By Joke Kujenya A STARK warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) has reignited calls for urgent global action as rising tobacco industry interference stalls momentum in public health efforts. The new Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025 report, launched at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin, presents a mixed picture, documentin...
By Joke Kujenya SILENT AND often swift, drowning strikes without warning, leaving behind a trail of anguish and irreversible loss. Each year, around 300,000 people die from drowning globally, with low and middle-income countries like Nigeria bearing the heaviest toll. This tragedy, says a December 13, 2024, report by the World Health Organisa...
DAYS AFTER devastating floods swept through Mokwa, a town in Niger State, Nigeria, displacing dozens of families, wrecking homes, leaving thousands missing and killing hundreds, many victims remain without shelter despite the establishment of temporary displaced camps in two local schools. Our West and East Africa Correspondent, ADEDOKUN THEOP...
By Joke Kujenya CONTAMINATED MEALS are making 600 million people ill each year, costing developing countries over US$110 billion annually in medical bills and lost productivity, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed. Specifically, the 2025 World Food Safety Day, observed on 7 June, is beaming a spotlight on the scientific strategie...
By Joke Kujenya GLOBAL LIFE expectancy plunged by 1.8 years between 2019 and 2021—wiping out a decade of progress, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s newly released World Health Statistics (WHS) 2025 report. The sharp drop, the steepest in recent history, reflects the far-reaching toll of the year 2020 COVID-19 pandemic on lon...
By Jennifer Osazuwa in Russia MOSCOW CITY pulsed with pride and pageantry as Russia marked the 80th anniversary of its Victory Day with a display of splendour that echoed across the Kremlin walls and into the heart of a nation determined to show it still holds global sway. From early morning, the capital’s air shimmered […]
By Joke Kujenya RISING CHILD mortality is no longer following the expected downward projections. A new report warns the world is relying on dangerously flawed forecasts as climate-driven threats escalate and vulnerable children face increasingly lethal conditions. The Fragile Futures report from Population Matters dismantles the long-standing...
By Joke Kujenya EVERYDAY LIFE is silently disrupted for millions who unknowingly struggle with a chronic respiratory illness that, despite its global prevalence, remains woefully under-recognised and untreated, according to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This condition, which narrows the airways and inflames the lungs, trigge...
By Joke Kujenya ONE IN every ten patients acquires an infection during healthcare, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautions. This has informed a stark reminder that even the simplest measures can carry life-saving weight. On World Hand Hygiene Day (WHHD) May 5, health professionals and patients alike are being urged to return to basics—by...
By Joke Kujenya HARD-WON victories in the global fight against a centuries-old killer disease, malaria, are beginning to unravel, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO), to issue an urgent call to action on World Malaria Day 2025. Malaria is clawing its way back in parts of the world where it had once been driven into […]
