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World Patient Safety Day: WHO stresses on ending unsafe medication practice

On World Patient Safety Day, WHO on Saturday highlighted the need to prevent avoidable harm in healthcare systems with a focus on ending unsafe medication practices and errors. In addition to causing significant disability and death, unsafe medication practices and errors cost an estimated USD 42 million around the world annually. In low- and middle-income countries including in the WHO South-East Asia Region patient harm due to unsafe care contributes to an estimated 134 million adverse events annually resulting in around 2.6 million deaths, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh said. Unsafe medication practices and errors can occur at different stages. It can result from weak medication systems or human factors such as fatigue, poor environmental conditions or staff shortages, she said in a statement. Since 2015, the WHO South-East Asia Region has made targeted efforts to reduce unsafe medication practices and errors with a focus on addressing ...

WHO strongly advises against use of 2 Covid-19 antibody therapies: BMJ

Two COVID-19 antibody treatments are no longer recommended by the World Health Organisation because Omicron and its subvariants have likely rendered them obsolete, according to a revised guideline published in the British Medical Journal. In the same guideline update, WHO makes a conditional recommendation for the use of the antiviral drug remdesivir in patients with severe COVID-19, and a conditional recommendation against its use in patients with critical disease. The WHO Guideline Development Group of international experts noted that antibody drugs sotrovimab and casirivimab-imdevimab are not recommended for patients with COVID-19. These drugs work by binding to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein -- which helps the virus to enter the cells -- neutralising its ability to infect. The "strong" recommendation replaces previous conditional recommendations for their use and is based on emerging evidence from laboratory studies that these drugs are not likely to work against currently ...

WHO saying end of pandemic within reach falls flat in Covid zero China

Chinese are reacting with pessimism and humor to the World Health Organization chief saying the end of the pandemic is within reach, with millions of people still locked down

Covid-19 deaths lowest since March 2020, end of pandemic in sight: WHO

WHO chief said that the number of weekly reported deaths from Covid-19 last week plunged to its lowest since March 2020 and added that the end of the pandemic is now in sight.

Top Headlines: Petro products export share rises; RBI rate hike, and more

With the price index surprising on the upside in August, many analysts have pencilled in a higher inflation print in September as well and accordingly expect the RBI to frontload policy rate hikes

'Covid end in sight, deaths at lowest since March 2020,' says WHO

The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that the number of coronavirus deaths worldwide last week was the lowest reported in the pandemic since March 2020, marking what could be a turning point in the years-long global outbreak. At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world has never been in a better position to stop COVID-19. We are not there yet, but the end is in sight, he said, comparing the effort to that made by a marathon runner nearing the finish line. Now is the worst time to stop running, he said. Now is the time to run harder and make sure we cross the line and reap all the rewards of our hard work. In its weekly report on the pandemic, the U.N. health agency said deaths fell by 22% in the past week, at just over 11,000 reported worldwide. There were 3.1 million new cases, a drop of 28%, continuing a weeks-long decline in the disease in every part of the world. Still, the WHO warned that relaxed COVID testi

17 mn in Europe experienced long Covid; WHO urges nation to find solution

At least 17 million people in the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Region experienced the post-Covid-19 condition, or long Covid, in the first two years of the pandemic

Essential medicines to get cheaper in India after the release of NLEM

The medicines listed in the NLEM are sold below a price ceiling fixed by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)

WHO releases global guidelines to boost helmet use, curb pedestrian deaths

The World Health Organisation has come up with two guidelines for policymakers on helmet use and pedestrian safety to help curb the global scourge of road traffic deaths and injuries. The guidelines, co-written by experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), on the use of helmets for riders of powered two and three-wheelers and on pedestrian safety, include new evidence and case studies. According to top officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO), road traffic crashes kill over 1.3 million people every year more than two every minute with nine in 10 deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Globally, road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among children and young people aged between 5 and 29 years, WHO officials stated. "These new manuals are crucial tools to help policymakers build the safe mobility systems we need to halve deaths from crashes by 2030," said Dr Nhan Tran, Head of Safety and Mobility at WHO. "With poor infrastructure, ...

1 person dying every 44 seconds due to Covid infection: WHO chief

As the world embarks on living a normal life post the pandemic amid declining cases, the WHO has warned that one person with Covid-19 is still dying every 44 seconds globally

WHO Regional Committee member countries vow to strengthen health systems

The 75th session of the Regional Committee for WHO South-East Asia concluded in Bhutan on Friday with member countries vowing to strengthen health systems, accelerating multisectoral actions and re-energising comprehensive primary health services to build societies that are more inclusive, equitable and resilient against present and future emergencies. Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, said focus must be on identify vulnerable populations and how best their health needs can be addressed. We are at a history-defining juncture. Over the past two and a half years, the region and the world have witnessed immense transformative change, she said. "It is important for us not just to spend more on health, but to spend efficiently and spend equitably. Our focus must be on vulnerable populations, we must identify them and see how best we can address their needs. We cannot leave anyone behind as we seek to drive rapid and sustained progress towards universal ..

WHO launches $1.5 bn drive against bacterial meningitis outbreaks in Africa

The World Health Organisation on Thursday said it is launching a USD 1.5 billion campaign, hopefully including a new vaccine, to eliminate outbreaks of bacterial meningitis across Africa by 2030. Meningitis vaccinations for more than 50 million children in Africa have been delayed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting fears of a resurgence of the deadly disease. In a race against time", WHO regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said that a next generation vaccine against meningitis will be rolled out in 26 African countries most affected by the disease. She said WHO hopes to authorize the vaccine by the first quarter of 2023, which would then enable donors to buy it for Africa. Moeti said the vaccine, has shown in clinical trials to be safe and effective against multiple forms of meningitis. The vaccine could be rolled out next year and administered in widespread drives until 2030, when the WHO hopes to have stopped bacterial meningitis outbreaks in the continent of 54 ...

WHO warns of worsening humanitarian situation in flood-ravaged Pakistan

Countries like China, the United States, France, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and other countries have been sending relief aids, launching a huge airlift operation from Dubai

Covid cases drops by 12% in the world, but pandemic not over: WHO

The number of new coronavirus cases fell everywhere in the world last week by about 12 per cent, according to the World Health Organisation's latest weekly review of the pandemic issued on Wednesday. The UN health agency reported that there were just under 4.2 million new infections last week and about 13,700 deaths -- a 5 per cent drop. This is very encouraging, but there is no guarantee these trends will persist, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing. The most dangerous thing is to assume (that) they will, he said. He added that even though the number of weekly reported deaths have plummeted more than 80 per cent since February, one person still dies with COVID-19 every 44 seconds and that most of those deaths are avoidable. In its pandemic report, WHO said COVID-19 deaths dropped in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East, but increased in Africa, the Americas and the Western Pacific. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, no

Over 99% population breathes air exceeding WHO's PM2.5 guidelines: Report

Over 99 per cent of India's population is breathing air that exceeds the World Health Organisation's health-based guidelines with respect to PM2.5, a report by Greenpeace India said. According to the key findings in the report titled "Different Air Under One Sky", the greatest proportion of people living in India are exposed to PM2.5 concentrations more than five times the WHO annual average guideline. It further said 62 per cent of pregnant women in the country live in the most polluted areas, compared to 56 per cent people in the whole population. As per the report's annual average PM2.5 exposure analysis, the region with the highest exposure to pollution in the country is Delhi-NCR. It listed older adults, infants and pregnant women as the most vulnerable groups who are "exposed to worse air". PM2.5 refers to fine particles which penetrate deep into the body and fuel inflammation in the lungs and respiratory tract, leading to the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory problems,

Flood situation in Pakistan highly likely to boost disease spread: WHO

The catastrophic flood situation in Pakistan will highly likely increase the spread of disease, says the World Health Organization (WHO), as the country continues its battle against the deadly deluges

Covid-19 hospitalisations, deaths may increase with colder weather: WHO

The WHO chief said that the current subvariants of Omicron are more transmissible than their predecessors, and the risk of the emergence of even more transmissible and more dangerous variants remains

WHO pledges to provide $4 mn worth of medical supplies to Sri Lanka

WHO Director-General also said that they have recognised the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka and the impact Covid-19 was having on the health system

Number of newly reported monkeypox cases decreases worldwide: WHO

Worldwide, 5,907 cases were reported during the week, compared to 7,477 the week before

Covid deaths down by 15% worldwide in past week, cases fall by 9%: WHO

The number of coronavirus deaths reported worldwide fell by 15% in the past week while new infections dropped by 9%, the World Health Organisation said Wednesday. In its latest weekly assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.N. health agency said there were 5.3 million new cases and more than 14,000 deaths reported last week. WHO said the number of new infections declined in every world region except the Western Pacific. Deaths jumped by more than 183% in Africa but fell by nearly a third in Europe and by 15% in the Americas. Still, WHO warned that COVID-19 numbers are likely severely underestimated as many countries have dropped their testing and surveillance protocols to monitor the virus, meaning that there are far fewer cases being detected. WHO said the predominant COVID-19 variant worldwide is omicron subvariant BA.5, which accounts for more than 70% of virus sequences shared with the world's biggest public viral database. Omicron variants account for 99% of all sequences