World health organisation
Guinea declares end of Marburg virus outbreak: WHO
Health authorities in the country confirmed West Africa's first recorded case of Marburg on August 9, in a man whose infection was detected after he had died a...
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WHO reiterates importance of COVID vaccine equity
The WHO's target is to have 40% of all countries' population vaccinated by the end of this year and 70% of the world's population by the middle of next year.
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World health, IP, trade bodies launch COVID platform
The leaders also announced a series of workshops to boost the flow of information in the push to get equitable access to COVID-19 technology.
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SA's new vaccine tech transfer hub to provide training to local manufacturers
The World Health Organisation said choosing South Africa to run the hub would help low-income countries not to rely on vaccine-producing countries to supply their needs.
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WHO warns of June-July Covax doses shortfall
Covax was set up to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, particularly to low-income countries, and has already delivered more than 80 million doses to 129 territories.
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WHO switches to Greek alphabet for virus variant names
Under the new system, the variants of concern take on the following names: the hitherto so-called British variant B.1.1.7 becomes Alpha; the B.1.351 first discovered in South Africa becomes Beta, while the Brazilian P.1 becomes Gamma.
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World No Tobacco Day: WHO says about 50% of smokers at risk of dying from COVID
The National Council Against Smoking's Sharon Nyatsanza said 21% of South Africans use tobacco products.
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Excess deaths due to pandemic much higher than reported COVID toll: WHO
So far, more than 3.4 million deaths worldwide have officially been attributed to COVID-19 since the disease first surfaced in China in late 2019.
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Don't vaccinate kids, but give doses to Covax: WHO chief
World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus voiced outrage that a number of rich countries were now vaccinating children and teenagers, while poorer states had barely begun vaccinating health workers and the most vulnerable groups.
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WHO worried COVID rates could spike during Ramadan
Detected cases of COVID infection in the region rose 22% last week, while deaths rose 17%, said Ahmed al-Mandhari, the Cairo-based chief of the WHO for the eastern Mediterranean.
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WHO slams 'shocking' vaccine imbalance between rich and poor
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus - a fierce critic of wealthy countries buying up vaccine supply for themselves - blasted the scarcity of doses available for poorer nations.
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WHO says not to use ivermectin on COVID-19 patients
In response to the swirl of claims around the cheap anti-parasite drug, the WHO issued guidelines saying ivermectin should only be used on COVID-19 patients in clinical trial settings.
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Covax vaccines for poor countries delayed by India: Gavi
The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is being produced under licence in India for the Covax scheme, also led by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is meant to ensure that low-income countries can access COVID-19 jabs.
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Lethal pollution high in 2020 despite lockdowns: report
The partial or complete shutdown of transport and industry for months at a time in 2020 reduced average levels of so-called PM2.5 pollution across the world, including in major cities, the IQAir quality report found.
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WHO experts to meet on AstraZeneca shot as virus cases surge
The three largest EU nations -- Germany, Italy and France -- joined others in suspending the shot on Monday, dealing a blow to the global immunisation campaign against a disease that has killed more than 2.6 million people.
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Ten key moments in the pandemic
Here are the 10 key moments since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a year ago by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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WHO warns of further COVID-19 waves
The WHO said people should not think the crisis is over because of the global vaccine rollout.
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Virus kills fewer African women than men: WHO study
Overall, around 41% of reported COVID-19 cases were women, although the figures ranged widely from 31% in Niger to more than 57% in South Africa.
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School closures still 'last resort' despite variants: WHO
The debate on shutting schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has been revived by the emergence of more contagious virus mutations.
