Page 7 - Who

Covid-19 effect: Global healthy life expectancy slumps to 2012 level

According to WHO's latest report, global life expectancy and healthy life expectancy dropped to 2012 levels of 1.8 and 1.5 years, respectively, eradicating a decade of progress

Efforts to draft pandemic treaty falter as countries disagree on steps

A global treaty to fight pandemics like COVID is going to have to wait: After more than two years of negotiations, rich and poor countries have failed for now to come up with a plan for how the world might respond to the next pandemic. After COVID-19 triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. In 2021, member countries asked the U.N. health agency to oversee negotiations to figure out how the world might better share scarce resources and stop future viruses from spreading globally. On Friday, Roland Driece, co-chair of WHO's negotiating board for the agreement, acknowledged that countries were unable to come up with a draft. WHO had hoped a final draft treaty could be agreed on at its yearly meeting of health ministers starting Monday in Geneva. We are not where we hoped we would be when we started this process," he said, adding that finalizing an international

'India's nurse shortage worsens as they emigrate for jobs abroad'

India already faces a poor nurse-population ratio and the situation is set to worsen with nurses emigrating to other countries in large numbers, doctors and medical experts have observed, noting this creates a big gap in addressing the country's healthcare needs. The experts issued a joint statement here, expressing concerns over the shortage of nurses in the country. Citing figures from the regulatory body Indian Nursing Council, Association of Healthcare Providers (India) director general Dr Girdhar Gyani said there are more than 33 lakh nursing personnel registered in the country but this figure is dismal given India's 1.3 billion population. With 1.96 nurses per 1,000 population, India falls short of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended rate of three nurses per 1,000 population, he said. Director of the Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals, Dr Shuchin Bajaj said, "While the shortage of nurses and their massive emigration to foreign countries is a cause for worry, there is

Mumps in Delhi/NCR: Everything you need to know to keep your child safe

Many instances of mumps have been reported in India, including Delhi-NCR area, Maharashtra, Telangana. Mumps is a viral disease spread via direct contact or airborne droplets

The absence of a quality mindset

Policymakers and the corporate sector need to understand that without adopting global quality standards, India cannot become a global manufacturing hub

AstraZeneca admits Covishield has rare side effect: Is concern warranted?

AstraZeneca's acknowledgment that the vaccine may lead to thrombosis isn't a new revelation, but it underscores the need for transparent communication by the pharma companies, say experts

WHO says wider warning about contaminated J&J cough syrup 'likely'

Nigeria's regulator recalled a batch of Benylin syrup last Wednesday, having found a high level of diethylene glycol in the product during routine testing

100 scientists spend two years renaming viruses after Covid mistakes

Airborne viruses will be called "pathogens that transmit through the air" under new terminology the World Health Organization hopes will end a scientific rift that hampered early response to Covid 19

Counselling to caring: What it takes to be in good health mentally

Acknowledging a friend or someone in the family needs attention is the first step, says mental health experts

Empower family physicians to give psychological first aid: Dr Parikh

Increasing awareness in the country about mental health, says consultant psychiatrist

Around 9,000 Gaza patients in need of urgent evacuation abroad: WHO chief

Israel has repeatedly blamed Hamas for hiding behind civilians in Gaza's hospitals and other medical facilities, accusations the militant group denies

India failed to meet WHO End-TB target, cases fall 0.5% in 2015-20: Lancet

India's tuberculosis incidence dropped marginally by 0.5 per cent between 2015 and 2020 and failed to meet the World Health Organization's (WHO's) END-TB milestone for 2020, according to new global research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The WHO End TB Strategy aims for a 90 per cent reduction in TB deaths and an 80 per cent reduction in the incidence rate by 2030, compared to the baseline figures of 2015. The 2020 milestones include a 20 per cent reduction in the TB incidence rate and a 35 per cent reduction in deaths. The latest study estimated that the incidence of TB across all ages in India was 213 cases per one lakh population in 2020, well above the WHO's milestone figure (for India) of 171 per one lakh population. Deaths due to the bacterial infectious disease in the same year were estimated to be between 3.5-5 lakh, again much above the mortality milestone of 2.7-3.2 lakh set for India. The study comes ahead of World Tuberculosis Day on March 24. Desp

India surpasses WHO guidelines with 1:900 doc-to-population ratio: Kalita

India is undertaking a journey that looks at illness to wellness from a completely new prism, said Bhubaneswar Kalita, Chairperson, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, underlining "investing in health and hygiene is not just a moral imperative, it is an economic necessity". As we delve into the significance of health and hygiene, let us acknowledge India's remarkable evolution in this realm, Kalita said atSOCHAM's second Awareness Summit on Illness to Wellness. The WHO recommends a doctor to population ratio of 1:1000, Kalita said, adding we have achieved a ratio of 1:900 which is an improvement over the guidelines. "Beyond being just buzzwords, health and hygiene are the pillars upon which prosperous societies are built. The journey has been arduous yet inspiring. From battling infectious diseases to embracing preventive healthcare, the nation has made significant strides. Over the past decade we have witnessed reduction in maternal mortality rate, infant

Over 286,000 got respiratory illness in Afghanistan since Jan: WHO

On February 24, the WHO reported hundreds of deaths and infections due to respiratory illness in Afghanistan, coinciding with the onset of winter, according to the report

More than half of world's countries will be at high measles risk: WHO

Death rates are higher in poorer countries due to weaker health systems, Crowcroft said, adding that outbreaks and deaths were also a risk for middle and high income countries

Jaishankar calls on WHO chief 'Tulsi Bhai', discusses pandemic preparedness

EAM Jaishankar discussed traditional medicine and pandemic preparedness with the WHO chief while calling him 'Tulsi Bhai'

India registered 1.41 mn new cancer cases, 910,000 deaths in 2022: WHO

In 2022, India had more than 14.1 lakh new cancer cases and over 9.1 lakh deaths due to the disease, and breast cancer was the most common, according to the latest estimates of the disease's global burden by the World Health Organization (WHO). Cancers of lip, oral cavity and lung were the most common ones in men, accounting for 15.6 and 8.5 per cent of the new cases, respectively, whereas, cancers of breast and cervix uteri were the most frequent ones in women, making up close to 27 and 18 per cent of the new cases, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), WHO's cancer agency has estimated. It also calculated that the number of people alive within 5 years following a cancer diagnosis was nearly 32.6 lakhs in India. Globally, the agency estimated 2 crore new cancer cases and 97 lakh deaths, and about 5.3 crore people were alive within 5 years following a cancer diagnosis. About 1 in 5 people develop cancer in their lifetime, and roughly 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women di

What is Disease X? Future pandemic could be deadlier, warns WHO director

WHO director-general warns that the future pandemic could be deadlier. Here's what Tedros Ghebreyesus said at the World Economic Forum

Countries risk missing May deadline for pandemic accord, says WHO chief

Only once before in the organisation's 75-year history has the WHO managed to agree such an accord, and that was a Tobacco Control treaty in 2003

Nearly 10K died from Covid-19 last mth due to gatherings, new variant: WHO

The head of the U.N. health agency said Wednesday holiday gatherings and the spread of the most prominent variant globally led to increased transmission of COVID-19 last month. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said nearly 10,000 deaths were reported in December, while hospital admissions during the month jumped 42% in nearly 50 countries mostly in Europe and the Americas that shared such trend information. "Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable," the World Health Organization director-general told reporters from its headquarters in Geneva. He said it was certain that cases were on the rise in other places that haven't been reporting, calling on governments to keep up surveillance and provide continued access to treatments and vaccines. Tedros said the JN.1 variant was now the most prominent in the world. It is an omicron variant, so current vaccines should still provide some protection. Maria Van ..