Global perspective Human stories

Interviews

UNICEF/UN066747/Rich

We’re going in the wrong direction on measles prevention, says UN health expert

Rapid action is needed in every region of the world to get countries back on track in the global fight against measles, amid a projected near-doubling in the number of cases, since 2017.

That’s according to Dr Katherine O’Brien from the World Health Organization (WHO), who stressed that the existing double-dose vaccination has proved to be extremely effective – and safe - since it was introduced 50 years ago.

Audio
3'
UN News/Daniel Johnson

Music-lovers need personalized listening data to prevent irreversible hearing damage: WHO

Preventing irreversible hearing loss from listening to loud music is possible, the World Health Organization (WHO) says, in an appeal for new measures to help people protect themselves when they use their mp3 device.

In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, Dr Shelly Chadha from WHO’s Prevention of Deafness and Hearing Loss department, outlined the agency’s latest recommendations.

 

Audio
5'11"
WHO

‘Urbanization is changing the way we are living’ and eating says FAO expert

Basic rules such as “keeping your hands clean and cooking food thoroughly” contribute to food safety, but when someone is living in a place with poor sanitation or where food insecurity is a reality, “it’s hard to make good choices”.

That’s according to David Massey, Communications Specialist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Every year worldwide 420,000 people die, and 600 million people fall ill as a result of food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins or chemicals.

Audio
7'12"
Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

Women can ‘punch through glass ceiling' and take their place at the ‘top table of science’

Women continue to be extremely under-represented in science but, with the right mentoring, networks and support, they can “punch through the glass ceiling” and do “incredible work.”

This is the message from astronomer Lisa Harvey Smith, Professor of Practice in Science Communication, and the Australian Government’s Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Ambassador.

Audio
3'55"
UNOG/Daniel Johnson

‘Hit-and-run’ tactics a mark of North-East Nigeria attackers

Attacks by non-State armed groups in parts of north-east Nigeria have left relief workers unsure about the extent of needs among some communities, the UN migration agency’s top official in the country said on Tuesday.

Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Frantz Celestin, told UN News’s Daniel Johnson about the extremists’ use of “hit-and-run” tactics, and explained what the priorities are now for the aid teams coping with mass displacement and overcrowded protection camps.

Audio Duration
4'30"
UN Sustainable Development Section

Human error far more dangerous than Artificial Intelligence

As a UN report reveals a “quantum leap” in the number of AI patents being filed around the world, it isn’t the tech that we should be worried about, but the way that we choose to use it.

That’s the view of Kriti Sharma, one of the UN’s Young Leaders For Sustainable Development Goals, who set up the AI For Good organization in the UK, which aims to ensure that AI helps to create a better, fairer world.

Audio
13'14"
OPS-OMS/Sebastián Oliel

Cancer pain is a major cause of unnecessary suffering, says UN health agency

The pain that cancer patients experience as a result of the disease, or the treatment they are receiving, is too often ignored, UN health experts said on Monday, at the launch of new guidelines aiming to prevent “needless suffering”.

For World Cancer Day, on 4 February, Dr Etienne Krug from the World Health Organization (WHO), talks to Sarah Mbengue from UN News about the progress so far, and global challenges that remain in tackling the disease.

Audio
2'45"
UN News/Daniel Dickinson

Nigeria refugees ‘too traumatized to return’ as UN News witnesses thousands fleeing over Cameroon border

Nigerian refugees are “too traumatized to return” anytime soon, according to a senior official from the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA), talking to UN News on the border with Cameroon.

Around 35,000 have fled from extremist violence in the northeast Nigerian town of Rann, in just the past two weeks, with dozens killed during a largescale Boko Haram assault two days ago, although Nigerian forces have reportedly taken back control, said OCHA’s Jean-Sébastien Munié.

Audio
2'41"
© UNICEF/UN0277723/Souleiman

Violence, displacement continue, as 29 babies die of cold in northeast Syria camp

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it’s extremely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Al-Hol camp in Syria’s Al-Hasakeh Governorate, where 11 infants are reported to have died due to cold, in the past two days alone.

Over the last two months, approximately 23,000 people, mainly women and children fleeing hostilities in rural areas of neighbouring Deir Ezzour, have arrived in the camp. 

Audio
5'10"