Page 2 - World Health Organisation

WHO opens annual meet amid crisis sparked by US funding cuts, exit plans

The World Health Organisation on Monday opened its annual meeting of government ministers and other top envoys facing one of the most serious crises of its 77-year history in the wake of Trump administration funding cuts and plans to withdraw the United States. The UN health agency this year has seen a plunge in its ability to carry out its sweeping mandate to do everything from recommend reductions in sugar levels in soft drinks to head the global response to pandemics like COVID-19 or outbreaks like polio or Ebola. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been grappling with a response to the US cuts as well as reduced outlays from other traditional Western donors who are putting more money toward defense and less toward humanitarian aid. Matthew Kavanagh, the director of Georgetown University's centre for Global Health Policy and Politics, said other countries have used the US disruption the cut in aid as cover to do their maneuvering, with many countries in Europe ...

Do not apply for health cover without revealing existing hypertension

Try bringing condition under control to improve chances of getting coverage

World Malaria Day: India shows the way, but global fight far from over

Global malaria cases and deaths declined in 2023-24, with India exiting the HBHI group, yet WHO warns that funding cuts and health disruptions threaten continued progress

India, others pledge to cut health impact of pollution by 2040 at WHO meet

India has pledged to reduce the health impacts of air pollution by 2040, aligning its actions with the National Clean Air Programme at the concluding session of the second World Health Organisation (WHO) conference on air pollution and health here. Speaking at the conference organised in Colombian city of Cartagena, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's Aakash Shrivastava said that the Indian government is committed to supporting the health sector and will promote cleaner cooking energy, particularly for vulnerable populations. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India, is committed to supporting the health sector with actions in alignment with the National Clean Air Programme to reduce the health impacts of air pollution by 2040. We will strengthen air pollution and noncommunicable disease surveillance, promote cleaner cooking energy, particularly for vulnerable populations, and support clinicians in protecting at-risk patients, Shrivastava said. However, a report presente

WHO updates ICD framework, includes traditional medicine in health module

WHO has introduced a new module dedicated to traditional medicine conditions in its 2025 update to the International Classification of Diseases, marking a monumental step in the systematic tracking and global integration of traditional systems of healthcare practices, the government said on Wednesday. The Ayush Ministry said this update follows the successful year-long testing and deliberations after the launch of International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11 TM-2 in January last year for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems of medicine for country implementation testing. "This groundbreaking inclusion of traditional medicine in WHO's internationally recognised health framework ensures that traditional health systems of Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani are officially documented and categorized in ICD-11, alongside conventional medical conditions. This elevates their status in global health reporting, research and policymaking," it said. Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, the secretary in the ...

Covid's quiet fade: Nearly 3 deaths per month still being reported

The latest numbers show that there have been 41 cases of Covid in the most recent four-week period ending mid-January, with three deaths

US exiting WHO won't impact projects in India: Health Minister Nadda

Union Health Minister J P Nadda said Tuesday the US announcing to exit the World Health Organization (WHO) will not impact the programmes going on India in partnership with the global agency. "Our projects and programmes will continue. As far as health is concerned, we are not dependent on anybody," he told a press conference on the progress made in the last 10 years under the National Health Mission (NHM). "There are many programmes where WHO partners with us and there will be no disruption. India is one of the major contributors to the WHO," he said. Listing out the achievements made under the NHM in the last 10 years, Nadda said some new initiatives -- like National Sickle Cell Anaemia Mission and Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PMNDP) -- were added after 2014 while many other initiatives have been reinvigorated such as the National TB Elimination Programme, Mission Indradhanush (MI) etc. The share of central release under the NHM has seen a 185 per cent growth since

WHO regrets Trump's decision to withdraw, hopes for reconsideration

The statement from WHO came after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday, announcing the withdrawal of the US from WHO

From immigration to trade, here's a list of Donald Trump's executive orders

Announcing measures across immigration, trade, energy, and federal workforce policies, Donald Trump positioned these orders as reversals of Joe Biden's administration

Trump signs executive order to withdraw US from World Health Organisation

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order beginning the process of withdrawing America from the World Health Organisation, the second time in less than five years that the US has ordered to withdraw from the world body. It was among dozens of executive actions he signed after being sworn in on Monday for a second term, on issues ranging from immigration to foreign policy to climate change. The World Health Organisation (WHO) came under intense criticism from Trump in 2020 for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which grew into a worldwide health crisis during the final year of his first term. That's a big one, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House when an aid presented to him an executive order on this to be signed by him. We paid USD 500 million to World Health when I was here, and I terminated it. China, with 1.4 billion people, has 350 dependents... nobody knows what we have because so many people came in illegally. But let's say we have 325

HMPV, other infections showing no unusual trends in North America: WHO

China's reported levels of acute respiratory infections, including hMPV, are within the expected range for the winter season with no unusual outbreak patterns reported

Nitrate in groundwater threatens public health in 440 districts: Report

High nitrate levels have been found in groundwater of 440 districts across India, with 20 per cent of the samples collected exceeding the permissible nitrate concentration, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has said in a report. Nitrate contamination is a significant environmental and health concern, particularly in agricultural regions using nitrogen-based fertilizers and animal waste. The "Annual Groundwater Quality Report 2024" also revealed that 9.04 per cent of samples had fluoride levels above the safe limit, while 3.55 per cent showed arsenic contamination. A total of 15,259 monitoring locations were chosen nationwide to check groundwater quality in May 2023. Of these, 25 percent of wells (the most at risk per BIS 10500) were studied in detail. Groundwater was sampled at 4,982 trend stations before and after the monsoon to see how recharge affects quality. The report found that 20 per cent of water samples exceeded the nitrate limit of 45 milligrams per liter (mg/l), t

China defends Covid-19 data-sharing as WHO seeks more information access

China is also the only country that organised experts to share traceability progress with the WHO on many occasions, Mao Ning, spokesperson at the foreign ministry said

South Korea becomes "super-aged" society, one in five now aged 65 or older

The South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported that 10.24 million people in the country are now aged 65 or above

Centre mulls adding more Centres of Excellence for rare disease patients

2-3 new CoEs likely to be added to the current count of 12

WHO tells South East Asian nations to intensify efforts to prevent drowning

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries in the South-East Asia region to strengthen measures to prevent drowning, which it says disproportionately affects children and vulnerable populations. According to WHO's first Global Status Report on Drowning Prevention, South-East Asia reported 83,000 drowning fatalities in 2021, accounting for 28 per cent of the global drowning burden. This contributes substantially to the nearly 30 lives lost to drowning every hour globally. Nearly 43 per cent of drowning fatalities in the region involved children aged 14 years or younger, the report said. Drowning is the third leading cause of death for children aged 5-14 years and the fourth leading cause of death for children aged 1-4 years, the WHO report said. "To save lives and ensure equitable safety for all, expanding and scaling up proven drowning prevention interventions across the region is not just essential, but a moral imperative," said Saima Wazed, WHO Regional Director

Interim results of malaria vaccine Phase 2b trial show 'promising efficacy'

A new malaria vaccine appears to be "safe and highly immunogenic", with "promising efficacy", according to interim results of the phase 2b clinical trial conducted in African children. The vaccine candidate, named 'RH5.1/Matrix-M', is a blood-stage type, targeting the malaria-causing parasite when it is present in the blood -- the stage of the parasite's life cycle when symptoms begin to show in the affected person. The trial results were published in "The Lancet Infectious Diseases" journal. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites, spread to humans through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Symptoms usually appear in the 10-15 days following the bite, with mild symptoms being fever, chills and headache, while the severe ones can include fatigue, confusion, seizures, and difficulty in breathing. Researchers, including those at Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sant, Burkina Faso, and the University of Oxford, UK, enrolled 361 children in the African country,

Sick kids wait months for Israeli permission to leave Gaza for treatment

The 12-year-old Palestinian boy was lying in a hospital bed in central Gaza, wracked with leukemia, malnourished and whimpering in pain despite the morphine doctors were giving him, when Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF official, said she saw him in late October. Islam al-Rayahen's family had asked Israeli authorities six times over the past months for permission to evacuate him from Gaza for a desperately needed stem cell transplant, Bollen said. Six times, the request was refused for unexplained security reasons, she said. Islam died three days after she saw him, Bollen said. Thousands of patients in Gaza are waiting for Israeli permission for urgently needed medical evacuation from Gaza for treatment of war wounds or chronic diseases they can't get after the destruction of much of the territory's health care system by Israel's 15-month military campaign. Among them are at least 2,500 children who UNICEF says must be transported immediately. They cannot afford to wait. These children wi

Tamil Nadu govt declares snake bite as notifiable disease in the state

Tamil Nadu government has declared snake bite as a notifiable disease in the state, thus making it mandatory for all government and private hospitals to report data to it for comprehensive prevention and treatment strategies like ramping up clinical infrastructure and allocation of anti-snake venom to prevent deaths. Snake bite has been declared as a notifiable disease in the state under the Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939. A Government Order (GO) to this effect was issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department on November 4 followed by a Gazette Notification published on November 6, a release here said on Friday. "Snake bite envenomation is an acute life-threatening medical condition. It is a preventable public health condition often faced by rural population in tropical and subtropical countries," the release said. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched a global strategy for controlling snake bite-induced deaths and disabilities. And a National Action Plan for ..

India records 17.7% decline in TB incidence from 2015 to 2023: WHO report

India has recorded a 17.7 per cent decline in tuberculosis incidence from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 195 in 2023, which is more than double the global decline of 8.3 per cent, Health Ministry sources have said citing a WHO report. In its Global TB Report 2024 released on October 29, WHO has acknowledged the tremendous progress India has made in closing the gap of missed tuberculosis cases since 2015, the sources said. "In 2023, India is estimated to have had 27 lakh TB cases, of which 25.1 lakh were diagnosed and put on treatment. This has buoyed India's treatment coverage to 89 per cent in 2023 from 72 per cent in 2015, thereby bridging the gap of missing cases," an official source said. The source said WHO has "acknowledged a drop in India's tuberculosis incidence from 237 per lakh population in 2015, to 195 per lakh population in 2023 accounting for a 17.7 per cent decline. "This is more than double the pace of decline as compared to the global decline of 8.3 per cent,"