Tag: WHO

WHO and ILO call for new measures to tackle mental health issues at work

Stuart Mitchell

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have called for concrete action to address mental health concerns in the working population. An estimated 12 billion workdays are lost annually due to depression and anxiety costing the global economy nearly US$ one trillion. Two new publications which aim to address this issue are published today – WHO Guidelines on mental health at work and a derivative WHO/ILO policy brief. WHO’s global guidelines on mental health at work recommend actions to tackle risks to mental health such as…

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Make suicide prevention in Africa a priority, UN health agency urges governments

Stuart Mitchell

Did you know that Africa has the highest suicide rate in the world? To reverse that worrying statistic, the UN health agency WHO recently launched a social media campaign to raise awareness around mental health illness, which is believed to account for up to 11 per cent of the risk factors that are associated with suicide. “Every death by suicide is a tragedy,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, who maintained the suicide prevention was “rarely a priority” in national health programmes. Tweet URL Ahead of World…

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New global alliance launched to end AIDS in children by 2030

Stuart Mitchell

Globally, only half (52%) of children living with HIV are on life-saving treatment, far behind adults where three quarters (76%) are receiving antiretrovirals, according to the data that has just been released in the UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2022. Concerned by the stalling of progress for children, and the widening gap between children and adults, UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO and partners have brought together a global alliance to ensure that no child living with HIV is denied treatment by the end of the decade and to prevent new infant HIV infections.…

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More than half of parents and pregnant women exposed to aggressive formula milk marketing

Stuart Mitchell

More than half of parents and pregnant women (51 per cent) surveyed for a new WHO/UNICEF report say they have been targeted with marketing from formula milk companies, much of which is in breach of international standards on infant feeding practices.   The report, How marketing of formula milk influences our decisions on infant feeding (https://uni.cf/3LXgXHt), draws on interviews with parents, pregnant women and health workers in eight countries. It uncovers systematic and unethical marketing strategies used by the formula milk industry – now worth a staggering US$55 billion – to…

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WHO Highlights the importance of Access for All on World Braille Day 2022

Stuart Mitchell

Yesterday was World Braille Day 2022. Braille is a tactile language used by blind and partially sighted people. Combinations of raised dots represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols, so that books and periodicals can be read through touch.     The system was invented by Frenchman Louis Braille nearly 200 years ago.  In a post on Twitter, the President of the UN General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, commended Braille as a tool for freedom of expression, access to information and social inclusion. “This has never been…

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