health

High school girls from Long Island, New York, join other youth climate activists in a demonstration calling for global action to combat climate change. (20 September 2019)
© UNICEF David Berkwitz

UN praises resilience and vision of younger generation, marking International Youth Day  

12 August 2020
SDGs

Commemorating International Youth Day, top UN officials have called on leaders around the world to “do everything possible” to enable young people to reach their fullest potential.

Digital connectivity, in places like India, is indispensable to overcome the pandemic, and for a sustainable and inclusive recovery.
United Nations/Chetan Soni

COVID-19 highlights ‘life and death’ stakes for greater digital cooperation

11 June 2020
SDGs

Managing the digital divide better, has become “a matter of life and death” for people unable to access essential healthcare information during the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN chief has told a virtual high-level meeting on rapid technological change.

A woman in India visits clinic for a medical examination.
© UNICEF/Ashima Narain

COVID-19 highlights nurses’ vulnerability as backbone to health services worldwide

7 April 2020
Health

Nurses are on the frontline fighting COVID-19 but “an alarming failure” in the global supply of protective clothing and new coronavirus tests – together with “unprecedented” overwork linked to global staff shortages - have highlighted how vulnerable they are, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. The development coincides with an impassioned personal message from UN Secretary-General António Guterres to the world’s medical professionals for World Health Day, marked on Tuesday 7 April.

The attitude of parents and teachers towards including children with disabilities into mainstream education is crucial to inclusive education.
© UNESCO – India

Tuesday’s Daily Brief: climate crisis reports, renewal in Iraq, Zimbabwe’s hunger crisis, Disabilities Day

3 December 2019
Climate and Environment

A recap of Tuesday’s stories: New climate change reports on human health and global warming; Zimbabwe’s ‘worst hunger crisis in a decade’; protests and civil unrest show ‘renewed sense of patriotism’ in Iraq; UN ‘determined to lead by example’ on disability rights.

Girls run and play the sport of "kabbadi" at a Government-run middle school in rural India. According to the UN health agency, exercising and playing sports can help the human body fight off various diseases.
UNICEF/Vishwanathan

Walk, cycle, dance and play – UN health agency recommends new action plan for good health

4 June 2018
Health

One-in-five adults and 80 per cent of adolescents worldwide are not getting enough exercise, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which on Monday launched a new action plan to tackle the situation and promote good health.

National Health Center for Mother and Child in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
UNICEF/UN0155835/Zammit

World is failing newborns; UNICEF says global mortality rates remain ‘alarmingly high’

20 February 2018
Health

Newborns are dying at “alarmingly high” rates in countries that are poor, conflict-ridden or have weak institutions, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday in a new report, which reveals that babies born in these places are 50 times more likely to die in the first month of life than those born in some wealthier nations.