World Health Organization

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Diabetes Cases Have Quadrupled Over Last 30 Years
Diabetes 'Has Reached
Pandemic Proportions'
NEW STUDY
Nov 14, 2024 8:42 AM CST

Diabetes 'Has Reached Pandemic Proportions'

Globally, more than 800M people had either Type 1 or Type 2 in 2022; in 1990, there were just 198M

(Newser) - Thursday is World Diabetes Day, but it's not exactly a celebration—at least not according to new research published Wednesday in the Lancet . According to findings from a new global analysis carried out by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration and the World Health Organization, 828 million adults around the...

Major Polio Setback: Taliban Stops Vaccinations
Taliban: No More
Polio Vaccinations
Sep 16, 2024 1:43 PM CDT

Taliban: No More Polio Vaccinations

Afghanistan is one of 2 countries that never eradicated the highly infectious virus

(Newser) - The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the UN said Monday. It's a devastating setback for polio eradication, since the virus is one of the world's most infectious, and any unvaccinated groups of children where the virus is spreading could undo years of progress. Afghanistan is...

Cholera Is Simple to Treat, but Deaths Are Surging
Cholera Is Simple to Treat,
but Deaths Are Surging
new report
Sep 11, 2024 11:15 AM CDT

Cholera Is Simple to Treat, but Deaths Are Surging

They were up 71% in 2023, despite cases only being up 13%

(Newser) - The number of cholera cases rose 13% in 2023 compared to the year prior. But deaths surged 71%, with 4,000 confirmed, reports the World Health Organization in a new analysis . "For death rates to be rising so much faster even than cases are increasing, this is totally unacceptable,...

Mpox Sparks Another Global Health Emergency

WHO issues declaration over rapidly spreading form of virus

(Newser) - With mpox raging through Africa, and the possibility the virus will spread elsewhere, the World Health Organization on Wednesday declared a global health emergency. It's the second such declaration about the virus previously called monkeypox in three years, the CBC reports. The first one ended in mid-2003 when vaccination...

Hepatitis Takes Hold, Polio Emerges in Gaza

UN says diseases are surging among displaced Palestinians amid Israel's war against Hamas

(Newser) - A disease mostly eradicated throughout the world is making a comeback among the wretched conditions throughout Gaza, where nearly all 2.2 million residents have been displaced. The New York Times reports that on Friday, World Health Organization chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed that a poliovirus variant has turned...

This Is the Most Dangerous State in America

New Mexico tops the list, while Rhode Island is deemed the safest

(Newser) - Perhaps no one knows better than personal injury lawyers how dangerous simply existing can be these days—especially in the US, where death rates are about 2.5 times higher than the average rates in other high-income nations, per Newsweek . That's why the Caputo and Van Der Walde Injury...

Here's How to Spot Fake Ozempic
Here's How to
Spot Fake Ozempic
Jun 21, 2024 4:05 PM CDT

Here's How to Spot Fake Ozempic

WHO warns of counterfeit drugs hitting the US market

(Newser) - The World Health Organization has issued a global alert about counterfeit batches of Ozempic turning up in the US and abroad. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, treats type 2 diabetes by helping control blood sugar levels, but it also makes people feel full with less food, making it a...

How the Hunt for COVID's Origins Turned Toxic in China
How the Hunt for COVID's
Origins Turned Toxic in China
investigation
Apr 28, 2024 6:35 AM CDT

How the Hunt for COVID's Origins Turned Toxic in China

AP investigation shows how politicians in Beijing trumped scientists

(Newser) - The Chinese government froze meaningful efforts to trace the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, despite publicly declaring it supported an open scientific inquiry, an investigation by the Associated Press has found. Highlights:
  • The AP drew on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents, leaked recordings, and dozens of interviews
...

One Nation Claims Dozens of World's Most-Polluted Cities

India isn't breathing easy, per new air-quality report, which notes only 10 nations get WHO's thumbs-up

(Newser) - If your city's air pollution has you reaching for the N95, you're not alone. Per a new report from Swiss tech company IQAir, out of 134 nations and regions surveyed, only 10 of them meet an international air-quality standard set forth by the World Health Organization, reports CNN...

In Europe, This 'Canary in a Coal Mine' Is Afoot

Measles is surging, with outbreaks especially prevalent in UK; US also seeing an uptick

(Newser) - As we get our legs after the COVID tsunami, another set of outbreaks is taking hold, especially in Europe. The BBC reports that measles are cropping up throughout the EU, with a nearly 45-fold spike in cases last year, according to the World Health Organization. The UN agency found that...

'Disease X' Isn't Here Yet, but Preparations Are Being Made

World leaders, health experts set up for pandemic that could potentially be far worse than COVID-19

(Newser) - World leaders and health experts are coming together to combat a serious international epidemic that's thankfully hypothetical at this point. If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it's that health care systems and economies can be easily overwhelmed by the global spread of a little-understood disease. Enter "...

Anonymous Donations to WHO Foundation Raise Questions

Some fear conflicts of interest are being hidden

(Newser) - Nearly 40% of the money raised by the WHO Foundation in its first two years came from anonymous sources, worrying some that donors may be trying to influence the World Health Organization and its role in shaping global health policy with their gifts. The foundation, launched in 2020 to help...

WHO Declares Aspartame a Possible Carcinogen

But keeps current intake guidelines the same

(Newser) - As expected , the World Health Organization on Thursday declared aspartame, one of the world's most most widely used artificial sweeteners, a possible carcinogen. But, in a possibly confusing addendum, it also kept the current intake guidelines the same. As the Guardian explains, two different WHO panels have been...

Report: WHO to Deem Sweetener as Possible Carcinogen

Meanwhile, the FDA, nearly 100 nations have greenlit aspartame

(Newser) - Last month, the World Health Organization released new guidelines that cautioned people against using artificial sweeteners for weight control, citing findings that suggest long-term use ups the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other issues. Now the agency is signaling it may soon issue a new warning on one of...

WHO: Don't Use Sugar Substitutes to Lose Weight

Artificial sweetener industry argues the findings

(Newser) - Reducing the amount of sugar in diets is a good idea for everyone, especially those trying to lose weight, the World Health Organization says—but using a sugar substitute is not. A review of available data shows that the use of non-sugar sweeteners "does not confer any long-term benefit...

WHO Delivers 12 Long-Awaited Words on COVID

Agency says the virus is no longer a global health emergency

(Newser) - The leader of the World Health Organization delivered 12 words Friday that were three years in the making: “With great hope, I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” said WHO director general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, per the New York Times . The declaration is more symbolic...

These 19 Fungi Are a Major Risk to Human Health

World Health Organization releases its first list of these 'priority pathogens'

(Newser) - The World Health Organization already has lists of the viruses and bacteria that pose the greatest risk to human health. Now, a new list from the UN agency, this one dedicated to threatening fungi. Reuters reports the 19 fungi on the WHO's radar—including Candida auris, which the CDC...

WHO Has a Warning for Couch Potatoes

Agency notes 'severe' cost for physical inactivity, with various diseases looming

(Newser) - Get active or risk disease. That's the message from the World Health Organization, whose first global report on physical activity indicates 500 million people in 194 countries will develop heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stroke, dementia, depression, or other diseases unless they boost their physical activity. "There are few...

WHO Chief: End of Pandemic Is in Sight

Weekly deaths hit lowest level since March 2020

(Newser) - The end of the pandemic is in sight and the world has never been in a better position to stop COVID-19, the chief of the World Health Organization said Wednesday. Reuters describes Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' remarks as his most optimistic since March 2020, when the UN health agency first declared...

Spain Reports 2 Monkeypox Fatalities in 2 Days

Brazil has reported its first fatality, while WHO official warns of more ahead

(Newser) - Spain on Saturday reported a second death in as many days from monkeypox. These are believed to be the first confirmed fatalities from the disease in Europe since its recent spread beyond Africa. Both fatalities were young men, the health ministry said, after reporting Spain's first death on Friday,...

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