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World Health Organization (WHO)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Ban smoking and vaping in school to protect young people

WHO encourages all countries to make all indoor public places completely smoke-free in line with Article 8 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Today, the World Health Organization released two new publications, “Freedom from tobacco and nicotine: guide for schools,” and “Nicotine- and tobacco-free school toolkit” to help protect children’s health just in time for back-to-school season in many countries. The tobacco industry relentlessly targets young people with tobacco and nicotine products resulting in e-cigarette…

World Health Organization (WHO)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

18 million doses of first-ever malaria vaccine allocated to 12 African countries for 2023–2025: Gavi, World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

The first doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive in countries during the last quarter of 2023, with countries starting to roll them out by early 2024

In response to high demand for the first-ever malaria vaccine, 12 countries in Africa will be allocated a total of 18 million doses of RTS,S/AS01 for the 2023–2025 period; Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme countries Ghana, Kenya and Malawi will receive doses to continue vaccinations in pilot areas; Allocations were also…

World Health Organization (WHO)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Sudan: Top United Nations Officials Sound Alarm at Spike in Violence against Women and Girls

The UN Human Rights Office in Sudan has received credible reports of 21 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence against at least 57 women and girls

Senior United Nations officials today voiced shock and condemnation at increasing reports of gender-based violence in Sudan – including conflict-related sexual violence against internally displaced and refugee women and girls – since fighting erupted in the country more than 11 weeks ago. They called for an immediate end to gender-based…

World Health Organization (WHO)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Beyond the numbers: the real-world impact of the malaria vaccine in Kenya

Caregivers, health leaders and community health volunteers reflect on malaria vaccine implementation and how the new tool is reaching children at risk with life-saving malaria prevention

Africa’s Lake Victoria is the world’s second largest freshwater lake and its largest tropical lake. This awe-inspiring ecosystem supports a stunning variety of bird, aquatic and animal species. Unfortunately, the same ecosystem is also an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry malaria. Malaria experts refer to the areas around…

World Health Organization (WHO)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

African leaders unite in pledge to end AIDS in children

Currently, around the world, a child dies from AIDS related causes every five minutes

Ministers and representatives from twelve African countries have committed themselves, and laid out their plans, to end AIDS in children by 2030. International partners have set out how they would support countries in delivering on those plans, which were issued at the first ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance to end…

World Health Organization (WHO)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

A child or youth died once every 4.4 seconds in 2021 – United Nations (UN) report

Another 1.9 million babies were tragically stillborn during the same period, according to a separate UN report

An estimated 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth aged between 5–24 years lost their lives in 2021, according to the latest estimates released by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME). In a separate report also released…

World Health Organization (WHO)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Tackling Emerging Antimalarial Drug Resistance in Africa

In recent years, there have been reports from Africa of emerging parasite resistance to artemisinin – the core compound of the best available medicines to treat malaria

WHO is launching today a new strategy to respond to the urgent problem of antimalarial drug resistance in Africa. The strategy is being released during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, a global annual campaign to improve awareness of the growing threat of resistance to antibiotics and other medicines. In recent years,…

World Health Organization (WHO)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) welcome King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) funding for measles and polio epidemics prevention

UNICEF will support the five high-risk countries of Afghanistan, Central African Republic, DRC, Guinea, and Pakistan with the procurement and in-country distribution of polio and measles vaccines

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF welcomed today funding agreements from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) valued at US$ 10 million to further bolster polio and measles programmes in eight countries. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the World Health Summit in Berlin.…

World Health Organization (WHO)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Almost One Billion Children and Adults with Disabilities and Older Persons in Need of Assistive Technology Denied Access, According to New Report

WHO and UNICEF call on governments, industry, donors and civil society to fund and prioritize access to assistive products

A new report published today by WHO and UNICEF reveals that more than 2.5 billion people need one or more assistive products, such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, or apps that support communication and cognition. Yet nearly one billion of them are denied access, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where…

World Health Organization (WHO)
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Over 1 million African children protected by first malaria vaccine

On World Malaria Day, WHO calls for continued innovation to save lives

More than 1 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have now received one or more doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine, thanks to a pilot programme coordinated by WHO. The malaria vaccine pilots, first launched by the Government of Malawi in April 2019, have shown that the RTS,S/AS01…