Latest World Health Organisation News & Updates

Madrid, May 12 (IANS) The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday said additional hantavirus cases could still emerge in the coming weeks following the evacuation of passengers from the outbreak-hit cruise ship MV Hondius, while stressing that the global public health risk remains low.”Given the long incubation period of the virus, it is possible that we may see more cases in the coming weeks,” Tedros said at a joint press conference with Spanish Pr…

Tenerife, May 10 (IANS) The first plane carrying Spanish passengers evacuated from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius departed from Spain’s Canary Islands for Madrid on Sunday.Buses operated by Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit transported the evacuees directly from the Port of Granadilla to the runway of Tenerife South Airport under the escort of the Spanish Civil Guard.Under Spain’s emergency deployment plan, the country’s Military Emergencies Unit dispatched buses equipped with sanitar…

New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) The Union Health Ministry has stepped up surveillance measures following a Hantavirus outbreak onboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, with authorities closely monitoring the situation in coordination with national and international health agencies.According to a senior health official cited by NDTV, the ministry, along with the National Centre for Disease Control, the World Health Organisation and other international health authorities, has activated high-level surveillance …

London, May 8 (IANS) Two British nationals have been confirmed to have contracted hantavirus, with a third suspected of infection, on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, the UK Health Security Agency said on Friday.None of the British citizens on board the cruise ship MV Hondius is currently reporting symptoms, but they are being closely monitored, said the agency, adding that all British passengers and crew onboard will be asked to isolate for 45 days upon returning to Britain.Britis…

Dhaka, May 7 (IANS) As Bangladesh grapples with a worsening measles outbreak, the laboratory at the Institute of Public Health in Mohakhali, the country’s sole facility for measles testing, is facing a critical shortage of testing kits amid delays in urgent procurement measures, according to a local media report. Reports suggest that if fresh supplies fail to arrive in time, all measles sample testing nationwide may cease after May 11, hampering efforts to determine the actual number of cases….

Kabul, May 6 (IANS) A mother dies from preventable complications every hour in Afghanistan, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, showcasing a health system still struggling to protect women during pregnancy and childbirth, local media reported on Wednesday. In a statement issued on International Day of the Midwife, the WHO said the maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan remains among the highest across the world, at 521 deaths per 100,000 live births, even as access to basic care has improv…

Dhaka, May 2 (IANS) Four more children have died with symptoms of measles in Bangladesh, raising the death toll to 280 since March 15, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has announced, as the country continues to grapple with the disease. Citing the data from DGHS, the local media reported that 170 new suspected measles cases were identified in a span of 24 hours until Friday, taking the total of suspected cases to 38,301 people.The DGHS recorded 115 new confirmed measles cases du…

Islamabad, May 1 (IANS) Pakistan is the single largest contributor to the global number of people living with hepatitis C, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Hepatitis Report 2026 has revealed. In addition, Pakistan has been named among the 10 nations which have most hepatitis C related deaths worldwide, sparking concerns over unsafe injections, reusable syringes and weak infection prevention measures in the country, local media reported. According to the WHO report, hepatitis B and C ar…

Islamabad, May 1 (IANS) Two new polio cases have been reported from Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, bringing the total number of reported cases in the country since the start of this year to three, local media reported on Friday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official of the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, told leading Pakistani daily Dawn that two new cases of wild poliovirus – one in Bannu and another in North Waziristan – were confirmed by the National Emergency Op…

Gandhinagar, April 25 (IANS) Gujarat has recorded a decline of around 92 per cent in malaria cases over the past 10 years, the state Health Department said on Saturday, highlighting sustained surveillance and prevention efforts as World Malaria Day was observed. Observed annually on April 25 by the World Health Organisation, the day aims to raise awareness about malaria control and ensure active community participation.This year’s theme, “Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can. Now We Must”, focuses …