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Friday 09.24 21 | Issue 126
WHO / Booming - Carlos Cesar
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 planned for this week. Media advisories with Zoom links/dial-in details will be emailed in advance. For the latest news from WHO on COVID-19 and other breaking health stories, read WHO's news updates.
Monday, 27 September
WHO Academy Groundbreaking Ceremony
A ceremony to mark the start of construction of the WHO Academy’s campus in Lyon, France will be jointly organized by the Government of France and WHO.
The event will be jointly hosted by the President of France Emmanuel Macron and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and will be attended by the Minister of Health, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation of France, as well as regional and local authorities in Lyon.
The Academy aims to expand access to critical learning for health workers, managers, public health officials, educators, researchers, policy makers and those who provide care in their own homes and communities, as well as WHO’s workforce throughout the world.
The event will start at 14:30h CEST and will be livestreamed on WHO platforms. A press conference will follow after the ceremony. WHO will issue a press release and other materials ahead of the event. More info here.
Tuesday, 28 September
Global launch of the Defeating Meningitis roadmap
At a high-level event, WHO and partners will launch the first ever global strategy to defeat meningitis – a debilitating disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year. The goals of this strategy are by 2030, to eliminate epidemics of bacterial meningitis – the most deadly form of the disease – and to reduce deaths by 70% and halve the number of cases. The organizations estimate that in total, the strategy could save more than 200,000 lives annually and significantly reduce disability caused by the disease.
The event will be livestreamed, including remarks from the WHO Director-General, the actor Ewan McGregor OBE, people affected by meningitis, alongside many other special guests. More information and registration here. More about meningitis.
International Safe Abortion Day
International Safe Abortion Day aims to raise awareness on the importance of access to safe, high quality abortion care to protect the health and promote the rights of women and girls. Unsafe abortions currently cause up to 39,000 preventable deaths each year.
WHO provides global technical and policy guidance on comprehensive abortion care as part of its work on sexual and reproductive health services. Drawing on the latest scientific evidence, WHO is in the process of developing new guidelines on quality abortion care which will be released later in the year. More about abortion and preventing unsafe abortion.
Wednesday, 29 September
Publication of the 2021 Essential Medicines List
The Essential Medicines List aims to address global health priorities, identifying the medicines that provide the greatest benefits, and which should be available and affordable for all. Governments and institutions around the world continue to use the WHO List to guide the development of their own essential medicines lists, because they know that every medicine listed has been vetted for efficacy and safety and delivers value for money for the health outcomes they produce. The List, which includes a section on children’s medicines, is updated every two years by an Expert Committee, made up of recognized specialists from academia, research and the medical and pharmaceutical professions. WHO will also be issuing a related press release.
Friday, 1 October
International day of older persons
Film screening of Duty Free: a tale of ageism in employment (on 3 October)
The Global campaign to combat ageism is organizing the first international screening of the documentary film Duty Free on Sunday, 3 October, from 15:00–17:00 CEST.
The film tells the story of Rebecca Danigelis, a 75-year-old woman who gets fired without cause from her lifelong job as a hotel housekeeper. The documentary not only gives visibility to the issue of ageism against older people in the labour market but also exposes the economic insecurity that ensues and shapes the future of many older people worldwide. The screening will take place online and will be live captioned in all UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish).
This event is part of the initiative Ageism through the ages that the global campaign to combat ageism is running from 1 October (International Day of Older Persons) to 20 November 2021 (World Children’s Day) to give focused attention to ageism as it affects different age groups.
Register to join the online film screening. Download the film flyer. Help spread the word about ageism by using and following the hashtag #AWorld4AllAges
Podcast episode of Global Health Matters on Climate Change's impact on health
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