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WHO stands by action of issuing alert against Maiden Pharma cough syrup

Asserts that testing done in labs in Ghana and Switzerland confirmed excess levels of contaminated syrups that are "dangerous and should not be in any medicine, ever"

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WHO chief asks China to share data for identifying origins of Covid-19

World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday called on China to share the requested data concerning Covid-19 in a bid to understand the origins of the virus

WHO backs plan to turn Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal into a 'healthy city'

Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal is called the 'city of lakes', for which, the World Health Organization (WHO) has started preparations to make it a 'healthy city'.

WHO concerned over increasing antibiotic resistance in human infections

Countries with lower rates of testing, mostly low- and middle-income countries, are more likely to report significantly higher AMR rates

Covid burden falls in Africa but vigilance crucial in year-end season: WHO

Although the level of COVID-19 infections across the African continent is at its lowest since the start of the pandemic two years ago, a recent four-week sustained increase calls for maintaining vigilance as the year-end holiday season sets in, the World Health Organization's Africa director has said. Despite the recent uptick, there is hope that Africa will be spared the challenges of the previous two years, when surging cases and deaths withered normal life and caused deep devastation. While the current trends keep the pandemic under control, we are carefully monitoring its evolution, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa at an online media briefing Thursday. The investments made in the COVID-19 fight over the last three years were paying off, with the region better able to cope with the virus and its health emergency response systems bolstered, he said. We must remain vigilant, continue to increase vaccination coverage and be ready to adopt more stringent ..

Global tally of malaria cases, deaths remained stable in 2021, says WHO

The global number of malaria cases and deaths generally remained stable in 2021, thanks to redoubled efforts by affected countries, the WHO said

As Covid-19 becomes routine, African countries prepare for next crisis

Building on the experience of battling the COVID-19 pandemic, African countries are strengthening health systems to prepare for the next health crisis, the World Health Organization's Africa director said Thursday. At the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, some of the 54 countries in the continent of 1.3 billion people lacked the facilities or trained health workers to respond adequately to the health crisis, with some struggling to provide hospital isolation wards and intensive care units, Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization's Africa regional director, said at an online briefing Thursday. However, over the course of three years, African countries have ramped up investments in health infrastructure in the race against the pandemic with support from global donors, she said. The future, however difficult the past couple of years have been, will find us in a much better situation in terms of our strategies, our investments and our capacities to confront public health ...

WHO 'pleased' to see China ease harsh zero Covid-19 restrictions

A top official at the World Health Organisation said the UN agency was pleased to see China loosening some of its coronavirus restrictions, saying it's really important that governments listen to their people when the people are in pain. At a press briefing on Friday, WHO emergencies director Dr. Michael Ryan said the organisation was glad to see China adjusting their current strategies in trying to recalibrate their response to COVID-19. Last week, huge protests against the severe COVID-19 restrictions in China erupted in numerous cities, in the biggest show of opposition to the ruling Communist party in decades. We've all had to deal with restrictions of movement, we've all had to deal with having our lives changed and frankly, it's exhausting, Ryan said. The WHO has previously described China's zero-COVID strategy as not sustainable, saying that the super-infectious omicron variant made trying to stop every single case of COVID impossible. Ryan said using imported messenger RNA

WHO renames monkeypox as mpox, citing racism, discrimination concerns

The World Health Organisation has renamed monkeypox as mpox, citing concerns the original name of the decades-old animal disease could be construed as discriminatory and racist. The UN health agency said in a statement Monday that mpox was its new preferred name for monkeypox, saying that both monkeypox and mpox would be used for the next year while the old name is phased out. WHO said it was concerned by the racist and stigmatising language that arose after monkeypox spread to more than 100 countries. It said numerous individuals and countries asked the organisation to propose a way forward to change the name. In August, WHO began consulting experts about renaming the disease, shortly after the UN agency declared monkeypox's spread to be a global emergency. To date, there have been more than 80,000 cases identified in dozens of countries that had not previously reported the smallpox-related disease. Until May, monkeypox, a disease that is thought to originate in animals, was not .

A record 40 mn kids missed measles vaccine dose last year: WHO, US CDC

The World Health Organisation and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say measles immunisation has dropped significantly since the coronavirus pandemic began, resulting in a record high of nearly 40 million children missing a vaccine dose last year. In a report issued Wednesday, the WHO and the CDC said millions of children were now susceptible to measles, among the world's most contagious diseases. In 2021, officials said there were about 9 million measles infections and 128,000 deaths worldwide. The WHO and CDC said continued drops in vaccination, weak disease surveillance and delayed response plans due to COVID-19, in addition to ongoing outbreaks in more than 20 countries, mean that measles is an imminent threat in every region of the world. Scientists estimate that at least 95% of a population needs to be immunised to protect against epidemics; the WHO and the CDC reported that only about 81% of children receive their first dose of measles vaccine while 71% get

PM Narendra Modi meets WHO chief, IMF head during G20 summit at Bali

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali and said that India is committed towards ensuring a healthy planet.

Over 1.5 mn people had missed or delayed TB diagnosis in 2020: Study

Over 1.5 million people in 45 high-burden countries, including India, are estimated to have had a missed or delayed tuberculosis diagnosis in 2020 due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study. The research, published in the journal BMC Medicine, shows that children may be disproportionately affected in over half of countries analysed, those aged 65 or over in more than two thirds of countries, with sex being a risk factor in almost half of countries. The team, including researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UK, noted that vulnerable populations in high-burden countries worldwide must be prioritised in efforts to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis (TB) care. "Our results show that in many countries those who already faced the most difficulty in obtaining TB diagnosis and care have suffered worsening access as a result of the pandemic," said study joint lead author Finn McQuaid, from ...

WHO reports nearly 90% drop in Covid deaths globally since February

The World Health Organisation chief on Wednesday said a nearly 90% drop in recent COVID-19 deaths globally compared to nine months ago provides cause for optimism, but still urged vigilance against the pandemic as variants continue to crop up. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that last week just over 9,400 deaths linked to the coronavirus were reported to the WHO. In February of this year, he said, weekly deaths had topped 75,000 globally. We have come a long way, and this is definitely cause for optimism. But we continue to call on all governments, communities and individuals to remain vigilant, he said at a virtual news conference from the WHO's Geneva headquarters. Almost 10,000 deaths a week is 10,000 too many for a disease that can be prevented and treated. The WHO chief said testing and sequencing rates remain low globally, vaccination gaps between rich and poor countries are still wide, and new variants continue to proliferate. The U.N. health agency said th

Role of Maiden Pharma cough syrups in Gambia kids' deaths not confirmed

Indian Health ministry sources say the Haryana-based drug maker is currently being probed for lapses in good manufacturing practices

Tuberculosis cases surged for the first time in many years, says WHO

An estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis in 2021, an increase of 4.5 from 2020, and 1.6 million people died from TB, according to the World Health Organization's 2022 report

Centre restricts use of herbicide glyphosate over health hazards

Allows use only by authorised Pest Control Operators

WHO epidemiologist issues new advisory amid rise in Omicron variants

While the new Covid variants are causing fear worldwide, in India, they do not lead to more hospital admissions and deaths. Though it is considered mild, the new variants are still fast-spreading ones

Cough syrup deaths in Gambia serious issue, says WHO chief scientist

Chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Soumya Swaminathan on Thursday said the death of children in Gambia, potentially linked to four Indian-made cough syrups, was a serious issue. Swaminathan was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) here. A WHO report has linked the death of 66 children in Gambia to four Indian-made cough syrups. "Certainly, the government is in touch with WHO as WHO actually provided the report based on the investigation which was done to prove that it was because of the diethylene glycol contamination. It is a very serious issue and it has to be taken very seriously," said Swaminathan. In India there are central as well as state-level drug regulators and there is a need to harmonize their operations, she said. "There are no mechanisms where regulators of different states can actually work together, do the inspections on each other's products," .

Some countries may see another wave of Covid due to XBB subvariant: WHO

Chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Soumya Swaminathan, on Thursday said some countries may see "another wave of infections" with the XBB subvariant of Omicron, a variant of COVID-19 virus. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) here, she clarified that as of now, there was no data from any country to suggest that these new variants are clinically more severe. "There are over 300 subvariants of Omicron. I think the one that is concerning right now is XBB, which is a recombinant virus. We had seen some recombinant viruses earlier. It is very immune-evasive, which means it can overcome the antibodies. So slightly that we may see another wave of infections in some countries because of XBB," she said. Swaminathan said they are also tracking derivatives of BA.5 and BA.1, which are also more transmissible and immune-evasive. As the virus evolves, it is going to evolve mor