The UN health agency has warned that a first case of highly infectious cholera virus has been detected in northern Lebanon, raising fears that those displaced by Israeli bombardment may already be at risk from the potentially deadly disease.
Nearly eight months of war in Gaza have devastated the enclave’s hospitals and clinics but many skilled medical professionals are still there and committed to being part of its future, a senior UN World Health Organization (WHO) official told UN News.
“There's a lot of very capable health professionals in Gaza, and they should be very much part - they should actually be the focus - of any reconstruction and any rehabilitation process,” said Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in Palestine.
Nearly 10,000 women have been killed in Gaza since war erupted six months ago and one child is injured or dies every 10 minutes, UN agencies warned on Tuesday, amid spiralling violence in the West Bank and concerns over a regional escalation of the conflict following Iran’s missile and drone strike on Israel.
The entire Gaza Strip now has just 12 partially functioning hospitals where cases of severe acute malnutrition among newborns in northern governorates are likely already “overwhelming” medical teams, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
Backing repeated international calls for a ceasefire to allow more desperately needed aid into the enclave, WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris warned that many “horrifically” underweight infants “are now dying”, after nearly six months of conflict.
The past year saw significant milestones and challenges in global public health but also immense and avoidable suffering, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
The climate crisis is also a health crisis. This is the message the UN health agency will deliver to world leaders and negotiators gathering at this year’s UN Climate Change Conference, COP28, in Dubai. The WHO says, the same pollution that impacts the climate also affects our lungs, and extreme weather events lead to a large range of diseases.
UN News’ Nathalie Minard spoke with Dr. Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organization (WHO), ahead of COP28.
Russia on Thursday announced it was revoking its ratification of the UN-backed Comprehensive Nuclear Test Bank Treaty (CTBT), after the Russian Duma passed legislation last month.
