Health

COVID-19 eliminated a decade of progress in global level of life expectancy

Data crunched by the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that the COVID-19 emergency reversed more than a decade of gains in life expectancy, reinforcing the need for countries to agree on a global pandemic treaty to protect future generations.

Health

Over three million preventable deaths per year due to alcohol and drug use

Over three million deaths per year were attributable to alcohol consumption and drug use, a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) found. Of these deaths, 2.6 million were attributable to alcohol consumption, accounting for nearly five per cent of all deaths, with the highest numbers in the WHO European Region and African Region.

Health

Half the world now following doctors’ orders on cutting trans fats: WHO

A total of 53 countries had best practice policies in place for tackling industrial trans fats in food as of last year, vastly improving the food environment for 3.7 billion people, or 46 per cent of the world’s population, according to a milestone report published by the UN World Health Organization on Monday.

Health

UN health agency issues alert on falsified medicines used for diabetes treatment, weight loss

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday issued a medical product alert on the release of three batches of falsified semaglutides – the type of medicines primarily used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity in some countries.