Only two countries remain endemic to this paralysing disease The World Health Organization announced today that polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria. This is the first time that Nigeria has interrupted transmission of wild poliovirus, bringing the country and the African region closer than…
GENEVA: 18 AUGUST 2015 - People who delay or refuse vaccines for themselves or their children are presenting a growing challenge for countries seeking to close the immunization gap. Globally, one in 5 children still do not receive routine life-saving immunizations, and an estimated 1.5…
Geneva, 31 July 2015 – Results from an interim analysis of the Guinea Phase III efficacy vaccine trial show that VSV-EBOV (Merck, Sharp & Dohme) is highly effective against Ebola. The independent body of international experts - the Data and Safety Monitoring Board – that…
International partners call for immediate increase in vaccine production to ward off danger 28 JULY 2015 | GENEVA - With Africa at risk of a large meningitis outbreak, an acute shortage of meningitis C-containing vaccine threatens to severely limit the world's ability to minimize the…
Geneva -- On World Hepatitis Day (28 July) the World Health Organization highlights the urgent need for countries to enhance action to prevent viral hepatitis infection and to ensure that people who have been infected are diagnosed and offered treatment. This year, the Organization is…
14 July 2015 | Geneva – Worldwide, nearly 1 in 10 people have a mental health disorder, but only 1% of the global health workforce is working in mental health. This means, for example, that nearly half of the world’s population lives in a country…
The IFP calls for the urgent suspension of a doctor who is accused of beating up a mentally ill teenager at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. "It is shocking that more than a month after the doctor had beaten up the patient no action has been…
A rapid assessment of health-care facilities by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health and Population in the earthquake-stricken areas has found that hospitals in 4 of the worst-affected districts are completely destroyed or too badly damaged to function. Five other major…
20 MARCH 2015, GENEVA-- A growing risk of outbreaks of measles, pertussis, and other vaccine-preventable diseases in countries affected by Ebola must be countered by urgent scaling up of routine immunization activities, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). "We are calling for the intensification…
The Ebola virus is shed in bodily fluids such as blood, vomit, faeces, saliva, urine, tears, and vaginal and seminal fluids. There is evidence that seminal fluids of convalescing men can shed the Ebola virus for at least 82 days after onset of symptoms. Although…