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Nigeria bears 50% burden of NTDs in Africa- WHO
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The World Health Organization has raised concerns over prevalence of Neglected Tropical Diseases, NTDs in Nigeria causing 50% burden in Africa and 29% of deaths in Nigeria.
WHO Field Presence Cluster Lead , Ahmed Khedr who represented the WHO Country Representative, Walter Kazadi Mulumbo disclosed this today at the 6th Annual Conference of The Association of Nigeria Health Journalists, ANHEJ, in Akwanga.
Mulumbo noted that the NTDs also causes premature mortality such as Hypertension, Diabetes, Cancers, Tuberculosis, HIV while Malnutrition accounts for 22% of deaths in Nigeria.
Giving a rundown of Nigeria’s situation, he said that although the prevalence of malaria is declining (from 42% to 23%), the country contributes 27% of global cases and 24% of global deaths.
Mulumbo lamented that the poorest households in Nigeria feel the heaviest impact of poor health outcomes due to limited essential health services, which is sapping the economy negatively.
He said the way out of poor health outcomes is for Nigeria and all countries to find a pathway to Universal Health Care in the context of their social, political and economic circumstances.
“But the foundation everywhere must be a political commitment to building a strong health system, based on primary care, with an emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion.”
“Such health systems do not only provide the best health outcomes; they are also the best defense against outbreaks and other health emergencies. In this sense, UHC and health security are truly two sides of the same coin.”
The WHO Country Representative commended President Buhari and all state governors for taking the vital step by endorsing the Presidential Summit on universal health coverage, which ensures equitable access to high-quality, affordable health care for all Nigerians.
Accordingly, he also explained that National Health Act (NHAct) enacted the same year laid a firm foundation for making UHC a reality, by guaranteeing a basic package of health services for all Nigerians while making available predictable financing through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund.
“The WHO clearly identifies the media as a critical partner and if well harnessed have potential to accelerate achievement of UHC in any country. Over the years, we have significantly invested in communications for health in country offices and prioritized strategic communication within Output 4.2.1 of the GPW13.”
He assured Health Journalists that within it’s the mandate WHO will continue to support Health journalists with the capacity they need, to leverage their role in strategic communication, towards raising health high on the political agenda of government, empowering audiences, giving communities a voice, and creating safe spaces for decision-makers and citizens to discuss challenges and co-create solutions that address health needs of the people.
President of ANHEJ, Mr. Hassan Zaggi enjoined government at all levels to take the health of Nigerians serious by making it a top priority because, health is wealth and it is only a healthy society that can be productive.
Zaggi also called on Lawmakers at all tiers of government levels to ensure they enact the relevant laws that will support and improve the attainment of UHC through health insurance.
Zaggi noted that as a way of eliminating the out-of-pocket payment that makes access to quality and affordable healthcare services inequitable, especially among the indigent and vulnerable groups, communities, and associations must begin to adopt models that suit their enrollment in health insurance to enable them to access health care services when the need arises without catastrophic expenditure.
“I, therefore, call on our Senators, House of Representative members, House of Assembly members, Councilors to adopt villages, communities, and individuals in their constituencies by paying their health insurance premium annually”.
December 8, 2022
Monkeypox Still Global Health Emergency – WHO
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that its emergency committee had determined that monkeypox should continue to be classified as a global health emergency.
Following a meeting on October 20 about the virus that suddenly started spreading across the world in May, the experts “held the consensus view that the event continues to meet the … criteria for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” WHO said in a statement.
The UN health agency first declared the so-called PHEIC — its highest level of alarm — on July 23, and the experts said that while some progress had been made in reining in the disease, it was too soon to declare the emergency over.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had accepted and agreed with the experts’ advice, the statement said.
Since monkeypox suddenly began spreading beyond the West African countries where it has long been endemic six months ago, it has killed 36 people out of more than 77,000 cases across 109 countries, according to a WHO count.
The outbreak outside of West Africa has primarily affected young men who have sex with men.
But since peaking in July, the number of people infected with the disease that causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, has consistently fallen, particularly in Europe and North America, the hardest hit areas in the early stages of the global outbreak.
The number of new global cases fell by 41 percent in the seven days up to Monday compared to the previous week, the WHO said.
But WHO’s emergency committee stressed that there were a number of lingering causes for concern.
They listed ongoing transmission in some regions, continuing preparedness and response inequity within and between countries, and the potential for greater health impacts if the virus begins spreading more among more vulnerable populations.
They also pointed to the continuing risk of stigma and discrimination, weak health systems in some developing countries leading to under-reporting and the lack of equitable access to diagnostics, antivirals and vaccines.
November 1, 2022
WHO Unveils Campaign to Stop Suicide in Nigeria, Others
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has kicked off a campaign to raise awareness and spur action for suicide prevention in the African region, which according to it, has the world’s highest rates of death by suicide.
According to it, around 11 people per 100,000 per year die by suicide in the African region, higher than the global average of nine per 100,000 people.
This is due in part to insufficient action to address and prevent the risk factors, including mental health conditions which currently affect 116 million people, up from 53 million in 1990, a statement by WHO says.
Consequently, ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10, WHO launched a social media campaign aimed at reaching 10 million people across the region.
It is to raise public awareness and galvanise the support of governments and policymakers to increase focus and funding for mental health programming, including suicide prevention efforts.
Such efforts include equipping health workers to better support those dealing with suicidal thoughts and educating people who may experience these thoughts on where to go for help.
As well as sensitising the public on how to identify and help those in need and to help tackle the stigma associated with suicide, epilepsy, mental health conditions and alcohol and drug abuse.
The 2022 World Mental Health Day is being marked under the theme “Make Mental Health and Well-Being for All a Global Priority”.
It is to draw attention to the importance of mental health care and the need for better access to health services.
WHO said the African region is home to six of the 10 countries with the highest suicide rates worldwide.
According to it, the common means of suicide in the region are hanging and pesticide self-poisoning and to a lesser extent drowning, use of a firearm, jumping from a height or medication overdose.
Studies show that in Africa for each completed suicide, there are an estimated 20 attempted ones.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said: “Suicide is a major public health problem and every death by suicide is a tragedy. Unfortunately suicide prevention is rarely a priority in national health programmes.
“Significant investment must be made to tackle Africa’s growing burden of chronic diseases and non-infectious conditions such as mental disorders that can contribute to suicide.
“Mental health is integral to wholesome health and well-being yet far too many people in our region who need help for mental health conditions do not receive it.
“It’s time for radical change.
“Ongoing efforts by countries should be reinforced and broadened to make mental health care a public health priority in the African region,’’ Moeti said.
Mental health problems account for up to 11 per cent of the risk factors associated with suicide.
In Africa, underinvestment by governments is the greatest challenge to adequate mental health service provision.
On average governments allocate less than 50 US cents per capita to mental health. Although it is an improvement from 10 US cents in 2017, it is still well below the recommended US$ 2 per capita for low-income countries. Additionally, mental health care is generally not included in national health insurance schemes.
October 9, 2022
UNICEF, WHO charge governments to step up resources to support breastfeeding
… Says 70% of infants in Nigeria are denied the benefits of breastfeeding
in their formative years
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
As countries mark the 2022 World Breastfeeding Week, BFW, UNICEF and WHO have called governments, donors, Civil Societies, CSOs and the private sector to step up allocation for increased resources to support breastfeeding policies and programmes especially for indigent families living in emergency settings.
UNICEF and WHO made this call today in a joint statement to mark the BF Week in Nigeria.
The duo global agencies also lament that ubiquitous global crises continue to threaten the health and nutrition of millions of babies and children, the vital importance of breastfeeding as the best possible start in life is more critical than ever.
“World Breastfeeding Week, under its theme Step up for breastfeeding: Educate and Support, UNICEF and WHO are calling on governments to allocate increased resources to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding policies and programmes, especially for the most vulnerable families living in emergency settings.”
Also in Nigeria, 70% of infants in Nigeria are denied the benefits of breast milk in their formative years as only 29% of children are breast fed.
The statement read,” Only 9% of organizations have a workplace breastfeeding policy, indicating that mothers lack the enabling environment to optimally breastfeed their babies. The results are high stunting rates of 37% of children Under- 5, of which 21% are severe, and wasting among children under 5 years of age (7%). This continues to present severe consequences for the child.
“Breastfeeding also acts as a baby’s first vaccine, protecting them from common childhood illnesses.
“Yet the emotional distress, physical exhaustion, lack of space and privacy, and poor sanitation experienced by mothers in emergency settings mean that many babies are missing out on the benefits of breastfeeding to help them survive.
“During emergencies, including those in Afghanistan, Yemen, Ukraine, the Horn of Africa, and the Sahel, breastfeeding guarantees a safe, nutritious and accessible food source for babies and young children. It offers a powerful line of defense against disease and all forms of child malnutrition, including wasting.
“Breastfeeding also acts as a baby’s first vaccine, protecting them from common childhood illnesses.
“Yet the emotional distress, physical exhaustion, lack of space and privacy, and poor sanitation experienced by mothers in emergency settings mean that many babies are missing out on the benefits of breastfeeding to help them survive.
“Fewer than half of all newborn babies are breastfed in the first hour of life, leaving them more vulnerable to disease and death. And only 44 per cent of infants are exclusively breastfed in the first six months of life, short of the World Health Assembly target of 50 per cent by 2025.
“Protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding is more important than ever, not just for protecting our planet as the ultimate natural, sustainable, first food system, but also for the survival, growth, and development of millions of infants.”
UNICEF and WHO are reiterate their call on governments, donors, civil society, and the private sector to step up efforts to Prioritize investing in breastfeeding support policies and programmes, especially in fragile and food insecure contexts.
Equip health and nutrition workers in facilities and communities with the skills they need to provide quality counselling and practical support to mothers to successfully breastfeed.
Protect caregivers and health care workers from the unethical marketing influence of the formula industry by fully adopting and implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes, including in humanitarian settings.
Implement family-friendly policies that provide mothers with the time, space, and support they need to breastfeed.”
August 2, 2022
WHO Declares Monkeypox Global Emergency, Triggers Highest Alert
The World Health Organization on Saturday declared the monkeypox outbreak, which has affected nearly 16,000 people in 72 countries, to be a global health emergency — the highest alarm it can sound.
“I have decided that the global #monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.
He said a committee of experts who met on Thursday was unable to reach a consensus, so it fell on him to decide whether to trigger the highest alert possible.
“WHO’s assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region where we assess the risk as high,” he added.
Monkeypox has affected over 15,800 people in 72 countries, according to a tally by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published on July 20.
A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.
On June 23, the WHO convened an emergency committee (EC) of experts to decide if monkeypox constitutes a so-called Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) — the UN health agency’s highest alert level.
But a majority advised Tedros that the situation, at that point, had not met the threshold.
The second meeting was called on Thursday with case numbers rising further, where Tedros said he was worried.
“I need your advice in assessing the immediate and mid-term public health implications,” Tedros told the meeting, which lasted more than six hours.
A US health expert sounded a grim warning late on Friday.
“Since the last #monkeypox EC just weeks ago, we’ve seen an exponential rise in cases. It’s inevitable that cases will dramatically rise in the coming weeks & months. That’s why @DrTedros must sound the global alarm,” Lawrence Gostin, the director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, said on Twitter.
“A failure to act will have grave consequences for global health.”
– Warning against discrimination –
A viral infection resembling smallpox and first detected in humans in 1970, monkeypox is less dangerous and contagious than smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980.
Ninety-five percent of cases have been transmitted through sexual activity, according to a study of 528 people in 16 countries published in the New England Journal of Medicine — the largest research to date.
Overall, 98 percent of infected people were gay or bisexual men, and around a third were known to have visited sex-on-site venues such as sex parties or saunas within the previous month.
“This transmission pattern represents both an opportunity to implement targeted public health interventions, and a challenge because in some countries, the communities affected face life-threatening discrimination,” Tedros said earlier, citing concern that stigma and scapegoating could make the outbreak harder to track.
The European Union’s drug watchdog on Friday recommended for approval the use of Imvanex, a smallpox vaccine, to treat monkeypox.
Imvanex, developed by Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic, has been approved in the EU since 2013 for the prevention of smallpox.
It was also considered a potential vaccine for monkeypox because of the similarity between the monkeypox virus and the smallpox virus.
The first symptoms of monkeypox are fever, headaches, muscle pain and back pain during the course of five days.
Rashes subsequently appear on the face, the palms of hands and soles of feet, followed by lesions, spots and finally scabs.
July 24, 2022
Malaria Killed Over 602,000 People In Africa Last Year – WHO
No fewer than 602,000 people died of malaria across Africa last year, an official of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, said this on Monday in her message to commemorate this year’s World Malaria Day tagged ‘Harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives’.
“Malaria remains a significant public health and development challenge,” she declared. “In the last year, about 95 per cent of the estimated 228 million cases occurred in the WHO/AFRO Region, along with 602,020 reported deaths.
“Six of our countries, the worst-impacted by malaria in the region, are reported to have accounted for up to 55 per cent of cases globally, and for 50 per cent of these deaths.”
The commemoration of World Malaria Day is marked annually on 25 April to focus global attention on the disease and its devastating impact on families, communities, and societal development, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Moeti, in her remarks, believes this year’s theme aligns with her call to urgently scale up innovation and the deployment of new tools in the fight against malaria, while advocating for equitable access to malaria prevention and treatment within the context of building health system resilience.
She said the past year has seen significant breakthroughs in malaria prevention and control, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The WHO official stated that landmark recommendations on the use of the first vaccine against malaria – RTS,S – were released by the late last year, adding that the vaccine would be used to prevent the disease among children aged six months to five years, who live in moderate to high transmission settings.
“While this is a ground-breaking advance in the development of new tools to fight this disease, with the potential to save millions of lives, supplies are currently limited,” she lamented. “As such, it is important to ensure that the doses that are available are utilised for maximum impact while ensuring the continued availability of other preventive measures to those most at risk.
“Despite some slowing of progress to reduce malaria cases and deaths, and the disruptions to health services caused by COVID-19, we are still much further ahead than we were in 2000. We need to reignite that momentum and build on the recent advances.
“The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of people catching and dying from malaria. This requires a focus on research and on leveraging available evidence to ensure that our targeted interventions are an efficient use of resources, which produce measurable results.”
April 25, 2022
Nigeria, Five Other African Countries To Begin Production Of Covid Vaccines – WHO
Nigeria and five other African countries have been chosen to begin production of COVID-19 vaccines, with the continent having had limited access to jabs.
“Today I’m delighted to announce the first six African countries that will receive technology from the hub to produce their own mRNA vaccines: Egypt, Kenya Nigeria, Senegal South Africa, and Tunisia,” Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Ghebreyesus, announced on Friday.
According to the WHO, they were selected as the first recipients of technology from the organisation’s global mRNA vaccine hub, in a push to ensure the African continent can make its own jabs to fight COVID and other diseases.
“I was honoured to visit the Hub last week. And it’s already producing results, with Afrigen’s announcement that it has produced its own mRNA vaccine, based on publicly-available information about the composition of an existing vaccine,” Ghebreyesus said.
“We expect clinical trials to start in the 4th quarter of this year, with approval expected in 2024. We expect the benefits of this initiative will extend far beyond #COVID19, by creating a platform for vaccines against other diseases including malaria and tuberculosis”.
“WHO will work with the companies and the government in each country to develop a roadmap for training and production, based on their needs and capacities.
“Thank you all, and we look forward to working with all of you to make this project a success, for the healthier, safer and fairer Africa”.
According to the WHO boss, no other event like the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that reliance on a few companies to supply global public goods is limiting, and dangerous.
He, therefore, stressed that the best way to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage is to significantly increase the capacity of all regions to manufacture the health products they need.
Tedros has continually called for equitable access to vaccines in order to beat the pandemic, and rails against the way wealthy nations have hogged doses, leaving Africa lagging behind other continents in the global vaccination effort.
A ceremony marking the mRNA tech transfer announcement was held Friday in Brussels at the summit between the European Union and the African Union.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said: “We have been talking a lot about producing mRNA vaccines in Africa. But this goes even beyond. This is mRNA technology designed in Africa, led by Africa and owned by Africa.”
Self-reliance
Currently, only one per cent of the vaccines used in Africa are produced on the continent of some 1.3 billion people.
The WHO set up a global mRNA technology transfer hub in South Africa last year to support manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries to produce their own vaccines.
The global hub’s role is to ensure that manufacturers in those nations have the know-how to make mRNA vaccines at scale and according to international standards.
As used in the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines, mRNA technology provokes an immune response by delivering genetic molecules containing the code for key parts of a pathogen into human cells.
Primarily set up to address the Covid-19 pandemic, the global hub has the potential to expand manufacturing capacity for other vaccines and products, such as insulin to treat diabetes, cancer medicines and, potentially, vaccines for diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.
The scheme’s ultimate goal is to spread capacity for national and regional production to all health technologies.
‘Mutual Respect’
The WHO said it would work with the first six countries chosen to develop a roadmap of training and support so they can start producing vaccines as soon as possible.
Training will begin in March.
The South African hub is already producing mRNA vaccines at laboratory scale and is currently scaling up towards commercial scale.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Friday’s announcement “means mutual respect, mutual recognition of what we can all bring to the party, investment in our economies, infrastructure investment and, in many ways, giving back to the continent”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said supporting African health sovereignty was one of the key goals of starting up local production, “to empower regions and countries to fend for themselves, during crises, and in peace time”.
More than 10.4 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered around the world, with nearly 62 percent of the global population having received at least one shot.
However, just 11.3 per cent of Africans had been fully immunised by the start of February.
In Nigeria, many are yet to be vaccinated despite efforts by authorities to make citizens get the jab.
On Thursday, the country recorded 45 new cases of the virus, bringing its total number of confirmed cases to 254,182.
230,530 cases are, however, said to have recovered, while 3,141 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The 45 new cases were reported from eight states – Lagos (18), Cross River (7), FCT (7), Oyo (5), Kano (3), Nasarawa (3), Ekiti (1) and Rivers (1).
Across the world, the vaccine continues to rage on.
Here are some of the latest developments on the impact of the virus:
Canadian Police Deployed
Canadian police mass in the capital, readying to clear a trucker-led anti-Covid curb protest that has choked Ottawa’s streets and provoked the government to call on rarely-used emergency powers.
Israel to end green pass
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announces the requirement to show proof of coronavirus vaccination to enter various sites will soon end, as the wave of infections wanes.
World ‘better prepared’
The world is becoming “better prepared” to deal with future variants of the virus, the CEO and co-founder of German vaccine-maker BioNTech tells AFP, as the company works on an Omicron-specific shot.
Japan eases strict border bar
Japan will ease its strict virus border rules to allow students and businesspeople into the country from March, but tourists will still be barred.
Portugal to lift most Covid rules
Portugal will no longer require people to present a health pass when going to restaurants and hotels, the government says, without providing a fixed date. Proof of vaccination is still necessary to enter the country.
Swiss president tests positive
On the day Switzerland lifts almost all remaining coronavirus restrictions, the government announces President Ignazio Cassis has tested positive.
Covid-19 pill
A South Africa regulator says it has approved the use of Merck’s Covid-19 pill for high-risk adults.
US jabs for Egypt, Nigeria
The United States ships nearly 5.2 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to Egypt and Nigeria, a White House official tells AFP.
Djokovic ready for Dubai comeback
Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic prepares for his comeback in Dubai, after a coronavirus vaccine row kept the Serb from defending his Australian Open title.
Aussie tennis star probed
Australian tennis player Alex de Minaur hits back at allegations he is being investigated over the purchase of false Covid passes, insisting: “I have a completely valid, accurate and true vaccination record.”
Over 5.8 million dead
Coronavirus has killed at least 5,848,104 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources Thursday.
The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 928,519, followed by Brazil with 640,774, and India 510,413.
Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the WHO estimates the true death toll could be two to three times higher.
February 18, 2022
WHO Urges Rich Countries To Pay Up For COVID-19 Plan
The WHO urged rich countries Wednesday to pay their fair share of the money needed for its plan to conquer Covid-19 by urgently contributing $16 billion.
The World Health Organization said the rapid cash injection into its Access to Covid Tools Accelerator could finish off Covid as a global health emergency this year.
The WHO-led ACT-A is aimed at developing, producing, procuring and distributing tools to tackle the pandemic: namely vaccines, tests, treatments and personal protective equipment.
ACT-A gave birth to the Covax facility, designed to ensure poorer countries could access eventual vaccines, correctly predicting that richer nations would hog doses.
Covax delivered its billionth vaccine dose in mid-January.
ACT-A needed $23.4 billion for its programme for the October 2021-September 2022 period, but only $800 million has been raised so far.
The scheme therefore wants $16 billion up front from wealthy nations “to close the immediate financing gap”, with the rest to be self-funded by middle-income countries.
– Omicron impetus –
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the rapid spread of the Omicron variant made it all the more urgent to ensure tests, treatments and vaccines were distributed equitably.
“Wherever you live, Covid-19 is not finished with us,” he said.
“Science gave us the tools to fight Covid-19; if they are shared globally in solidarity, we can end Covid-19 as a global health emergency this year.”
Just 0.4 percent of the 4.7 billion Covid tests administered globally during the pandemic have been used in low-income countries.
Meanwhile only 10 percent of people in those nations have received at least one vaccine dose.
The WHO said the vast inequity was not only costing lives and hurting economies, it was also risking the emergence of new, more dangerous variants that could rob current tools of their effectiveness and set even highly-vaccinated populations back by many months.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the campaign launch that overcoming the pandemic was within reach this year, “but we need to act now”.
“If we want to ensure vaccinations for everyone to end this pandemic, we must first inject fairness into the system,” he said.
“Vaccine inequity is the biggest moral failure of our times and people and countries are paying the price.”
– Ramaphosa call –
ACT-A has come up with a new “fair share” financing model on how much each of the world’s wealthy countries should contribute, based on the size of their national economy and what they would gain from a faster recovery of the global economy.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who co-chairs the ACT-A facilitation council, said inequitable access to Covid tools was simply prolonging the pandemic.
“I urge my fellow leaders to step up in solidarity, meet their fair shares, and help reclaim our lives from this virus,” he said.
Ramaphosa and his co-chair Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store have written to 55 of the wealthiest nations outlining their “fair share” and encouraging them to cough up.
The plan would require the United States to contribute the most, at $6 billion.
“Public health doesn’t end at our borders. All of us are at risk and all of us must respond to turn the tide. Let’s get this done,” said US Health Secretary Xavier Becerra
February 9, 2022
10m People Died of Cancer in 2021 – WHO
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says 10 million people died of cancer in 2021.
In a statement issued to commemorate the World Cancer Day 2022 themed ‘Closing the Care Gap’, the WHO described cancer as one of the world’s leading causes of death.
It said in 2021, “an estimated 20 million people were diagnosed with cancer, and 10 million died”.
The organisation, while noting that all cancers can be prevented or cured, said the numbers will continue to rise in the decades ahead if adequate measures are not taken to improve treatment.
“Care for cancer, however, like so many other diseases, reflects the inequalities and inequities of our world,” the statement reads.
“The clearest distinction is between high- and low-income countries, with comprehensive treatment reportedly available in more than 90% of high-income countries but less than 15% of low-income countries.
“Similarly, the survival of children diagnosed with cancer is more than 80% in high-income countries, and less than 30% in low- and middle-income countries. And breast cancer survival five years after diagnosis now exceeds 80% in most high-income countries, compared with 66% in India and just 40% in South Africa.
“Furthermore, a recent WHO survey found that cancer services are covered by a country’s largest, government health financing scheme in an estimated 37% of low- and middle-income countries, compared to at least 78% of high-income countries. This means that a cancer diagnosis has the potential to push families into poverty, particularly in lower-income countries, an effect that has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“WHO’s efforts are focused on breast cancer, now the most common cancer; cervical cancer, which can be eliminated; and childhood cancer. The focus for each of these initiatives is low- and middle-income countries, where the biggest public health gains are to be made.
“These integrated global cancer initiatives are being implemented by more than 200 partners around the world, including many development banks who have significantly increased their investments in cancer research, prevention and care.
“Bringing services for prevention, diagnosis, multidisciplinary treatment and supportive care together in one place makes it easier for patients to navigate services and leads to a greater concentration of expertise, and subsequently better health outcomes.”
February 4, 2022
WHO appoints Toyin Saraki as ambassador for global health
The World Health Organization (WHO) Foundation has appointed Toyin Saraki as the inaugural WHO Foundation Ambassador for Global Health.
The wife of ex-Senate President, Bukola Saraki, is a global health advocate and Founder-President of Wellbeing Foundation Africa.
WHO Foundation CEO, Anil Soni hailed her decades of work dedicated to women and children’s health and empowerment.
Soni highlighted Saraki’s tireless commitment to improving global health through her advocacy work.
“Her energy and deep commitment to educating, advocating and fundraising on behalf of WHO Foundation’s mission, will make a critical difference to global health initiatives.
“Her ambassadorship will enable us to power the vital work of WHO through the triple billion goals for a fairer and more equitable world”, he said.
Reacting, Saraki said she is honoured to become the inaugural ambassador.
She called the WHO body a force for good in the global health ecosystem, driving change to overcome pressing global health challenges.
“I look forward to working with the foundation to propel one of the world’s most influential global health initiatives forward,” Saraki noted.
January 13, 2022