World Health Organization

Depression: let’s talk

7 April 2017 – WHO is leading a global campaign on depression for World Health Day 2017, celebrated today. Its goal is to enable more people with mental disorders to live healthy, productive lives. Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. More than 300 million people are now living with depression, an increase of more than 18% between 2005 and 2015.

Autism
Malaria
Depression
Lymphatic filariasis

Autism spectrum disorders affect 1 in 160 children

Three children within a larger group smile at each other.

WHO

6 April 2017 – Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) refers to a range of conditions characterised by impaired social behaviour and a narrow range of interests and activities. ASDs begin in childhood, and in most cases symptoms appear during the first 5 years of life. In consultation with partners WHO has developed a parent skills training programme which is currently undergoing field-testing.

WHO releases new guidance on malaria elimination

A child held by their mother in a clinic in Nepal

WHO/C. Black

3 April 2017 – The 2017 Framework for malaria elimination provides countries with a set of tools and strategies for achieving and maintaining elimination, regardless of where they lie across the spectrum of malaria transmission, from high to very low. The new framework includes a streamlined process for WHO certification of malaria elimination and clarifies the threshold for reestablishment of transmission.

Depression tops list of causes of ill health

Drawing of a colleague emotionally supporting another at a factory in China

WHO

31 March 2017 – WHO’s World Health Day campaign, the high point of which is 7 April, is themed “Depression: let’s talk”. The campaign’s aim is to have more people with depression, in all countries, both seek and get help. According to the latest WHO estimates, more than 300 million people are now living with depression, an increase of more than 18% between 2005 and 2015.

Marshall Islands triumphs against lymphatic filariasis

Children walking on the beach in the Marshall Islands

WHO/Y. Shimizu

1 April 2017 – The country is the latest to join six others in WHO's Western Pacific Region: Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Niue, the Republic of Korea and Vanuatu are already validated for eliminating the disease as a public health problem. In 2016, WHO validated the Maldives and Sri Lanka – both from the South East-Asia Region – for having achieved elimination. Lymphatic filariasis is a mosquito-borne disease that damages the lymphatic system, leading to severe disfigurement, pain and disability.

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Highlights

Reference Guide: Developing health financing strategy
April 2017 – A new guide published by WHO examines policy development for health financing, expanding on areas including revenue raising, pooling revenues, purchasing services, benefit design, and rationing mechanisms. Health financing is key to improving health system performance and progressing towards universal health coverage (UHC).

WHO alarmed by use of highly toxic chemicals as weapons in Syria
April 2017 – WHO is alarmed by serious reports of the use of highly toxic chemicals in an attack in Khan Shaykhun, southern rural Idleb, Syria. According to Health Cluster partners on the ground treating the patients, at least 70 people have died and hundreds more have been affected.

Study on the persistence of Zika virus in body fluids
April 2017 – Over the course of 2016, WHO along with the global research community quickly built evidence that Zika virus transmission through sex was not only possible, but more common than previously assumed. But many questions still remain unanswered.

WHO calls for increased support for health aid in Syria and refugee-hosting neighbouring countries
April 2017 – In Syria, limited specialized medical staff, ambulances, equipment and medical supplies have led to growing numbers of deaths which could have been prevented. Large numbers of wounded Syrians continue to die or face permanent disabilities as a result of limited access to medical care