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 2020 GHI shows that while the world has made gradual progress in reducing hunger on a global scale since 2000, this progress has been too slow. Hunger persists in many countries, and in some instances, progress is even being reversed. The global level of hunger and undernutrition is at …
The summer of 2020 has been quite different. The ongoing public health crisis, besides having caused unprecedented disruption to business-asusual, has also given us a new prism through which we can view the air pollution crisis. The economic slowdown and implementation of lockdown measures have bent the pollution curve dramatically …
There was a modest decline in underweight prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. Anaemia declined fastest among adult women and the richest pregnant women, although it affects all women with no marked disparities. Overweight is increasing rapidly among adult women and women with no education. Capital city residents had a threefold more …
The past two decades have demonstrated the manifold pathways through which comprehensive and integrated social protection systems can enable and ensure food security and nutrition in Southern Africa. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the importance of these systems and illustrated the kinds of crises for which social protection …
Cooking school meals requires energy. In some countries, families are asked to contribute to fuel expenses or to provide firewood, failing which, children may be refused school meals. The acquisition of fuel, whether it is purchased or collected, is a considerable burden for schools that risks hindering the scale and …
This report of a survey completed by 130 countries during the period June-August 2020 provides information about the extent of disruption to mental, neurological and substance use services due to COVID-19, the types of services that have been disrupted, and how countries are adapting to overcome these challenges.
2020 was supposed to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for women and girls. The year when governments, businesses, organisations, and individuals came together to develop a five-year plan to accelerate progress for #GenerationEquality. Then COVID-19 struck. Now, unless the world acts fast, 2020 risks being a year of irreversible setbacks and …
Forests provide, directly or indirectly, important health benefits for all people – not only those whose lives are closely intertwined with forest ecosystems, but also people far from forests, including urban populations. Recognition of the importance of forests for food security and nutrition has significantly increased in recent years, but …
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus (COVID). Countries around the world moved swiftly to declare states of emergency, closing ports of entry and activating crisis management systems. This technical note highlights the adaptive nature and flexible application of national …
As this report is issued, more than 33 million people worldwide have been infected with COVID-19 and one million have died. Some 11.8 million cases and 409 thousand deaths have been confirmed in the 63 countries covered in the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP). However, the raw data should …
Seven hundred thousand more children face hunger in Syria owing to the country’s badly-damaged economy, partly due to the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions. It means in the last six months, the total number of food insecure children across the country has risen to more than 4.6 million. After almost …
The publication, The Right to Information in Times of Crisis, part of UNESCO’s World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development series, examines norms and principles concerning the right to information during public health crises, and highlights the importance of free access to information in mitigating the impact of …
The dietary guidelines emphasize promotion of health and prevention of disease, of all age groups with special focus on vulnerable segments of the population such as infants, children and adolescents, pregnant and lactating women and the elderly. Other related factors, which need consideration are physical activity, health care, safe water …
Protect the Progress: Rise, Refocus, Recover, 2020 highlights that since the Every Woman Every Child movement was launched 10 years ago, spearheaded by the United Nations Secretary-General, there has been remarkable progress in improving the health of the world’s women, children and adolescents. For example, under-five deaths reached an all-time …
Terrorist attacks constitute a new barrier to access of maternal healthcare in Burkina Faso. The exponential increase in terrorist activities in West Africa is expected to have negative effects on maternal health in the entire region.During the next month of an attack, the incidence of assisted deliveries in healthcare facilities …
The report presents, for the first time, the contribution of various food groups to the total energy, proteins, fats and carbohydrates from the dietary data of two large-scale surveys in India that used 24-hour recall method. Low consumption of fruits and vegetables and low intake of milk and milk products …
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has framed Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill 2020 and introduced 70 amendments in the 2006 Act to revamp FSSAI functioning and its jurisdiction.
Over the past months, as the world has sought desperately to deal both with the medical impacts of the virus and to prepare a response to its many secondary effects, research on COVID-19 has accelerated. However, there is limited research on the social impacts of COVID-19 and on the consequences …
New analysis reveals the number of children living in multidimensional poverty – without access to education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation, or water – has increased by 15 per cent since the start of the pandemic. The number of children living in multidimensional poverty has soared to approximately 1.2 billion due …
A World in Disorder, issued by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), an independent monitoring and accountability body which prepares for global health crises, (GPMB), notes that the coronavirus has killed close to a million people, impacting health systems, food supplies and economies. According to A World in Disorder, it …
