World Health Organization scales back work after funding cuts
London, UK Reuters The World Health Organization has reduced its management team by half and will have to scale back operations, its director-general said on Wednesday, four months after the United States announced it was leaving the agency and cutting funding. “To be blunt, we cannot do everything,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a budget […]
Global health funding faces “greatest disruption” in memory, says WHO director
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Global health funding faces historic challenges as donor countries reduce their contributions, the director of the World Health Organization said on Thursday. US President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew from the WHO upon taking office in January, saying the UN agency had mishandled the COVID pandemic and other international health crises. The United […]
Aid cuts could leave more women dying in pregnancy and birth, UN says
London, UK Reuters Cuts to aid budgets are threatening to undermine years of progress in reducing the number of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth, and could lead to a rise in deaths, the United Nations has warned. Globally, there was a 40 per cent decline in maternal deaths between 2000 and 2023, a report […]
Eight countries could run out of HIV treatments due to USAID cuts, WHO says
Reuters The Trump administration’s decision to pause US foreign aid has “substantially disrupted” supply of HIV treatments in eight countries, which could soon run out of these life-saving medicines, the World Health Organization said on Monday. The global health agency said that Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria and Ukraine could exhaust […]
US actions have serious impact on global health, WHO chief says
Reuters The United States’ pause on foreign aid contributions is having a serious impact on global health, hitting programmes fighting polio, HIV and other threats, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. Tedros urged the US to consider resuming aid funding until solutions can be found. Director-General of the World Health Organisation […]
WHO chief describes ordeal during Israeli strike on Yemen airport
Zurich, Switzerland Reuters The head of the World Health Organization said on Friday he was not sure he was going to survive an air strike on Yemen’s main airport carried out by Israel a day earlier during a series of attacks on the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. Speaking after his ordeal at the Sana’a International Airport […]
Israel strikes Houthi targets in Yemen, killing six
Jerusalem Reuters Israel struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen on Thursday, including Sana’a International Airport, and Houthi media said at least six people were killed. The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was about to board a plane at the airport when it came under […]
Tuberculosis returns as top infectious disease killer, WHO says
Reuters Tuberculosis replaced COVID-19 to become the top cause for infectious disease-related deaths in 2023, according to a World Health Organization report published on Tuesday, highlighting the challenges in the global effort in eradicating the disease. A sample that tested positive for tuberculosis is seen from a microscope in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 29th March, […]
Civilians bear brunt in ‘catastrophic’ Lebanon conflict, UN official says
Beirut, Lebanon Reuters Civilians are bearing the brunt of a “truly catastrophic” situation in Lebanon, a senior UN official said, urging respect for the rules of war nearly two weeks since Israel launched a major offensive against the armed group Hezbollah. With around a million people in Lebanon impacted, Imran Riza, UN Resident and Humanitarian […]
Mpox vaccines to arrive in DR Congo in next few days, WHO says
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The World Health Organization chief said on Friday that mpox vaccines were set to arrive in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the next few days to fight a new strain of the virus. “We hope to have the first delivery in the next few days, and then it will build up,” […]