Global perspective Human stories

General News

UNICEF/UNI28505/Adam Dean

“Invest in eliminating hepatitis”, UN health agency urges ahead of World Hepatitis Day

Recent reductions in the costs of diagnosing and treating viral hepatitis should be an incentive for countries to scale up investments in disease elimination.

That’s the view of the World Health Organization which is calling on all countries to take advantage of the lower costs and match investments to eliminate the disease.

Ahead of World Hepatitis Day, marked this Sunday, WHO’s hepatitis team leader, Dr. Marc Bulterys spoke spoke to UN News’s Samuel Mungai, and explained prevention measures that some countries are taking to protect against hepatitis related diseases.

Audio
4'26"
UN Web TV/Screengrab

AIDS is ‘far from over’

The sense that winning the battle against AIDS is a done-deal, has been slowing progress on reducing new HIV infections, and in reality, it’s “far from over”, according to the chief of the UN agency dedicated to tackling the virus.

And what is more, Gunilla Carlsson, the acting Executive Director of UNAIDS, says that if we forget about people at risk, such as intravenous drug users, men who have sex with men and sex workers, “we will not solve the problem with the rise of new HIV infections”.

Audio
9’10”
UNICEF/UNI28581/Ron Haviv

UN refugee agency aids nearly 1,000 vulnerable to Sri Lanka reprisal attacks

Following a series of bomb blasts on Easter Sunday that killed over 250 people and injured many more, concerns have remained for the safety of refugees and asylum seekers living in Sri Lanka.

UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has been working since “day one” with local partners and the Government, in the aftermath of the 21 April attacks on upscale hotels and Christian churches, following reports of Muslim refugees being targeted by angry mobs.

Audio
7'17"
UN News/Daniel Johnson

100 years on, how the League of Nations made the UN what it is today

The world has seen huge changes since the League of Nations was born 100 years ago, but its twin aims of promoting peace and wellbeing live on today in the work of the United Nations.

That’s the strong belief of Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert, Chief of the Institutional Memory Section at the UN Library in Geneva, who explained to Daniel Johnson of UN News,  how the League was also ahead of its time in raising the alarm about climate threats, such as pollution.

Audio
4'10"