WHO NEWS
Recent news from WHO
- WHO warned that young people should avoid excessive exposure to the sun and avoid using sunlamps to get a tan. The 17 March warning was directed primarily at under-18s who have a greater risk of developing malignant melanoma later in life if they get burnt from exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or a sunlamp.
- The fight against tuberculosis (TB) has made progress across most regions of the world with the glaring exception of Africa, where the disease has reached alarming proportions and where a growing number of cases and deaths are linked to HIV/AIDS, according to a new report. The Global Tuberculosis Control report, released by WHO on World TB Day on 24 March, found that global prevalence of the disease has declined by more than 20% since 1990 and that incidences are falling or stable in five of the six regions of the world. In contrast, TB rates in Africa have tripled since 1990 in countries with high HIV/AIDS prevalence and rising across the continent at a rate of 34% annually. Read the report: http://www.who.int/tb/publications/ global_report/en/
- Damage to ecosystems poses a growing threat to human health, according to a new WHO report published on 30 March. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment some 60% of the benefits that the global ecosystem provides to support life on Earth such as fresh water, clean air and a relatively stable climate are being degraded or used in an unsustainable way. An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plants, animals, and microorganisms that interact with the non-living environment. Read the report: http://www.maweb.org/
- In a major report published on 7 April, WHO called on governments and donors to do more to save the lives of millions of mothers and children who die every year from preventable causes in poor countries. The World health report 2005: Make every mother and child count said millions of women and children die because they do not have access to potentially life-saving care.
- WHO launched an appeal through the United Nations on 8 April for US$ 2.4 million to help Angola fight a major outbreak of Marburg haemorrhagic fever. Over 200 cases have been reported. More than 50 international health experts from the global alert and response network are managing the outbreak alongside Angolan health teams. Their work was suspended briefly in Uíge Province the epicentre of the outbreak on 7 April after reported stoning of vehicles by residents. The following day work resumed as WHO engaged community leaders to help explain the serious nature of the virus to residents.
- Government officials, HIV/AIDS and nutrition experts, and researchers and representatives of UN and nongovernmental organizations gathered in the South African city of Durban from 1013 April to examine the relationship between nutrition and HIV/AIDS. HIV infection and malnutrition rates are rising to alarming levels in sub-Saharan Africa.
- WHO said on 13 April no infections of laboratory workers with the H2N2 influenza virus had been reported after the College of American Pathologists distributed samples to 3747 laboratories in 18 countries in March. People born after 1968 are expected to have limited immunity to the virus because it has not circulated in nature since then.
For more about these and other WHO news items please see: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/en/