​​Gains in fight to control yellow fever outbreak: but response must continue

6 August 2016 – The yellow fever epidemic in Angola appears to be declining, with no new cases confirmed in the last 6 weeks. However, WHO and partners continue to provide support to Angola as well as to Democratic Republic of the Congo to control the outbreak there. More than 17 million additional people are expected to be vaccinated in massive campaigns scheduled to take place in both countries before the rainy season begins in this part of Africa in September.

Viet Nam campaign normalizes breastfeeding, improves rates

A nurse helps a new mother to breastfeed in Viet Nam.
UNICEF/T. Viet Hung

2 August 2016 – If all children aged 0–23 months were optimally breastfeed, more than 800 000 children could be saved every year. WHO and UNICEF are leading a global Breastfeeding Advocacy Initiative to ensure that rates of exclusive breastfeeding improve to at least 50% by 2025. In Viet Nam an awareness programme has reached more than 2.3 million mothers and increased exclusive breastfeeding rates in targeted areas by 62%.

Mobile labs deliver faster yellow fever test results

Mobile lab story on yellow fever. DRC
WHO/D. Lourenco

29 July 2016 -- In order to strengthen and fast track diagnosis of yellow fever, WHO has supported the deployment of a mobile laboratory to Democratic Republic of the Congo. This mobile lab brings much-needed equipment and supplies for testing blood samples for yellow fever. Packaged into several boxes, the lab is portable and easy to set-up within any existing health facility or building.

Increasing knowledge of, and access to testing for, hepatitis

World Hepatitis Day 2016
WHO

25 July 2016 – A staggering 95% of people infected with hepatitis B or C do not know they are infected, often living without symptoms for many years. Ahead of World Hepatitis Day, 28 July 2016, WHO and its partner, Social Entrepreneurship for Sexual Health (SeSH), recently launched a global contest to find innovative ways to reach different populations and encourage testing for hepatitis.

Trachoma: leading infectious cause of blindness

28 July 2017 – Trachoma infection is transmitted through contact with eye and nose discharge of infected people, particularly young children. It is a public health problem in 42 countries, and is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of about 1.9 million people. This updated fact sheet looks not only at the clinical characteristics and morbidity of trachoma, but also at strategies for prevention and control.

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Outbreaks and emergencies

Emergencies » Ebola outbreak » MERS-CoV outbreak » South Sudan crisis » Yellow fever » Zika virus and complications »

Mosquito-borne diseases

Diseases and the mosquitoes that cause them

Deadliest animal in the world

Mosquitoes are one of the deadliest animals in the world. Their ability to carry and spread disease to humans causes millions of deaths every year. Zika, yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, malaria, and West Nile virus are just some of these diseases.

Highlights

  • Survey: Global Strategy on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property
    Stakeholders including civil society, charitable foundations, research institutions, and academia are encouraged to participate in an assessment of the "Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property", in order to document achievements and make recommendations on the way forward.
  • Two years free from wild polio in Nigeria
    July 2016 -- The 24th of July marks 2 years with no cases of wild poliovirus in Nigeria – a milestone for the polio eradication programme. Innovation has underpinned this progress, including novel strategies and the incredible commitment of tens of thousands of health workers.
  • Tropical Data helps countries collect and leverage data
    July 2016 − A new WHO initiative called Tropical Data provides an end-to-end epidemiological survey support service, covering planning and protocol development, training, data processing, and application of the survey outputs. The initiative will initially focus on supporting trachoma prevalence surveys.
  • Antibiotics needed for maternal and congenital syphilis
    July 2016 – New evidence shows that shortages of benzathine penicillin are prevalent in countries with high numbers of pregnant women and infants who are infected with syphilis. Shortages of this antibiotic may lead to a lack of treatment for pregnant women, and ultimately to adverse birth and health outcomes.

Disease outbreak news

Emergency reform

WHO reform has 3 aims: programmatic reform, governance reform, and managerial reform.

Zika virus and complications

After a spike in cases of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with Zika virus, WHO declared a public health emergency.

Commentaries

Two wounded men lie in beds in a hospital in Kragujevac, Serbia.

Universal health coverage: Unique challenges, bold solutions

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to achieving universal health coverage… Aging populations and the burgeoning burden of noncommunicable diseases present unique challenges that will require all countries to reshape their health systems."

Marie-Paule Kieny,
WHO Assistant Director-General, Health Systems and Innovation

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What we do

Dr Chan, WHO Director-General, visits Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, three of the four countries where indigenous transmission of wild poliovirus has not yet been interrupted.
WHO

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Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable development goals poster

From MDGs to SDGs