Latest World Health Organization News
Uganda tackles yellow fever with new travel requirement, vaccination campaign for millions
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda has rolled out a nationwide yellow fever vaccination campaign to help safeguard its population against the mosquito-borne disease that has long posed a threat. By the end of April, Ugandan authorities had vaccinated 12.2 million of the 14 million...
World Health Assembly hopes to reinforce pandemic preparedness after bold treaty project stalls
GENEVA (AP) — Member countries kicked off the World Health Organization's annual assembly on Monday with hopes of improving global readiness for deadly outbreaks like COVID-19, after an ambitious “pandemic treaty” ran aground last week. Health officials are racing to get the...
Efforts to draft a pandemic treaty falter as countries disagree on how to respond to next emergency
GENEVA (AP) — A global treaty to fight pandemics like COVID is going to have to wait: After more than two years of negotiations, rich and poor countries have failed — for now — to come up with a plan for how the world might respond to the next pandemic. After COVID-19...
UN agency authorizes second vaccine against dengue amid outbreaks in the Americas
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization on Wednesday authorized a second dengue vaccine, a move that could provide protection for millions worldwide against the mosquito-borne disease that has already sparked numerous outbreaks across the Americas this year. In...
Countries struggle to draft 'pandemic treaty' to avoid mistakes made during COVID
GENEVA (AP) — After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for...
A new form of mpox that may spread more easily found in Congo's biggest outbreak
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo is struggling to contain its biggest mpox outbreak, and scientists say a new form of the disease detected in a mining town might more easily spread among people. Since January, Congo has reported more than 4,500 suspected mpox cases and nearly 300...
UN approves an updated cholera vaccine that could help fight a surge in cases
The World Health Organization has approved a version of a widely used cholera vaccine that could help address a surge in cases that has depleted the global vaccine stockpile and left poorer countries scrambling to contain epidemics. WHO authorized the vaccine, made by EuBiologics,...
Mercury exposure widespread among Yanomami tribe in Amazon, report finds
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Many Yanomami, the Amazon's largest Indigenous tribe in relative isolation, have been contaminated with mercury coming from widespread illegal gold mining, according to a report released on Thursday by Brazil’s top public health institute. The research was...
Dengue is sweeping through the Americas early this year
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Dengue is surging across the Americas early this year from Puerto Rico to Brazil, with 3.5 million cases of the tropical disease reported so far, health officials said Thursday. That tally is three times the number of cases reported at this point last...
Rio de Janeiro declares a dengue health emergency days ahead of Carnival
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro on Monday has declared a public health emergency because of an outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever, the city announced Monday, just days before Carnival celebrations kick off across Brazil. The outbreak wasn't expected to derail Carnival,...
