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Friday 24.02.23 | Issue 192
Credit: WHO / Lorenzo Pezzoli
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) updates
A virtual press briefing with simultaneous translation in all UN languages with the participation of the WHO Director-General is tentatively scheduled for next week. If confirmed, media advisory with dial-in details will be emailed in advance.
27 February to 3 March 2023
Fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body to discuss pandemic accord
Member States of WHO will hold, from 27 February to 3 March, the Fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) for a WHO instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. During the meeting, countries will discuss the zero draft of a pandemic accord, the goal of which would be to protect the world from future pandemics.
More details on the conference can be found here.
Monday, 27 February 2023
High-level pledging event on Yemeni humanitarian crisis to highlight desperate health situation
On Monday, WHO will be participating at the high-level pledging conference on Yemen, convened by the Governments of Sweden and Switzerland and the United Nations.
Eight years of armed violence, a deteriorated economy, and disruption of services, including health services, have left millions of Yemenis vulnerable, prone to life-threatening risks, and in urgent need of continued humanitarian support. The scale of need remains shocking.
More details on the conference can be found here.
Further information on the WHO's work in Yemen can be found here.
Monday, 27 February 2023
Launch of new Global Scales for Early Development for children up to three years
WHO will launch a package of measures, the Global Scales for Early Development (GSED), to monitor the development of young children at population level up to three years of age.
The internationally validated GSED methodology provides a new common unit to measure development, much as centimetres do for height and kilograms for weight, to give an overall picture of children's development which can be tracked over time.
The GSED aims to help countries, programmes and researchers gather and use data on early childhood development to better invest in services and support needed for young children and their families.
To attend the launch webinar at 15:00 CET on Monday, register here. For more information, contact Laura Kelleher at kelleherl@who.int.
2-3 March 2023
The Lancet Summit on Childhood obesity
The Lancet Summit - Childhood obesity: consequences across the life course will be taking place from 2 to 3 March 2023 ahead of World Obesity Day 2023 on the Saturday. The summit will be hosted in partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the World Obesity Federation.
The burden of childhood obesity has increased substantially over the past 50 years, and although prevalence has plateaued in high-income countries, it is still rising in low- and middle-income countries. The causes are multifactorial and complex and include gestational exposures and other biological predisposition; familial, societal, and commercial influences; as well as built environment characteristics such as transport infrastructure and the availability of green spaces.
The conference will bring together a global, multidisciplinary group of speakers and highlight emerging research on the many facets of this complex issue. It should appeal to those with an interest in pediatrics, nutrition, NCDs, physical activity, healthy cities, early child development, and the developmental origins of health and disease.
For further information and to book your free place, click here.
Thursday, 2 March 2023
Launch of compendium of
migrant health experiences
On Thursday, WHO will release Promoting the health of refugees and migrants: experiences from around the world, a compendium of 49 country examples highlighting efforts in improving refugees’ and migrants’ health, following the adoption of the WHO Global Action Plan on Promoting the health of refugees and migrants at the seventy-second World Health Assembly, in May 2019.
Produced by the WHO Health and Migration Programme, and based on voluntary submissions from Member States and partners, the report showcases how different countries – with varying health systems and different challenges and facilitators towards universal health coverage – have implemented practices to promote the health of refugees and migrants.
The report is intended primarily for high-level decision-makers responsible for setting policies, strategies, and plans and for developing budgets for refugees and migrants at national and subnational levels, specialists in health financing, gender specialists, health insurance authorities, national statistical offices, monitoring specialists, advocates, researchers, consultants, and civil society organizations active in the field of refugee and migrant health.
For further information:
- Health and Migration Programme (who.int)
- Promoting the health of refugees and migrants: global action plan, 2019–2023 (who.int)
Friday, 3 March 2023
Building capacity of health workers in ear
and hearing care
Globally, there is shortage of highly trained ear and hearing care professionals. The majority of low- and middle-income counties have less than one ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist and one audiologist per million population. This means that people experiencing hearing difficulties or those with common ear infections need to seek specialized care, often at distant hospitals and may lead to undue financial hardships. It also poses an excessive burden on the limited number of ENT specialists and audiologists available in countries.
To assist countries build the capacity of their health workforce to provide ear and hearing care at the community level, WHO has developed the Primary ear and hearing care training manual. It is a practical guide on the prevention, identification and management of hearing loss and common ear diseases. It can be used to train health workers and doctors who work at community level primary healthcare.
The release of the new training manual coincides with World Hearing Day (3 March) with the theme Ear and hearing care for all! Let’s make it a reality, highlighting the importance of integrating ear and hearing care within primary health as an essential component of universal health coverage.
More on the 2023 World Hearing Day campaign
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