WHO | DD News

May 4, 2026 4:56 PM

WHO says risk to public is low after suspected hantavirus outbreak hits ship

The World Health Organization said on Monday there was no need for panic and the risk to the public was low after three people died and three fell ill following a suspected outbreak of the rodent-borne hantaviruson a cruise shipin the Atlantic. Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions said it was "managing a serious medical situation" on a polar expedition ship, the MV Hondius, which was off Cape Verde, an island nation off Africa's western coast. The cruise left Argentina about three weeks ...

April 10, 2026 2:45 PM

Lebanon’s hospitals may run out of vital medical supplies within days, WHO warns

Some of Lebanon's hospitals could run out of life-saving trauma medical kits within days as supplies near depletion following mass casualties from large-scale Israeli strikes over the past day, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. The life-saving trauma kits include bandages, antibiotics and anaesthetics to treat patients who sustained war-related injuries, the WHO stated. "Some of the trauma management supplies were in short (supply) and we may run out in a few days," Dr Abdinasir ...

March 23, 2026 10:01 AM

Iran war in perilous stage, peace is the best medicine: WHO chief

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), on Sunday said the war in the Middle East has reached a perilous stage with strikes reportedly hitting the Natanz Enrichment Complex in Iran, and the Israeli city of Dimona, where a nuclear facility is located. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is looking into incidents reported in southeastern Iran, and in Israel’s city of Dimona. “No indications of abnormal or increased off-site radiation lev...

March 18, 2026 10:43 AM

Argentina formally withdraws from World Health Organization

Argentina has formally withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno confirmed. In a social media post on Tuesday, Quirno said the country had communicated its decision through a formal note to the United Nations Secretary-General on March 17, 2025. In line with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the withdrawal has now taken effect one year after the notification. “Our country will continue to promote international cooperation in health through ...

March 6, 2026 10:03 AM

India backs WHO’s 90-70-90 target to eliminate cervical cancer

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda on Friday reaffirmed India’s commitment to eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem, while addressing a press briefing virtually at the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO). Speaking at the briefing, Nadda said protecting the health and dignity of women remains a national priority, adding that India is working to safeguard women from preventable diseases such as cervical cancer through prevention, sc...

February 10, 2026 4:48 PM

India’s doctor-population ratio improves to 1:811, better than WHO norm: Prataprao Jadhav

India’s doctor-population ratio has improved to 1:811, surpassing the World Health Organization (WHO) benchmark of 1:1000, according to data shared by the Union government in Parliament on Tuesday. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, said the country currently has 13,88,185 registered allopathic doctors and 7,51,768 registered AYUSH practitioners. Assuming that 80 per cent of registered practitioners in both systems are a...

February 5, 2026 10:01 AM

New York City joins UN health network after Trump withdrew US from WHO

The New York City Health Department on Wednesday said it has joined the World Health Organization's global outbreak response network following President Donald Trump's withdrawal of the U.S. from the U.N. health agency. WHY'S IMPORTANT Following the Republican president's decision to pull the U.S. out of the WHO, some Democratic leaders have made their regions join the WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) in defiance of Trump. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been cri...

February 3, 2026 6:34 PM

WHO cuts appeal for health emergencies by a third to $1 billion in 2026

The World Health Organization is appealing for $1 billion for health emergencies this year, down by a third from last year, as donor funding falls and amid doubts about contributions from its former top donor, the United States. "We're focusing on those most in need, where we can save the most lives," Executive Director Chikwe Ihekweazu told a Geneva briefing on Tuesday, saying the funding would go to 36 emergencies, including Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine. "We are deeply worried about the vast need...

January 23, 2026 3:43 PM

US withdraws from the World Health Organization

The United States officially left the World Health Organization on Thursday after a year of warnings that doing so would hurt public health in the U.S. and globally, saying its decision reflected failures in the U.N. health agency's management of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump gave notice that the U.S. would quit the organization on the first day of his presidency in 2025, via an executive order. According to a press release from the U.S. Health and State Departments, the U.S. w...

January 2, 2026 4:04 PM

India ranks 8th globally in WHO pharmacovigilance contributions: JP Nadda

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, J. P. Nadda, on Friday released the 10th edition of the Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP 2026), marking a major step in strengthening India’s pharmaceutical quality and regulatory framework. The new edition was released at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi. The Indian Pharmacopoeia is the country’s official book of drug standards and plays a central role in ensuring the safety, quality and efficacy of medic...