SRINAGAR, INDIA – When record-breaking rains, landslides and cloudbursts lashed northern India in late August — across Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh — highways turned into rivers, homes collapsed and death tolls mounted. But beneath the visible destruction lies a quieter emergency: public health systems buckling under the strain. In Kashmir, the Jhelum […] Continue reading ->
A new White House “pocket rescission package” threatens to throw the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Americas branch of the World Health Organization, into a financial crisis – if it is not stopped by the US Congress before the end of September. The White House order, announced on the eve of the long US […] Continue reading ->
Plastics are a “grave, growing and under-recognised danger” to people and the planet, causing “disease and death” from infancy to old age, a landmark review has found. The Lancet Plastics Countdown, published as diplomats from around the world arrived in Geneva on Monday for the overtime round of talks on a global plastics treaty, estimates […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization has reduced its global headcount by about 221 people since January, down to 9,231 as compared to 9452 at the start of January – largely through a termination of temporary contracts and a freeze in renewals. Most of the cutbacks have been at the Geneva Headquarters, WHO’s largest office, where […] Continue reading ->
Dr Joanne Liu, a veteran humanitarian and former international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has seen the front lines of global health crises—from Ebola in West Africa to bombed-out hospitals in Afghanistan. But her message today is clear: “An imperfect solution is better than no solution.” Speaking on the Global Health Matters podcast, Liu […] Continue reading ->
A three-year investigation by the World Health Organization found that loneliness and social isolation contribute to 871,000 deaths worldwide every year, a death toll researchers said places social health in a tier “as damaging as other public health risks” such as air pollution, tobacco and alcohol. The landmark report by the WHO Commission on […] Continue reading ->
Air pollution is barely acknowledged in the draft political declaration for the upcoming fourth UN High-Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health. The omission of the world’s leading contributor to disease threatens global progress in tackling heart disease, respiratory diseases, stroke, cancer, and other chronic illnesses. Since the last UN General Assembly High-Level […] Continue reading ->
Chikwe Ihekweazu, the first director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and currently head of the Health Emergencies Programme for the World Health Organization, believes that greater African leadership in global health organizations would benefit everyone. “These roles require not only technical competence, but also empathy and compassion, which I believe can only develop […] Continue reading ->
The world’s leading polio eradication programme faces a 40% budget cut next year as the paralysis-causing virus surges in its last strongholds of Afghanistan and Pakistan and war-torn regions, threatening to reverse decades of progress toward eradicating the disease. “The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is facing a 40% budget cut in 2026,” Dr Hanan Balkhy, […] Continue reading ->
Addressing today’s global health challenges requires more than funding and innovation—it demands humility, open communication, and a shared commitment to collective action, according to IFPMA Director-General David Reddy. Reddy, speaking at an IFPMA side event during the 78th World Health Assembly, acknowledged the socio-political and financial barriers facing global health systems. However, he urged the […] Continue reading ->
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