WHO published its World health statistics report 2025, revealing the deeper health impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on loss of lives, longevity and overall health and well-being. In just two years, between 2019 and 2021, global life expectancy fell by 1.8 years—the largest drop in recent history— reversing a …
The government of Uganda has confirmed the outbreak of the deadly meningitis bacterium in the country. On January 16, health officials said that 121 people are suffering from the disease in Arua and Nebbi districts alone; three have already succumbed to it. Meanwhile, who has confirmed similar outbreaks in three …
Even more than tempting liquors like tequila, tobacco is a pleasure that the Old World wishes it had never taken from the New. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus was met by tribesmen with "fruit, wooden spears and certain dried leaves which gave off a distinct fragrance', he threw the last …
India is one of the 15 countries around the globe affected by the bird flu or avian influenza. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is concerned. There could be a distinct possibility of the lethally infectious H5NI bird flu virus mutating into a more dangerous form. It could …
The World Health Organisation (WHO) last week released a report that makes clear both the devastating scope of the global tobacco epidemic and that it is entirely avoidable if nations implement proven solutions. This report presents what nations are doing to address this public health crisis and it demonstrates that …
An increasing number of teenagers in India is taking to tobacco and nearly one million people die every year due to tobacco-related illnesses, says a new study by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The report titled
A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. The anti-tobacco lobby is learning to use that dictum to its advantage. Gory and graphic pictures of cancer stricken patients occupy 30 per cent of the surface of a cigarette packet in countries like Thailand, Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. As …
China's unsolved riddle is how to reconcile fast economic growth with environmental protection. But Beijing's Olympic deadline means the city needs an immediate answer. EVERY day, monitoring stations across Beijing measure air pollution to determine if the skies above the Chinese capital can officially be designated blue. It is not …
First human bird flu case in Pakistan: WHO has confirmed that the limited human-to-human bird flu transmission has occurred in Pakistan. The country reported eight cases of human bird flu in December including two people who succumbed to the disease. An initial analysis by WHO says that the outbreak might …
Wanted: medicine for a group whose voice is still too small to be heard IMAGINE a class of human beings, amounting to about one-third of world's population, whose needs are barely noticed by the people who are dealing with all the most pressing public-health problems. In fact, such a group …
The Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) has met annually since 1963 to conduct scientific evaluations of pesticide residues in food. It provides advice on the acceptable levels of pesticide residues in food moving in international trade. The FAO segment of JMPR, the FAO Panel of Experts on Pesticide …
Twenty-one African countries, often referred as the meningitis belt, will be hit by the worst epidemic of the disease by the end of this year's rainy season, said who at an emergency meeting of un bodies and ngos in Burkina Faso. The meningitis outbreak, which usually reaches epidemic levels between …
the Union ministry of health and family welfare has given the go-ahead for including an expensive vaccine into the country's immunisation programme despite the absence of scientific data. A meeting of the national technical advisory group on immunization (ntagi) held in July 16, 2007, decided that Haemophilus influenzae b (hib) …
the World Health Organization (who) along with its Stop tb partnership programme, announced on June 22 guidelines to curb two forms of tuberculosis: multidrug resistant tuberculosis (mdr-tb) and the more harmful extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (xdr-tb). The move comes on the heels of increased concerns about spread of xdr-tb, which …
An international consortium of scientists recently emphasised on the irreversible harm that toxic chemicals can cause to foetuses and infants. The consensus was reached at the International Conference on Foetal Programming and Developmental Toxicity held in May at the north Atlantic Faroe Islands. Over 200 experts came out with the
We are shocked and dismayed that The Lancet should have published the paper on the protective efficacy of monovalent oral type 1 poliovirus vaccine by Nicholas Grassly and colleagues (April 21, p 1356),1 having overlooked the serious ethical issues. (Correspondence) involved.
On July 1, England joins the growing list of countries that have introduced laws to protect the public and employees from the harmful eff ects of passive smoking. From July 1, smoking in almost all enclosed public or work places will be illegal, with fines for smokers who break the …
In a firm step towards checking tobacco use, on May 29 the who issued its strongest policy recommendations. It urged all countries to ban smoking at indoor workplaces and public buildings. It asked governments to immediately pass laws requiring all indoor workplaces and public places to be 100 per cent …
