This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ for Africa in COVID-19 fight

There is finally “light at the end of the tunnel” in Africa’s battle against COVID-19, said the World Health Organization’s (WHO) top official on the continent on Thursday.

Matshidiso Moeti said though more than 11 million cases had been reported since the pandemic began two years ago, and 242,000 lives lost, “as long as we remain vigilant, the continent is on track for controlling the pandemic.”

She said Africa’s long history and experience with large disease outbreaks and accumulated expertise, had seen the response “become more effective with each new wave.”

Despite the encouraging trend, the pandemic has taken “a brutal toll” she said, including to the economy.

The World Bank estimates that 40 million more Africans have been pushed into poverty due to COVID-19.

Gender inequality ‘depriving’ world of talent and innovation: Guterres

In his message for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on Friday, the UN chief has hit out at the gender inequalities which he says are depriving the world of “enormous untapped talent and innovation.”

Only one in three science and engineering researchers in the world is a woman, said Secretary-General António Guterres, adding that structural and societal barriers are prevent women and girls from advancing in the field.

“We can – and must – take action”, he said, calling for targeted measures to give women opportunities to grow and take a lead at institutions and labs worldwide.

Widening cancer screening on the Amazon

And finally, an encouraging new development that will improve the lives of breast cancer sufferers living in the Amazon basin.

From this year, they will have increased access to screening thanks to two new mammography units installed on Brazilian navy ships, delivering services along the vital South American waterway.

They’ve been supplied by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the new machines carried onboard the ships will treble the current capacity for mammograms in the remote region.

In Brazil, breast cancer represents almost 30 per cent of all types of cancer with approximately 40 per cent of patients, only diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Matt Wells, UN News.