A laboratory technician works at a health and science centre in Bangkok, Thailand. It is a WHO Collaborating Centre for research and training on viral zoonoses. Credit: WHO/P. Phutpheng
Universal Health Coverage Day on 12 December is the annual rallying point for the growing movement for health for all. It marks the anniversary of the United Nations’ historic and unanimous endorsement of universal health coverage in 2012.
WASHINGTON DC/ CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA/ GENEVA, Dec 19 2022 (IPS) – Health services don’t deliver themselves. It is the nurse who triages in the emergency department, the midwife who delivers babies and cares for mother…
The cumulative needs of injured patients from the war have created a medical crisis. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS
ADDIS ABABA, Mar 30 2023 (IPS) – There are about globally who cannot access surgery. In Ethiopia, for every 5,000 needed surgeries per 100,000 people, the country’s health system Yet, this is Africa’s second largest population, with over 120 million people.
The statistics are worrying. This is further exacerbated by a recently ended two-year war in the northern part of the country that devastated among others, the health sector. There is however an opportunity to build back better as the government institutes post-war reconstruction. This is possible th…
Salvadoran fisherman Nicolás Ayala, 63, walks to his boat at the San Luis La Herradura pier, on the Pacific coast of El Salvador, to begin a 24-hour fishing stint offshore. He said that due to the lack of a breakwater at the mouth, where the sea meets the estuary, boa…
“If people do not change the way antibiotics are used now, these new antibiotics will suffer the same fate as the current ones and become ineffective” . Credit: Adil Siddiqi/IPS
MADRID, Apr 11 2023 (IPS) – Research after research, world s scientists renew their loud alerts agai…
Credit: United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation
BANGKOK / BEIJING, Sep 12 2022 (IPS) – The world today faces a future that is in peril. Our challenges have become more complex and interconnected, as we see the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, an uneven economic recovery, a climate emergency, growing inequalities, and an increase in conflicts globally. This year also marks a grim milestone, with .
These events accompany increasing division in the community of nations which threatens to push the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) further out of reach for the Global South.
Adding to these crises, rising food and e…
Medical equipment supplied by the World Food Programme (WFP) arrives in Beijing.
Meanwhile, as COVID-19 infections surged in China, coronavirus experts gathered at the UN health agency in Geneva on January 3, to discuss next steps. Photo courtesy of Yingshi Zhang
BRUSSELS, Jan 4 2023 (IPS) – Three years after the coronavirus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the Chinese government began in December to abruptly scrap its harsh containment policy known as zero-Covid.
This zero-Covid policy relied on strict lockdowns, use of a Covid tracking app, domestic travel restrictions, and quarantining those who test positive along with their close contacts. But the …
The newly-signed Sierre Leone law outlawing child marriage also says that those who entered into marriage as children before the new legislation came into effect can petition for annulment. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS
FREETOWN & NAIROBI, Jul 11 2024 (IPS) – “A person shall not contract marriage with a child,” Sierra Leone…
LONDON, Jan 31 2024 (IPS) – The 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) marked a pivotal moment in the global efforts to combat climate change. Held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the participation of delegates from around the world, COP28 showcased a commitment to drive genuine strides in climate action, bringing optimism and progress to the forefront. Here we explore the implications of COP28 outcomes for small and other vulnerable Commonwealth countries and identify the gaps that still need attention. Additionally, it will discuss concrete expectations for COP29, focusing on critical discussions held at COP28.
Vladimir Smakhtin is Director of the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, funded by the Government of Canada and hosted by McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
Open sewage in Uganda slum. Credit: I. Jurga, SuSanA
HAMILTON, Canada, Mar 19 2020 (IPS) – As the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic spreads, guidance on how wash your hands and other measures intensifies.
These recommendations are important, but they are hardly of value to the 40% of humanity lacking access to even the most basic hand washing requirements — soap and water 1.
In most African countries or India, the proportion is even higher – between…
what is the BCG vaccine and what might its place be in the fight against coronavirus?
May 14 2020 (IPS) – This week, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced it will donate to help fund an Australian trial testing whether a very old vaccine, BCG, can be used against a new threat, COVID-19. So what is the BCG vaccine and what might its place be in the fight against coronavirus?
The ABCs of BCG
The BCG vaccine has been used for nearly a century to protect against tuberculosis, a bacterial disease that affects the lungs. Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
BCG is short for , as it was c…