Category: Health

16 January 2025  – Conflict, climate change, epidemics, and displacement are converging to create an unparalleled global health crisis, with 305 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in 2025. In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for US$ 1.5 billion for its 2025 Health Emergency Appeal (HEA), to support life-saving health interventions worldwide. […]

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. “Conflicts, outbreaks, climate-related disasters, and […]

Nigeria, like many other countries, is facing an escalating opioid crisis that is rapidly becoming a major public health challenge. Opioid misuse, particularly of drugs like tramadol, codeine, and pentazocine, has been increasing at an alarming rate, particularly among youth and vulnerable communities. The rising epidemic of opioid abuse poses significant threats not only to […]

“Allowing hate speech and harmful content online has real world consequences. Regulating this content is not censorship,” Volker Türk wrote on X. In a longer LinkedIn post on the same theme, Mr. Türk maintained that labelling efforts to create safe online spaces as “censorship…ignore[s] the fact that unregulated space means some people are silenced – […]

WHO spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva that the H5N1 virus causing the disease is “not circulating in humans but jumping into humans” who are exposed to poultry or dairy cattle. “We’re not seeing sustained circulation,” she insisted. Underlying conditions The man who died of the disease in Louisiana was over 65 and […]

Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV), a respiratory virus first identified in 2001, is currently spreading in China, contributing to the wave of respiratory illnesses this winter. While HMPV is not new, its rise in cases has prompted concerns about its potential impact, particularly as it emerges alongside other respiratory viruses like influenza and COVID-19. What Is HMPV? […]

A group of international experts has undertaken a critique of the clinical trials conducted to date on the value of hallucinogens in treating psychiatric disorders. Milad Fakurian/Unsplash Once sidelined in the 1970s, psychedelic substances – ranging from esketamine (a ketamine derivative) and psilocybin (the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms) to MDMA – are being reintroduced […]

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been diagnosed with severe pneumonia and will be unable to fulfill her official duties for the first two weeks of January, her office confirmed on Friday. In a brief statement, a spokesperson stated that von der Leyen is currently managing the illness, but did not disclose further […]

Recent reports indicate that China is grappling with an unidentified viral outbreak, causing a sharp rise in hospital admissions and placing significant strain on healthcare facilities. Hospital footage circulating on social media has revealed crowded emergency rooms, with patients donning face masks and long queues outside pediatric units. Meanwhile, unverified accounts suggest that local funeral […]

The cholera outbreak was detected in the camp in early October and subsequently confirmed by laboratory tests. Because Al Hol does not have a specialist treatment centre for acute watery diarrhoea, it is crucial that as many people are vaccinated as quickly as possible, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, insists.  “For the first time we […]