Latest World Health Organization News
UN authorizes first mpox vaccine for children in an attempt to control Congo outbreak
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization has authorized the first mpox vaccine for children, a decision experts hope will help make immunizations more widely available to one of the hardest-hit populations during the ongoing outbreaks of the disease in Congo and elsewhere in Africa. ...
India's capital chokes as air pollution levels hit 50 times the safe limit
NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities in India’s capital shut schools, halted construction and banned non-essential trucks from entering the city on Monday after air pollution shot up to its worst level this season. Residents of New Delhi woke up to thick, toxic smog enveloping the city...
WHO says mpox cases in Congo's epicenter where the new variant was detected may be 'plateauing'
LONDON (AP) — Cases of mpox in the region of Congo where a new and more infectious variant was first detected appear to be “plateauing,” the World Health Organization said on Monday, even as the virus continues to increase in other areas of the country, as well as in Burundi and Uganda. ...
Mpox cases in Congo may be stabilizing. Experts say more vaccines are needed to stamp out virus
GOMA, Congo (AP) — Some health officials say mpox cases in Congo appear to be “stabilizing” — a possible sign that the main epidemic for which the World Health Organization made a global emergency declaration in August might be on the decline. In recent weeks, Congo has...
Tuberculosis infected 8 million people last year, the most WHO has ever tracked
LONDON (AP) — More than 8 million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis last year, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, the highest number recorded since the U.N. health agency began keeping track. About 1.25 million people died of TB last year, the new report said, adding...
Pakistan begins another vaccination campaign after a worrying surge in polio cases
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampered years of efforts to stop the disease in one of the two countries where it has never been eradicated. Pakistan regularly...
Rwanda says no community transmission of Marburg virus, with zero new infections in recent days
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Rwanda's health minister said Sunday that an outbreak of the Marburg virus is not spreading in the country, citing the absence of new infections or deaths in the past six days. “We don't have community transmission,” Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana told...
Mali's traditional theater gives psychiatric patients the stage
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — In the courtyard of a psychiatric ward in Mali’s capital, a small group of patients acts out scenes of a village dispute to the beat of a djembe, a traditional West African drum. One patient, Mamadou Diarra, cries out to another in the Bambara language,...
A gold mining town in Congo has become an mpox hot spot as a new strain spreads
KAMITUGA, Congo (AP) — Slumped on the ground over a mound of dirt, Divine Wisoba pulled weeds from her daughter’s grave. The 1-month-old died from mpox in eastern Congo in August, but Wisoba, 21, was too traumatized to attend the funeral. In her first visit to the cemetery, she...
Why is Congo struggling to contain mpox?
KAVUMU, Congo (AP) — Health authorities have struggled to contain outbreaks of mpox in Congo, a huge central African country where a myriad of existing problems makes stemming the spread particularly hard. Last month, the World Health Organization declared the outbreaks in Congo...
