NEWS
Recent news from WHO
Half of 1.27 million people who die in road traffic crashes every year are pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists, according to a new WHO study released on 15 June.
WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan urged governments to base their policies on fairness. Speaking at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 15 June, she said that health disparities within and between countries should be taken as a human development indicator.
On 11 June, WHO raised the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic alert to phase 6, but stressed that this referred to geographical spread of the disease and not severity of cases or number of deaths. As of 15 June, 76 countries had officially reported 35 928 cases of the infection, including 163 deaths. Based on available scientific evidence, WHO said that the overall severity of the new pandemic influenza strain was moderate.
WHO recommended on 5 June that rotavirus vaccination be included in all national immunization programmes to provide protection against a virus that is responsible for more than 500 000 diarrhoeal deaths and 2 million hospitalizations every year among children.
WHO won this year's Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation. The jury for the award announced its decision on 27 May in Oviedo, Spain.
WHO and the International Atomic Energy Agency announced on 26 May the launch of the Joint Programme on Cancer Control aimed at strengthening and accelerating efforts to fight cancer in developing countries.
For more about these and other WHO news items please see: http://www.who.int/mediacentre