Ten days after a 7.7 magnitude quake levelled buildings and buckled bridges across central Myanmar, the latest death toll has passed 3,500 and is “likely to rise”, said Titon Mitra, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Representative in the country, speaking from the devastated city of Mandalay. He said that the...
Close to 300,000 women continue to die during pregnancy or childbirth each year. More than two million babies die in their first month of life and around two million more are stillborn, says the World Health Organization (WHO) which is kicking off a year-long campaign on maternal and newborn health. The...
The UN health agency registered almost 810,000 cases and 5,900 deaths from the preventable disease in 2024; that’s about 50 per cent higher than the previous year, according to Dr Philippe Barboza, who leads WHO’s cholera team. He said the latest reported cases are almost certainly underestimates and that the...
The Second WHO Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health co-hosted by the World Health Organization and Colombia, in the city of Cartagena, brought together over 700 participants from 100 countries – including heads of state, ministers, scientists, and civil society groups — to accelerate action to curb what’s increasingly...
Córdoba in Argentina, Fortaleza in Brazil and Manchester in the UK picked up accolades at a healthy cities summit, co-hosted by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), Bloomberg Philanthropies and Vital Strategies. The Argentinian city won recognition for its policy to eliminate sugary and artificially sweetened drinks – along with...
Unanimously adopting resolution 2777 (2025), the 15-member council stressed the “critical importance” of a continued presence of UNAMA and other UN agencies across Afghanistan. The council also expressed appreciation for the UN’s long-term commitment to the country and its people, reiterating its full support for UNAMA and the Special Representative...
A young mother, five children in tow, steps off a train in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, holding a small bag. She is fleeing Russian attacks in the Zaporizhzhia region, she is also escaping a violent partner, a man who once beat her so severely she suffered a miscarriage....
“The crisis is worsening as people flee to areas where humanitarian aid cannot reach due to insecurity,” UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Eujin Byun told reporters in Geneva. The development comes a day after the top UN aid official in the country Bruno Lemarquis warned that a shortage of humanitarian routes...
In a media briefing on Tuesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the consequences of funding suspensions, including disruptions to HIV treatment, setbacks in polio eradication and limited resources for responding to mpox epidemics in Africa. “The suspension of funding to PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, caused...
The internet also remains down in the provincial capital and only mobile phone networks are functioning, with M23 fighters apparently in control of “a significant portion of the city” after intense clashes with the Congolese army, UN agencies reported on Wednesday. Aid teams from the UN World Health Organization (WHO) “cannot move...
“The WHO regrets the announcement that the United States of America intends to withdraw from the Organization…We hope the United States will reconsider,” said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic, hours after the new President signed an executive order at the White House, bringing US involvement in the UN agency to an...
In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for $1.5 billion through its 2025 Health Emergency Appeal, to deliver life-saving health interventions worldwide. The appeal, unveiled on Thursday by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, outlines the urgent priorities for addressing 42 ongoing health emergencies, including 17 requiring immediate and coordinated action....