The virus is still circulating globally but relatively few countries are following infections closely, meaning the actual threat due to the coronavirus and its variants could be anything from two to 19 times higher than what is being reported to WHO. The agency’s COVID focal point, Dr Maria Van Kerhove,...
“Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very existence – while the world watches on”, warned Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths in a statement, adding that “hope has never been more elusive” amidst deteriorating conditions. “The humanitarian community has been left with the impossible mission of supporting more than...
This summer will be “the first in more than three years that many of us will enjoy without the looming threat of COVID-19”, but the life-threatening virus has not gone away completely, WHO’s regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, told reporters at a virtual press conference from Copenhagen. Each week, the...
The guidance provides a joined-up approach for responding to the threat or arrival of any respiratory pathogen such as flu or the range of coronaviruses, that have the ability to rapidly mutate into different variants. The new Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats Initiative, or PRET, incorporates the latest tools and approaches for...
In its State of the World’s Children 2023 report, UNICEF says that vaccination coverage levels decreased in 112 countries during the pandemic, “the largest sustained backslide in childhood immunization in 30 years”. According to the agency, a rise in misleading information on vaccines is one of the factors at play....
Dressed in black with a flowing cape and extravagantly oversized hat, performer Kurt Layne’s distinctive macabre ensemble blends influences from film depictions of the American wild west with West African culture. He cuts an imposing figure as he struts along a road bringing to life a traditional Carnival character, the...
Dr. Hans Kluge, head of the World Health Organization for Europe, explained that this is because the two variants circulating in China are already present in European countries, according to data provided by the Chinese authorities. “We share the current view of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)...
To make a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu told journalists at a regular briefing in Geneva that WHO needs more detailed information on disease severity, hospital admissions and requirements for ICU support. “WHO is supporting China to focus its efforts on vaccinating people at...
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the pandemic has caused many additional problems for 15 to 24-year-olds who’ve experienced “much higher” unemployment losses than older workers since the global health emergency was declared in early 2020. Young women have struggled more than their male counterparts to find work, while...
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s appeal comes as confirmed coronavirus cases jumped nearly 30 per cent in the past two weeks, with increased infections in four out of six regions of the world. Agreeing terms “Our organizations are still trying to finalize with Pfizer the appropriate terms and conditions for low and...
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 reveals that the convergence of increased fighting, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and the long-term climate crisis, could push an additional 75 to 95 million people into extreme poverty this year – compared with pre-pandemic projections – and jeopardize the SDG blueprint for more resilient,...
The experts will meet on June 23 to assess whether the continuing outbreak represents a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the highest level of global alert, which currently applies only to the COVID-19 pandemic and polio. So far this year, more than 1,600 confirmed cases and almost 1,500 suspected...