite lack of awareness about the influenza vaccine, which must be taken every year

WHO-GCTM to help strengthen traditional medicine practices: Sonowal

The Global Center for Traditional Medicine of World Health Organisation (WHO-GCTM) will help member countries take measures in their respective countries to strengthen education and practices of traditional medicine, Union Minister Sarbnanda Sonowal said. Sonowal, the union minister of Ayush, inaugurating the first B2B Global Conference and Expo on Traditional Medicine under Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) here, said India has made the best use of available natural resources through Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine to provide healthcare to its people. India is focused on making best use of traditional medicine to achieve the goal of universal health coverage, he said. It is with this goal that the country has supported the establishment of the Global Center for Traditional Medicine of World Health Organisation (WHO-GCTM) at Jamnagar in Gujarat, Sonowal said. ''It will help member countries in taking measures in their respective countries to strengthen ...

Ahead of World Birth Defects Day, WHO calls to strengthen health systems

Ahead of this year's World Birth Defects Day, the WHO has urged countries, especially in the South-East Asia Region, to strengthen their health systems to prevent and respond to birth defects -- structural or functional anomalies a baby develops in the mother's body. World Birth Defects Day is observed on March 3 to raise awareness on birth defects surveillance, prevention and management. An estimated 8 million newborns suffer from birth defects annually worldwide. Nine out of every 10 children born with a serious birth defect are in low- and middle-income countries, said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO regional director for South-East Asia. In South-East Asia Region, birth defects are the third-most common cause of child mortality and the fourth-most common cause of neonatal mortality, accounting for 12 per cent of all neonatal deaths, she said. She said that birth defects increased as a proportion of child mortality in the region, from 6.2 per cent to 9.2 per cent between 2010 and ..

WHO warns tourists to avoid wet markets to avert human bird flu risk

The agency also suggested people in close contact with poultry to get vaccinated against seasonal human flu, to reduce the risk that H5N1 could recombine with a human avian virus

Court orders jail for 2 Maiden Pharma execs for exporting substandard drugs

The company has denied its drugs were at fault for the deaths in Gambia and tests by an Indian government laboratory found there were no toxins in them

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