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Author: GHealth News

WHO outlines 40 research priorities on antimicrobial resistance

WHO outlines 40 research priorities on antimicrobial resistance

AMR
GHealth News - WHO has published its first global research agenda for the world’s scientists to address the most urgent human health priorities to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). It outlines 40 research topics on drug-resistant bacteria, fungi and Mycobacterium tuberculosis that must be answered by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The WHO Global Research Agenda for AMR in human health will catalyze innovation and implementation research, spanning the epidemiology, burden and drivers of AMR, context-specific and cost-effective strategies to prevent infections and emergence of resistance. It will also involve the discovery of new diagnostic tests and improved treatment regimens, the identification of cost-effective methods to collect data and translate it in...
CDC warns travelers of ‘high risk’ of polio if visiting these 31 countries

CDC warns travelers of ‘high risk’ of polio if visiting these 31 countries

Communicable Diseases
GHealth News - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging travelers to practice enhanced precautions when going to places such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Madagascar and Indonesia due to the circulating poliovirus.  The agency identified 31 countries where travelers are at high risk for the disease in a recently updated advisory.  The virus was eradicated in the western hemisphere in 1994 but exists in some polio-endemic countries, and it has been detected in other places worldwide.  The following destinations have circulating poliovirus, according to the CDC: Afghanistan Algeria Benin Botswana Burundi Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Côte d'Ivoire Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Eg...
June: The perfect month for Global Health networking in Berlin

June: The perfect month for Global Health networking in Berlin

Global Health
From 12 to 13 June 2023, our annual flagship event Global Health Talk takes place in Berlin. As a service for you, we put together an overview of interesting global health events taking place in and around Berlin in the days before and after our event. Join this year’s Global Health Talk We are delighted to invite you to this year’s Global Health Talk on 12 - 13 June 2023 at the Umweltforum Berlin (Pufendorfstraße 11, 10249 Berlin) or virtually.The Global Health Talk offers opportunities to engage with global health actors from different stakeholder groups as well as high-level representatives from from the German Government and to discuss relevant global health issues such as Global Health Financing, interrelations of international Global Health Processes, Climate and Health as well...
Don’t delay reforms to prepare for next pandemic, WHO chief says

Don’t delay reforms to prepare for next pandemic, WHO chief says

Global Health
GHealth News - The head of the World Health Organization urged countries on Monday to carry out reforms needed to prepare for the next pandemic, hailing their "historic" decision to accept a major budget hike at the U.N. agency's annual assembly. Speaking at the assembly weeks after ending the global emergency status for the COVID-19 pandemic, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was time to advance negotiations on preventing the next pandemic. "We cannot kick this can down the road," the WHO director-general said in a major address to the agency's member states, warning that the next pandemic was bound to "come knocking". "If we do not make the changes that must be made, then who will? And if we do not make them now, then when?" he said. The 10-day annual World Health Assembly i...
Ozempic and Other GLP-1 Drugs May Help Reduce Your Risk of Heart Attack

Ozempic and Other GLP-1 Drugs May Help Reduce Your Risk of Heart Attack

NCDs
By Victoria Stokes If you have type 2 diabetes you’re probably aware that the condition puts you at an increased risk of developing heart disease. Now, a new study has shown that a class of diabetes medications is associated with fewer major adverse cardiovascular events. The study, conducted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, found that GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic (semaglutide) resulted in lower instances of Major cardiovascular events (MACE) than DPP4 inhibitors (another type of diabetes drug) in older veterans with no prior heart disease. The use of a GLP-1 receptor agonist was associated with a 20% reduced risk of MACE and heart failure hospitalization when compared to treatment with DPP4 inhibitors, which were regarded as...
WHO declares end to COVID global health emergency

WHO declares end to COVID global health emergency

COVID19
GHealth News - The World Health Organization ended the global emergency status for COVID-19 on Friday more than three years after its original declaration, and said countries should now manage the virus that killed more than 6.9 million people along with other infectious diseases. The global health agency's Emergency Committee met on Thursday and recommended the UN organization declare an end to the coronavirus crisis as a "public health emergency of international concern" - its highest level of alert - which has been in place since Jan. 30, 2020. "It is therefore with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that the end of the emergency did not mean COVID was over as a global health threat. ...
New survey results show health systems starting to recover from pandemic

New survey results show health systems starting to recover from pandemic

COVID19
Shot focused on a kind looking nurse wearing scrubs, a stethoscope, white rubber gloves and a protective face mask. She is smiling at the nervous patient with her eyes. The nurse is prepping the patients arm before she injects her with the COVID-19 vaccine. GHealth News - After three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, health systems in countries have started showing the first major signs of health system recovery, according to the WHO interim report on the “Fourth round of the global pulse survey on continuity of essential health services during the COVID-19 pandemic: November 2022–January 2023”.  By early 2023, countries reported experiencing reduced disruptions in the delivery of routine health services, but highlighted the need to invest in recovery and stronger resilience for the futur...
WHO: Time to deliver zero malaria

WHO: Time to deliver zero malaria

Communicable Diseases
“Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement”  GHealth News - World Malaria Day 2023 will be marked under the theme “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement”. At WHO, we’re focused on raising awareness about the need to “implement” the tools and strategies we have available today to reach those who continue to be unreached across the Western Pacific.  The Region faces challenges on the road to malaria elimination. In particular, the epidemiology of malaria exhibits enormous diversity, with the disease often concentrated in remote areas and/or among highly mobile or hard-to-reach populations, including forest goers, migrants, indigenous people, military and refugees. More than 70% of malaria deaths in the Region are attributable to Plasmodium ...
‘Era has passed’ as Beijing subway drops mandatory COVID mask rule

‘Era has passed’ as Beijing subway drops mandatory COVID mask rule

COVID19
GHealth News - Beijing's subway has dropped mandatory mask requirements for travellers, local media reported on Sunday, days after a Chinese health expert said the threat of COVID-19 to humans is no longer at a serious level. The mask move is in line with broader measures by China, which said last week it was now no longer mandatory to wear face masks when using public transport, according to state media. "It's as if an era has passed," a user said on China's popular social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu, as social media was abuzz with news of the rules being eased. Staff at a Beijing subway station tore down signs reminding people to wear masks, Beijing Daily reported. The pandemic is nearing its end, based on World Health Organization data, said Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at...
CDC warns of Marburg virus outbreak in Africa

CDC warns of Marburg virus outbreak in Africa

Communicable Diseases
GHealth News - The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending personnel to Africa to help stop outbreaks of Marburg virus disease and is urging travelers to certain countries to take precautions. The CDC is also taking steps to keep infections from spreading to the United States. Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania are facing their first known outbreaks of Marburg virus, a viral fever with uncontrolled bleeding that’s a close cousin to Ebola. This week, the CDC urged travelers to both countries to avoid contact with sick people and to watch for symptoms for three weeks after leaving the area. Travelers to Equatorial Guinea should take enhanced precautions and avoid nonessential travel to the provinces where the outbreak is ongoing, the agency said. In the United States, the ...