WHO news releases

World Health Assembly opens to discuss major health issues

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:01:00 GMT

20 May 2013 -- WHO's Health Assembly, the world's largest health policy-making body, opened its Sixty-sixth Session today in Geneva with around 3000 participants from around the world.

Yellow fever vaccination booster not needed

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:01:00 GMT

17 May 2013 -- The yellow fever ‘booster’ vaccination given ten years after the initial vaccination is not necessary, according to WHO.

WHO statistics show narrowing health gap between countries with best and worst health status

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:01:00 GMT

15 May 2013 -- The world has made dramatic progress in improving health in the poorest countries and narrowing the gaps between countries with the best and worst health status in the past two decades, according to the World Health Statistics 2013.

WHO encourages patient participation for hand hygiene in health care

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:01:00 GMT

3 May 2013 -- On Hand Hygiene Day (5 May), WHO is encouraging patients and their family members to join health workers in their efforts to practice good hand hygiene. Every year, hundreds of millions of patients around the world are affected by health care-associated infections. These lead to significant physical and psychological suffering and sometimes death of patients, and financial losses for health systems. More than half of these infections could be prevented by caregivers properly cleaning their hands at key moments in patient care.

Global leaders support new six-year plan to deliver a polio-free world by 2018

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:01:00 GMT

25 April 2013 – Today, at the Global Vaccine Summit, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) presented a comprehensive six-year plan, the first plan to eradicate all types of polio disease – both wild poliovirus and vaccine-derived cases – simultaneously. Global leaders and individual philanthropists signaled their confidence in the plan by pledging close to three-quarters of the plan’s projected US$ 5.5 billion cost over six years.

WHO launches emergency response to antimalarial drug resistance

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:01:00 GMT

24 April 2013 -- On World Malaria Day, 25 April, WHO recognizes significant accomplishments in preventing and controlling malaria, including in high-burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but highlights the threat of antimalarial drug resistance in south-east Asia’s Greater Mekong subregion, where an emergency response is now being launched.

Better supply systems key to reach all children with life-saving vaccines

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:01:00 GMT

18 April 2013 -- An estimated 22 million children in developing countries are still not protected from dangerous diseases with basic vaccines. For World Immunization Week, which starts on 20 April, experts state that better supply and logistics systems are essential to reach all children.

WHO/UNICEF: New plan to address pneumonia and diarrhoea could save 2 million children a year

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:01:00 GMT

12 April 2013 -- A new Global Action Plan launched today by the WHO and UNICEF has the potential to save up to 2 million children every year from deaths caused by pneumonia and diarrhoea, some of the leading killers of children under five globally.

World Health Day 2013: measure your blood pressure, reduce your risk

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:00:00 GMT

3 April 2013 -- To mark World Health Day on 7 April, WHO is calling for intensified efforts to prevent and control hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. Worldwide, high blood pressure is estimated to affect more than one in three adults aged 25 and over, or about one billion people.

World Health Organization and Global Fund cite tuberculosis threat

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:01:00 GMT

18 March 2013 -- WHO and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria said today that strains of tuberculosis with resistance to multiple drugs could spread widely and highlight an annual need of at least US$ 1.6 billion in international funding for treatment and prevention of the disease.

Few countries have road safety laws addressing all five key risk factors

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:01:00 GMT

14 March 2013 -- A new WHO report on road safety calls for more comprehensive legislation addressing the five key road safety risk factors to reduce fatalities and injuries. The Global status report on road safety 2013: supporting a decade of action, launched today, states that only 28 countries, covering 7% of the world’s population, have comprehensive road safety laws on drinking and driving, speeding, and failing to use motorcycle helmets, seat-belts, and child restraints.

Child marriages: 39,000 every day

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 09:01:00 GMT

7 March 2013 --Between 2011 and 2020, more than 140 million girls will become child brides, according to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). If current levels of child marriages hold, 14.2 million girls annually or 39 000 daily will marry too young.

Global report on Fukushima nuclear accident details health risks

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:00:00 GMT

28 February 2013 -- A comprehensive assessment by international experts on the health risks associated with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP) disaster in Japan has concluded that, for the general population inside and outside of Japan, the predicted risks are low and no observable increases in cancer rates above baseline rates are anticipated.

Effects of human exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals examined in landmark UN report

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:01:00 GMT

19 February 2013 -- Many synthetic chemicals, untested for their disrupting effects on the hormone system, could have significant health implications according to the State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and WHO.

WHO, WIPO, WTO release study on health innovation and access to medicines

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:01:00 GMT

5 February 2013 -- For the first time, the three global intergovernmental bodies dealing with health, intellectual property and trade have pooled their expertise on a study of policies needed to advance medical and health technologies and to ensure they reach the people who need them.

WHO heralds “new phase” in the fight against neglected tropical diseases

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:01:00 GMT

16 January 2013 -- WHO reports unprecedented progress against 17 neglected tropical diseases thanks to a new global strategy, a regular supply of quality assured, cost-effective medicines and support from global partners. The report Sustaining the drive to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases reveals new momentum has shifted the world closer to the elimination of many of these conditions that take their greatest toll amongst the poor.

Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products opened for signature

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 09:01:00 GMT

10 January 2013 -- The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, adopted by the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in November, was opened for signature by the Parties in a ceremony at WHO Headquarters. The new international treaty is aimed at combating illegal trade in tobacco products through control of the supply chain and international cooperation.

New report signals slowdown in the fight against malaria

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 09:01:00 GMT

17 December 2012 -- After a rapid expansion of malaria prevention and control programmes between 2004 and 2009, global funding to fight malaria levelled off between 2010 and 2012. According to the World malaria report 2012, a funding slowdown could reverse recent gains in the fight against one of the world’s leading infectious killers.

100 millionth person receives lifesaving meningitis vaccine

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:01:00 GMT

3 December 2012 -- A revolutionary meningitis vaccine will reach the 100 millionth person this week in a region of Africa that has been plagued by deadly epidemics for more than a century. The milestone will take place in northern Nigeria, part of Africa’s ‘meningitis belt’, where the country is conducting its second seasonal immunization campaign against the disease.

New international protocol adopted to combat illicit trade in tobacco products

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 09:01:00 GMT

12 November 2012 -- A new international treaty Monday, sets the rules for combating the illegal tobacco trade through control of the supply chain and international cooperation. In adopting this new Protocol today by consensus, countries have reiterated their historic commitment towards protecting the health of their citizens, particularly the young and vulnerable.