Category: Health

“Extreme heat is increasing, disrupting children’s health, well-being and daily routines,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. The study compared averages in the 1960s with the period 2020-2024, measuring the days which exceeded 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). It presents a stark warning over the speed and scale at which such days are increasing for almost half a […]

“At least two rounds of [orally delivered polio vaccine] will be necessary to shut down transmission,” the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) explained in an update. The development comes after vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 was identified on 16 July by the Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN) in sewage samples collected on […]

In an update, the WHO said that an outbreak of mpox was declared in Burundi on 25 July, at around the same time that Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda also confirmed their own cases.  The UN health agency noted that all of these infections – where patients’ symptoms included fever, joint pain and a widespread rash […]

In light of the situation, and the potential for further international spread within and outside Africa, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convened an Emergency Committee to advise him on whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern. The designation is the UN agency’s highest level of alert. “The committee will meet as […]

The past two weeks have seen a variant of poliovirus type 2 detected in sewage samples in Gaza, deadly military strikes in several neighbouring countries, and the confirmation of famine in Sudan’s North Darfur state, among other challenges. Rebuild health systems WHO Regional Director Dr. Hanan Balkhy voiced grave concern over the ongoing escalation across […]

The UN health agency is also concerned that more severe variants of the coronavirus may soon be on the horizon. “COVID-19 is still very much with us,” and circulating in all countries, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove of WHO told journalists in Geneva. Testing positive “Data from our sentinel-based surveillance system across 84 countries reports that the percent […]

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell and WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the appeal in a joint statement to mark the start of World Breastfeeding Week, observed annually from 1-7 August. “When mothers receive the support they need to breastfeed their babies, everyone benefits. Improving breastfeeding rates could save over 820,000 children’s lives each […]

The new study has shown that Ustekinumab, an established immunotherapy that has been used to treat psoriasis since 2009, is effective in preserving the body’s ability to produce insulin in type 1 diabetes. The results bring the goal of managing type 1 diabetes without insulin a step closer. The study was funded by a Medical […]

In one particularly appalling attack, a hospital was struck last Friday alongside residential areas and a livestock market in North Darfur state that killed or injured at least 97 civilians. Attacks against medical facilities, personnel and supplies, which violate international human law and have left healthcare system in Sudan “hanging by a thread”, the UN […]

It sounds like science fiction. People who are completely paralyzed due to brain injury, brainstem stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease), and express words with their mouths can “speak” artificially using only the power of thought.  Loss of speech due to injury or disease is devastating. Now, this scientific breakthrough by researchers from […]