WHO calls for action to halt rise in hearing loss in Africa

Hearing loss already costs the continent $27 million annually, exacting profound impact on lives and economies, according to the report, which was launched at the African Summit on Hearing Impairment in Nairobi, Kenya. Widespread hearing loss disproportionately affects poor and vulnerable populations. WHO warned that without urgent interventions it will continue to escalate, amplifying existing […]

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WHO highlights mental health crisis facing Israel’s frontline workers a year after 7 October attack

Responders including ambulance drivers, health workers and forensic teams who identified many of the dead, all witnessed “carnage and horror” which resulted in lasting trauma. An organization named Mashiv Ha’Ruach, which means “Bringing back the spirit”, provided mental health and psychosocial support through workshop retreats supported by WHO/Europe. These sessions allowed workers to discuss their […]

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A letter from a mother in Gaza: Hardships, heartbreak and hope

That day was in November 2023, around a month into the war in Gaza. Ala’a is among an estimated 155,000 pregnant women and new mothers in the Gaza Strip who for the past year have been forced to give birth under fire, in tents, while fleeing bombs and often without assistance, medication or even clean water. […]

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WHO approves first mpox diagnostic test for emergency use

The Alinity m MPXV assay is a real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test that enables detection of monkeypox virus DNA from human skin lesion swabs.   It is manufactured by Abbott Molecular Inc, an American company, and specifically designed for use by trained clinical laboratory personnel. ‘A significant milestone’ “This first mpox diagnostic test listed under […]

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WHO calls for urgent overhaul of care systems for older people as population ages

Anshu Banerjee, head of WHO’s division on maternal, child and adolescent health and ageing, emphasized the need for rethinking how care is delivered to older people. “We all require support to care for ourselves at some point in our lives, but we are more likely to require care the longer we live,” he said. “However, […]

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Invisible killer: What is antimicrobial resistance?

Ahead of the General Assembly’s high-level meeting on AMR on 26 September, here’s what you need to know: What is AMR? Since their discovery a century ago, antimicrobial medicines, from antibiotics to antivirals, have significantly extended average life expectancy. Every day, these essential medicines save millions of lives, until they don’t. AMR occurs when microorganisms like […]

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World News in Brief: 1.3 billion teens suffering mental disorders, Russia’s Indigenous Peoples face ‘extinction’, Belarus rights update

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that failing to address the mental, sexual and reproductive health of adolescents will have “serious and life-threatening consequences for young people”. It will also come at a massive cost for society, which justifies a major public investment from governments worldwide. Tedros noted that anaemia among adolescent girls remains “prevalent” […]

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Sanitary disaster in Gaza ‘worsening by the day’, warns UNRWA

In a new alert, UNRWA highlighted how Gazans’ shelters have become a target for insects and rodents after more than 11 months of war – echoing deep concerns among humanitarians about the lack of basic hygiene items that have left families unprotected from communicable diseases. Echoing those warnings, top independent rights experts meeting at UN […]

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Gaza: Six UNRWA staff killed in strikes on school sheltering displaced people

 “This is the highest death toll among our staff in a single incident,” UNRWA said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. At least 34 people were killed in the strikes, according to media reports. UNRWA said the shelter manager and other team members were among the victims. Killings ‘totally unacceptable’: […]

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Gaza: WHO chief hails ‘massive success’ of polio campaign amid tragic reality

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted that it had been “a massive success amidst a tragic daily reality of life” for more than two million Gazans who have been caught up in the intense fighting since last October’s terror attacks by Hamas unleashed the war in Gaza. In three phases over twelve days, from 1 […]

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