WHO published its World health statistics report 2025, revealing the deeper health impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on loss of lives, longevity and overall health and well-being. In just two years, between 2019 and 2021, global life expectancy fell by 1.8 years—the largest drop in recent history— reversing a …
The Summary for Policymakers - Environmental Dimensions of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) launched on the sidelines of UNEA 5.2 taking place from 28 February to 4 March 2022. The report calls to strengthen environmental action within the ‘One Health’ response to AMR, looks at the pollutants that exacerbate AMR in the …
Global warming and air pollution threaten human health, economic prosperity and human capital accumulation. The current review presents empirical findings on the effect of adverse environmental conditions on cognition, with a focus on pollution and high temperatures. The review takes a life-course perspective and quantifies both the direct and indirect …
This report summarizes the findings of a multicountry study examining the impact of breast milk marketing on infant feeding decisions and practices, which was commissioned by WHO and UNICEF. The research study – the largest of its kind to date – draws on the experiences of over 8500 women and …
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on February 14, 2022 has issued the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Amendment Regulations, 2021 to further amend the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017. This has come into force on February 14, 2022. The Food Business Operator shall comply …
The Government of India has proposed mandatory rice fortification to tackle the issue of malnutrition in the country. The process of fortification includes externally adding nutrients to a food item with the aim to increase its nutritional value. This report brings to light the lack of adequate scientific data to …
Globally, safe waste management services for healthcare waste are lacking, especially in least developed countries. The latest available data (from 2019) indicate that 1 in 3 healthcare facilities globally do not safely manage healthcare waste. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to large increases in healthcare waste, straining under resourced healthcare …
A Niti Aayog report has said that about 65 per cent of hospital beds in the country cater to almost 50 per cent of the population and stressed that the number of beds must be increased by at least 30 per cent to ensure equitable access to healthcare facilities for …
It is widely recognized that periods of crisis affect men and women differently, mediated by their access to resources and information, as well as social and institutional structures that may systematically disadvantage women from being able to access relief, institutional support, and rehabilitation. To capture the gendered impacts of the …
This paper provides available evidence-based data on urban nutrition in India and explores practical multisectoral interventions that can contribute to ADB's support for the implementation of the country's National Urban Health Mission. It describes malnutrition’s impact on health and nonhealth sectors, identifies key determinants, and offers specific solutions according to …
According to the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study, air pollution from fine particulate matter caused 6.4 million premature deaths and 93 billion days lived with illness in 2019. Over the past decade, the toll of ambient air pollution has continued to rise. Air pollution’s significant health, social, and economic …
The paper lays out a broad framework to reimagine healthcare systems using the digital technologies as one of the core pillars in the Asia-pacific countries. It argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed serious flaws in the design of traditional healthcare systems in both advanced and developing countries of the …
With the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, the world is eager to return to normal. However, the complexity of the challenges Africa was already facing—including poor infrastructure, high youth unemployment, rapidly increasing debt, and climate change—means that the region’s recovery is likely to be uneven and far behind much of the …
This guide seeks to facilitate a common understanding and build a bridge between the health and environmental sectors on global environmental governance. The guide focuses on four main areas: biodiversity, climate change, pollution, and food systems. It aims to achieve multi-sectoral engagement and to advance multi-sectoral health governance by examining …
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on January 18, 2022 has issued the Drugs (Amendment) Rules, 2022 to further amend the Drugs Rules, 1945. The following amendment has been made: In rule 96, after sub-rule (4), following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely: (5) Every active pharmaceutical ingredient (bulk drug) …
The predicted rise in plastic pollution spilling into the environment constitutes a planetary emergency, the latest report warns. The new report Connecting the Dots: Plastic pollution and the planetary emergency pulls together recent scientific data on the broad impact of plastics on climate, biodiversity, human health and the environment – …
The world’s ten richest men more than doubled their fortunes from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion —at a rate of $15,000 per second or $1.3 billion a day— during the first two years of a pandemic that has seen the incomes of 99 percent of humanity fall and over 160 …
This paper examines the short-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for inequality in developing countries. The analysis takes advantage of high-frequency phone survey data collected by the World Bank to assess the distributional impacts of the pandemic through the channels of job and income losses, food insecurity, and children’s education …
Acute malnutrition in children under five remains a critical challenge, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Estimates indicate that up to 9.3 million more children will suffer from acute malnutrition by 2022. However, standard community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) program models require proximity between health workers and patients, which may …
Sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity are among the major behavioural risk factors for many noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and quality of life and well-being. The available data show that the prevalence of physical inactivity among adults is 15% and among adolescents it is as high as 74% in the WHO South-East …
This report presents the main economic impacts of the pandemic on macroeconomic and sectoral performance, as well as on the business base. The study also seeks to examine the effects of the pandemic on employment, consumption behaviour, institutional capacity, poverty and informal activities. It also describes the Angolan government’s response …
