Currently browsing tag

organization

Migrant flow from Turkey to Greece picking up again: IOM

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – The numbers of migrants landing in Greece from Turkey is starting to creep up again, showing efforts to close off the route are coming under strain, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. Around 150 people a day had arrived over the last three days, still way off the numbers seen a month ago, the organization added, but showing an increase since an EU deal with Turkey deal to stem the flow. “The arrivals in Greece which were down to literally zero some days this month, are beginning to creep back up,” IOM spokesman Joel Millman told a Geneva news briefing.

CDC, Brazil start big study to test Zika link to birth defects

U.S. and Brazilian researchers are heading to João Pessoa in the state of Paraíba on Monday to recruit mothers and babies in one of the biggest government-led studies to understand whether the Zika virus is linked to microcephaly, a rare birth defect. Brazil has confirmed more than 500 cases of microcephaly, defined by an unusually small head, since the start of the outbreak. The spike in microcephaly prompted the World Health Organization on Feb. 1 to declare Zika an international health emergency.

The human cost of cuts to Spain’s prized health system

Madrid (AFP) – “Either we eat or I take my pills,” Maximiliano Diego recalled a patient confessing after stopping treatment because cuts in Spain's public health system forced him to pay for medication from his own pocket. “He cried with fear at the closeness of death… but above all, he cried with shame at having to lie to his doctor,” Diego wrote on the site of an association defending public health, of which he is a member. This is but one example of the human consequences of Spain's financial crisis and subsequent austerity measures that have gnawed away at what the World Health Organization ranked the world's seventh best healthcare system in 2000 — an issue of concern ahead of December 20 elections.

World health chief says TPP trade deal raises concerns

GENEVA (Reuters) – The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal negotiated between 12 Pacific rim countries, raises serious concerns about the affordability of healthcare and medicines, World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan said on Thursday. “I’m following the discussion and debate and there are some very serious concerns about the trans-Pacific Partnership, the biggest trade agreement ever,” she told a conference in Geneva. …

World health chief says US, Saudi discussing MERS vaccine

By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) – The United States and Saudi Arabia may prepare a vaccine for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) to try and head off the next outbreak of the disease, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. Margaret Chan said Saudi Health Minister Khaled al-Falih was discussing this with U.S. public health officials. “They communicated and looked at collaboration and to see whether we can, in terms of preparedness, get some vaccines ready in advance of another MERS outbreak,” Chan told reporters.

Tests show Ebola in Liberia linked to virus found months ago

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Samples taken from the 17-year-old boy who died from Ebola in Liberia nearly two weeks ago show the virus is genetically similar to viruses that infected many people in the same area more than six months ago, the World Health Organization said Friday.

New Embassies Open Door to Cuba’s Health Care Triumphs

As President Obama proclaimed diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba for the first time in 50 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) was simultaneously celebrating Cuba Wednesday as the first country ever to eliminate mother-to-child transmissions of HIV/AIDS and congenital syphilis. Dr. Roberto Morales, minister of public health and the first Cuban minister to come to the United States since 1952, visited Washington, D.C., to discuss the historic success. While the monumental public health achievement was the intended focus of his news conference, Obama’s news was critical to the process.

Quake overwhelms Nepal’s weak healthcare system

By Rupam Jain Nair KATHMANDU (Reuters) – A massive earthquake in Nepal has exposed the woeful state of its medical facilities as hospitals struggle to treat vast numbers of injured with limited supplies and staff. The country of 28 million has only 2.1 physicians and 50 hospital beds for every 10,000 people, according to a 2011 World Health Organization report. The situation is worsening a humanitarian crisis triggered by Nepal’s worst earthquake in 81 years. So far many of the seriously injured in Kathmandu were being referred to Bir Hospital’s Trauma Centre, which opened in February this year with 200 beds.

China approves new polio vaccine, shows innovative muscle

China has approved a new polio vaccine, the first of its kind to be produced in the country, a month after local authorities gave the green light for a home-grown Ebola vaccine amid Beijing’s push to become a world leader in producing innovative drugs. The development drew praise from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday who said the vaccine, which will be given to Chinese children as part of routine disease prevention, would help the global fight against the polio virus. China’s private and state-run medical laboratories have been growing in sophistication, helping reduce reliance on imported medicines and competing with global rivals. “This new vaccine is a critically important weapon in the fight against polio as the world nears the eradication of this dreaded disease,” Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO representative in China, said in a statement.