Health Policy Watch

27/12/2023

Who among us can still deny that climate change is a direct threat to human health? Ours is an age when humanitarian disasters as a result of wildfires, flooding, heatwaves and hurricanes have become the norm.

In early December, I was one of the nearly 100,000 delegates at COP28, the biggest climate conference ever held. As a senior health professional and

22/12/2023

Another growing concern is the fact that dengue outbreaks are occurring in fragile and conflict-affected countries in the eastern Mediterranean region such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.

Incidence of dengue virus has soared in 2023 to near historically high levels, WHO reported on Friday with more than 5 million cases worldwide and 5,000

21/12/2023

Some 100 million doses of the new vaccine are reportedly ready for rollout by SII, a major supplier of vaccines in Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has added the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine to its list of 'prequalified' vaccines, paving the way for bulk procurement and

21/12/2023

Governments are more focused on recruitment than retention of nurses, added Catton – and international recruitment by certain wealthy countries is decimating the healthcare in less affluent countries.

The worldwide shortage of nurses should be considered a “global health emergency” – yet governments are failing to invest in measures to retain these

20/12/2023

From earthquakes in Afghanistan to floods in Libya and the conflicts in Gaza and Sudan, WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region, is beset with one of the world’s largest concentrations of people trapped in humanitarian crises and in desperate need of emergency health services, food aid, as well as peace, said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Tuesday.

From earthquakes in Afghanistan to floods in Libya and the conflicts in Gaza and Sudan, WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region, is beset with one of the world's

19/12/2023

The 19 countries surveyed dumped 0.7 doses per resident – with Estonia and Germany being the most wasteful, according to Politico, which broke the story this week.

Days after government officials took a break from frenetic pandemic accord negotiations, news broke that European countries had destroyed at least 215 million

19/12/2023

Country spending was highest on hospitals, accounting for 40% of expenditure, followed by ambulatory care (outpatients) providers (19%–24%) and pharmacies (16%–23%).

Global spending on health increased during 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching a record $9.8 trillion or 10.3% of global gross domestic

18/12/2023

Health and humanitarian crises associated with raging conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, Myanmar, Haiti, DR Congo and other conflict hotspots were also top on the agenda of WHO, as well as other UN agencies in as second press briefing Friday morning, looking back on 2023.

"We single out fossil fuels because it's not just one of the contributors, it is the major contributor to climate change," said Dr Tedros, at the Friday

14/12/2023

A spike in COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia has prompted Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia to reintroduce screening for travellers at airports.

A spike in COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia has prompted Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia to reintroduce screening for travellers at airports.

14/12/2023

Known as the quadripartite, the four are the Food and Agriculture Organization , UN Environment Programme (UNEP), World Health Organization (WHO) and World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

14/12/2023

“Nearly 90% of the global burden of disease associated with climate change is borne by children under the age of five,” according to UNICEF.

The outsized effect of climate change on young children represents an “intergenerational injustice”, according to experts speaking at a side event on maternal

14/12/2023

The final agreement calls for a “just, orderly, and equitable” transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems to achieve “net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”

The COP28 climate summit, the largest of its kind, concluded with a historic but contentious agreement to transition away from fossil fuels, endorsed by 198

13/12/2023

The negotiations extended into overtime, familiar to COP proceedings, as diplomats from nearly 200 countries attempted to bridge the global divide on the future of fossil fuels and prevent the summit’s collapse.

“COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure. The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible,” Gore said. “There are 24 hours

12/12/2023

There was an uproar from the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies after a last-minute announcement by IFRC’s outgoing president, Francesco Rocca, that the governing board had decided to postpone elections following sexual harassment allegations against Gullet, one of the four contenders for the top job.

GENEVA - The election of the next president of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was almost derailed on Monday

12/12/2023

By 20 November, four Zambians had died, with 684 suspected and 37 confirmed cases from nine of the country’s 10 provinces. Twenty-six people developed sores on their faces, arms, and fingers after eating the meat from three wild hippopotamus carcasses.

Zambia is experiencing its worst anthrax outbreak in a decade, while four neighbouring countries – Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe – have also reported

12/12/2023

Superpollutants are sometimes referred to as short-lived climate pollutants. Black carbon (BC) has a lifespan of just one or two weeks before it falls to the earth, in comparison to carbon dioxide which has a lifespan of a few hundred years in the atmosphere.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Black carbon is a super pollutant and its emissions are commonly seen anywhere you see black smoke – from a tiny kerosene lamp

11/12/2023

The WHO EB move, which will clear the resolution for approval by the May World Health Assembly, represents the first-ever consensus statement on the charged conflict so far in a UN body.

In a fragile show of unity, the World Health Organization Executive Board approved a draft resolution calling for “immediate, sustained and unimpeded”

11/12/2023

The nexus of air pollution and climate change is also receiving increasing attention in the development sector, as evidenced by a World Bank-hosted discussion on Friday featuring top officials from China and Bangladesh.

Air pollution and climate change have never received as much combined attention, at such a high level, as at COP28 in Dubai. The UN's 28th Conference of

11/12/2023

Why do we have these deaths in 2023, and what can be done to prevent them?

Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), a blood loss of 500 ml or more within 24 hours of birth, is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

09/12/2023

The board decision marks a historic reversal of past efforts which saw the agency’s massive budget for vaccine procurement concentrated on the biggest pharma manufacturers in Asia, Europe and the Americas who could offer the lowest price-per-dose on vaccines Gavi procured due to economies of scale.

The Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has approved the establishment of a new African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), a financing instrument that

08/12/2023

Several civil society groups have called for independent oversight of the implementation of the pandemic agreement currently being negotiated by the intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) and the amended IHR.

A single oversight and compliance body may be set up to oversee both the new pandemic agreement and the amended International Health Regulations (IHR),

07/12/2023

Together with the Global Self-Care Federation (GSCF), the Brazilian Association of Self-Care Products (ACESSA) and the Latin American Association for Responsible Self-Care (ILAR) brought together government officials, healthcare professionals, industry representatives and experts for an excellent first edition of this event.

A monumental step for self-care was taken this month at the first Latin American Self-Care Regional Congress. Taking place in November in Sao Paulo, Brazil,

07/12/2023

After a series of meetings between the four groups petitioning against the law and Ugandan Constitutional Court Judge Geoffrey Kiryabwire last week, the petitioners agreed to combine their cases.

As violence against LGBTQ people in Uganda continues to rise following the country’s adoption of its harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), four legal challenges

07/12/2023

Globally around 2.3 billion people rely on polluting traditional fuels like wood and biomass for cooking, according to the latest report by WHO. It estimates that the cooking sector contributes 3% to the annual global carbon emissions.

Improving access to clean cooking will not only help the world get closer to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but it will not be possible to reach the 2030

06/12/2023

At least 148 countries have applied excise taxes to alcoholic drinks, but wine is exempted in at least 22 countries, mostly in Europe. ***co

Despite strong evidence that taxing alcohol is one of the “most effective measures to reduce consumption and address alcohol-related harms”, countries are not

05/12/2023

The proximity of the meetings is intentional, as it enables negotiating teams to attend one another’s meetings to ensure synergy between the two processes.

This is a bumper week for pandemic negotiations – the last formal set for the year – with meetings of both the World Health Organization’s (WHO)

05/12/2023

Bhavreen Kandhari’s advocacy for air quality began earlier, after 1995 when frequent trips between Delhi and New York, enabled her to compare the air quality.

Two mothers battled air pollution in Delhi and its suburbs well before it became a thing. Motivated by how their children have suffered, Ruchika Sethi Takkar

05/12/2023

The report was launched by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in collaboration with International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA).

Drought data shows “an unprecedented emergency on a planetary scale”, according to a report released as the world leaders meet in Dubai at the annual climate

04/12/2023

The high-level Health Day, the first in 27 years of climate conferences, unfolded amidst an uproar over the revelation of remarks by COP President Sultan Al Jaber, who also serves as CEO of the United Arab Emirates national oil company Adnoc.

The inaugural Health Day at COP28 on Sunday saw a strong push by some global leaders, led by US Climate Envoy John Kerry, for a swift transition away from the

04/12/2023

In fact, this year’s COP28 UN Climate Conference features a health and climate ministerial as well as a dedicated WHO Health Pavilion, which aims to incorporate health concerns into climate negotiations.

At the 2016 UN Climate Conference in Marrakesh, a small group of public health professionals from around the world laid out the shocking connections between