Tagged with world health organization
United Nations agencies are helping health authorities in Haiti carry out an emergency vaccination campaign after an outbreak of diphtheria in the capital, Port-au-Prince, a spokesperson with the world body said today. Cases of the disease were first reported on Saturday in Camp Batimat in Cité Soleil district, one of the settlements housing people displaced [...]
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND (BNO NEWS) — Although research is ongoing, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Monday that available scientific evidence shows no increased health risk due to radiofrequency energy, a form of electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by cell phones.
FDA cites World Health Organization (WHO) findings released on May 17, 2010 and a separate National Cancer Institute program. Despite the dramatic increase in cell phone use, occurrences of brain cancer did not increase between 1987 and 2005.
Although some of the data suggested an increased risk for people with the heaviest use of cell phones, the study determined that biases and errors limit the strength of conclusions that can be drawn from it.
According to WHO, cell phone use has become much more prevalent and it is not unusual for young people to use cell phones for an hour or more a day.
This increasing use is tempered, however, by the lower emissions, on average, from newer technology phones, and the increasing use of texting and hands-free operations that keep the phone away from the head.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) welcomes the release of the INTERPHONE study, which finds no increased risk of brain cancer from mobile phone use. AMTA Chief Executive Officer, Chris Althaus said: “INTERPHONE’s overall finding is in line with the weight of scientific opinion, which has found no substantiated scientific evidence of any adverse health [...]
UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) – A United Nations (UN) envoy expressed serious concern about the illness that has affected Afghan girls attending school, the UN said Wednesday.
Several girls that are attending school in different parts of Afghanistan have recently faced an uncertain illness, allegedly due to chemical contaminants. Media has reported that dozens of girls have already been hospitalized after suspected gas poisoning.
“Thankfully I understand the children have recovered relatively quickly from their symptoms,” Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, said. He also noted that, “at this point the investigations have not revealed any conclusion as to the nature of source of these incidents of illnesses.” Blood samples have been sent to be tested outside of the country, since there are no facilities in Afghanistan which can thoroughly test them.
The UN World Health Organization has stepped in, assisting the Ministry of Health with its investigations by providing technical guidance and information, and is also consulting with technical experts on conducting environmental analyses and on testing blood samples. In addition, the UNICEF is providing medication and actively pursuing measures to ensure school safety with the Ministry of Education.
“As the senior UN official in Afghanistan, I have asked all relevant UN entities to remain vigilant in the protection of schools and of all children’s right to education Mistura, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said.
International concern has generated, considering that politically and ideologically motivated attacks against teachers, students and schools are on the rise.
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UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) – Funding commitments for water and sanitation have declined as a share of overall development aid over the past decade, despite strong evidence that making the two services available to communities could lower health-care costs, raise school attendance and improve productivity, a new United Nations report said on Wednesday.
“Neglecting sanitation and drinking water is a strike against progress,” said UN World Health Organization Director of Public Health and Environment Dr. Maria Neira. “Without it, communities and countries will lose the battle against poverty and ill-health.”
The report noted that health, education, transport, energy and agriculture received greater donor funding than water and sanitation between 1997 and 2008. It stressed that improved access to sanitation and water produces economic benefits that range from $3 to $34 per dollar invested, increasing a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by an estimated two to seven percent.
“Unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and the lack of hygiene claim the lives of an estimated 2.2 million children under the age of five every year. Of these deaths, 1.5 million are due to diarrhea, the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease,” said Dr. Neira. “The impact of diarrheal disease in children under 15 is greater than the combined impact of HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis,” she added.
The findings of the report will be presented at the first annual High Level Meeting of Sanitation and Water for All, which will be hosted by the UN Children’s Fund in Washington, D.C. on Friday.
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UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) –In India, the world’s second most populated country, people have more access to a mobile phone than to a toilet, the United Nations (UN) said Wednesday.
“It is a tragic irony to think that in India, a country now wealthy enough that roughly half of the people own phones, about half cannot afford the basic necessity and dignity of a toilet,” said Zafar Adeel, Director of UN University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health, and chair of UN-Water, a coordinating body for water-related work at 27 UN agencies and their partners.
India has some 545 million cell phones, enough to serve about 45 per cent of the population, but only about 366 million people or 31 per cent of the population had access to improved sanitation in 2008.
“Anyone who shirks the topic as repugnant, minimizes it as undignified, or considers unworthy those in need should let others take over for the sake of 1.5 million children and countless others killed each year by contaminated water and unhealthy sanitation,” Adeel said.
The UN University (UNU) report mentions a rough cost of $300 to build a toilet, including labor, materials, and advice.
“The world can expect, however, a return of between $3 and $34 for every dollar spent on sanitation, realized through reduced poverty and health costs and higher productivity – an economic and humanitarian opportunity of historic proportions,” Adeel added.
Recommendations were released Wednesday by UNU, including suggestions to adjust the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target from a 50 per cent improvement by 2015 to 100 per cent coverage by 2025, and to reassign official development assistance equal to 0.002 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to sanitation.
The recommendations are meant to accelerate the pace towards reaching the MDG on halving the proportion of people without access to safe water and basic sanitation, but if current global trends continue, the World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund predict there will be a shortfall of 1 billion persons from that sanitation goal by the target date of 2015.
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UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) – Ad Melkert, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG) strongly condemned on Monday the latest series of bombings in Baghdad that killed dozens of people and injured many civilians.
Among those killed as a result of the attacks were a UN staff member working for the UN World Health Organization and her 20-year-old son.
The special envoy said that Sunday’s blasts were a “senseless crime” targeting civilians and diplomats in the Iraqi capital. Melkert also urged all communities in Iraq “to work towards further strengthening of national reconciliation as the best approach to serve the interests of the overwhelming majority of Iraqis that are committed to peace, fundamental rights, and strive for democracy.”
Three suicide bombers set off explosions within moments of each other, according to media reports, apparently targeting foreign embassies in central Baghdad. More than 40 people are estimated to have been killed in the blasts and as many as 200 others were injured.
Melkert, who is also the head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, expressed the UN’s sorrow and sincere condolences to the bereaved families and the Organization’s wishes for full and speedy recovery for those wounded.
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GENEVA (BNO NEWS) — A virus outbreak in eastern Uganda is not the highly infectious disease smallpox but most likely chickenpox, the Uganda Ministry of Health said on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was investigating a report of four suspected smallpox cases in Uganda’s Bududa district. “We have reports of cases of smallpox in eastern Uganda,” said Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the WHO. He said the information came from local media in Uganda, and said the organization was following up to verify.
The Uganda Ministry of Health, however, said they were likely cases of chickenflox.
Hartl said the last confirmed cases of smallpox were in 1978, which were caused by a laboratory accident in Birmingham, England. That incident killed one person and infected several others. The last natural case of smallpox occurred in Somalia in 1977, and the disease was officially declared eradicated in 1979. Since then, Hartl said, the organization has seen a small number of false suspected cases.
Smallpox is estimated to have killed up to 500 million people in the 20th century, and many others before then. Among those killed were Queen Mary II of England, Emperor Joseph I of Austria, and others. The WHO says the global death toll for 1967 alone was about two million.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on its website that there are concerns that smallpox could be used for bioterrorism. “Because smallpox was wiped out many years ago, a case of smallpox today would be the result of an intentional act,” the CDC said. “A single confirmed case of smallpox would be considered an emergency.”
The CDC further said that smallpox is still kept in two approved labs in the United States and Russia. “However, credible concern exists that the virus was made into a weapon by some countries and that terrorists may have obtained it,” the center said. It added to say that it considers the disease to be a great potential threat to public health.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
GENEVA (BNO NEWS) — The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said it is investigating four suspected cases of smallpox in eastern Uganda, but the credibility of the report is uncertain. Smallpox is a highly infectious disease which was last seen in 1978.
“We have reports of cases of smallpox in eastern Uganda,” said Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the WHO. He said the information comes from local media reports in Uganda, and said the organization is currently following up to verify. Hartl said it was also awaiting information from the Uganda Ministry of Health. The reported outbreak is in the Bududa district.
Hartl said the last confirmed cases of smallpox were in 1978, which were caused by a laboratory accident in Birmingham, England. That infection killed one person and infected some others. The last natural case of smallpox occurred in Somalia in 1977, and was officially declared eradicated in 1979. Since then, Hartl said, the organization has seen a small number of false suspected cases.
Smallpox is estimated to have killed up to 500 million people in the 20th century, and many others before then. Among those killed were Queen Mary II of England, Emperor Joseph I of Austria, and others. The WHO says the global death toll for 1967 alone was about two million.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on its website that there are concerns that smallpox could be used for bioterrorism. “Because smallpox was wiped out many years ago, a case of smallpox today would be the result of an intentional act,” the CDC said. “A single confirmed case of smallpox would be considered an emergency.”
The CDC further said that smallpox is still kept in two approved labs in the United States and Russia. “However, credible concern exists that the virus was made into a weapon by some countries and that terrorists may have obtained it,” the center said. It added to say that it considers the disease to be a great potential threat to public health.
