Health

WHO/Blink Media/Uma Bista

COVID’s grip keeps world in ‘perilous situation’

10 May 2021
Global

Amidst an “unacceptably high plateau” in COVID-19 cases and deaths globally, the UN health agency chief on Monday shone a light on last week’s death toll that totalled almost 90 thousand people and 5.4 million reported cases. 

© UNICEF/Amarjeet Singh

What can the UN do to support India through its deadly COVID-19 surge?

8 May 2021
Asia Pacific

The UN is at the forefront of efforts to help India extricate itself from the almost unimaginable scale of suffering its citizens are undergoing, as a result of a devastating wave of COVID-19 infections. Earlier this week, UN News spoke to the country chiefs based in India, for the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund, to get their take on the crisis. Here are some key excerpts from the interviews.

Unsplash/Ivan Diaz

WHO approves Chinese COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

7 May 2021
Asia Pacific

A COVID-19 vaccine produced in China has been given the green light for global rollout, potentially paving the way for its use in underserved countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday. 

 

© UNICEF/Amarjeet Singh

India’s new COVID-19 wave is spreading like ‘wildfire’, warns UN Children’s Fund

7 May 2021
Asia Pacific

A new wave of COVID-19 infections is spreading like “wildfire” across India, leaving many youngsters destitute, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF said on Friday.

PAHO/Karen González

WHO chief hails ‘monumental moment’ in COVID fight, as US throws support behind vaccine patent waiver

6 May 2021

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday said the commitment announced by the United States administration to lift vaccine patent protections to help boost global supply, was a “monumental moment” in the battle to end the deadly pandemic.

Unsplash/Martin Sanchez

Early-warning ‘pandemic hub’ plan unveiled by WHO’s Tedros and Germany’s Merkel

5 May 2021
Global

An international hub for pandemic control is to open in Berlin to ensure better preparedness and transparency in the fight against likely future global health threats, the UN health agency announced on Wednesday.

UNICEF/Amarjeet Singh

South Asia: ‘Real possibility’ health systems will be strained to a breaking point, UNICEF warns

5 May 2021
Asia Pacific

Impacts of the deadly new surge in COVID-19 cases across South Asia are unlike anything the region has seen before, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said, warning of a “real possibility” that health systems there will be strained to a breaking point, leading to even more loss of life. 

UNICEF/Patrick Brown

UN report sounds alarm on acute global shortage of midwives

5 May 2021
Global

The world is currently facing a shortage of around 900,000 midwives, with COVID-19 further exacerbating the situation as many have been redeployed to help plug vital gaps in other health services, according to a new United Nations report.

© UNICEF/Bullen Chol

Joy in South Sudan, as schools reopen after 14-month COVID lockdown

4 May 2021

The countrywide reopening of schools in South Sudan is a welcome step on the road to “normalcy” for youngsters, two in three of whom need humanitarian assistance, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

© UNICEF/Biju Boro

UN envoy Gordon Brown urges G7 countries to fund global COVID vaccination push

3 May 2021
Global

Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Monday for the world’s richest nations to underwrite COVID-19 vaccination in poorer countries, highlighting the need to raise some $60 billion over the next two years.