World Health Organization (WHO) news

The World Health Report 2008, launched recently, critically assesses the way that health care is organized, financed, and delivered in rich and poor countries around the world. The WHO report documents a number of failures and shortcomings that have left the health status of different populations, both within and between countries, dangerously out of balance. “The World Health Report sets out a way to tackle inequities and inefficiencies in health care, and its recommendations need to be heede

Rising flood waters across West Africa are intensifying health risks for millions of people, and adding to the impact of the food price crisis. International aid is needed as heavy rains forecast to last until September could exacerbate health threats for conditions including malaria, diarrhoea and other potentially fatal communicable diseases. `West Africa`s annual floods bring with them not only the threat of vector-borne and communicable diseases, but it further endangers the lives of people

As delegates gather at the International AIDS Conference (3-8 August), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank address the pressing global debate around health systems and initiatives in specific aspects of health, nutrition and population. Critics claim that disease-specific initiatives are eroding already weak health systems, while others assert that weak health systems are holding back progress in disease-specific initiatives. In an effort to gather evidence and provide technic