6 June 2019 - Geneva, Switzerland
Every day, there are more than 1 million new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among people aged 15-49 years, according to data released today by the World Health Organization. This amounts to more than 376 million new cases annually of four infections - chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis, and syphilis.
“We’re seeing a concerning lack of progress in stopping the spread of sexually transmitted infections worldwide,” said Dr Peter Salama, Executive Director for Universal Health Coverage and the Life-Course at WHO. “This is a wake-up call for a concerted effort to ensure everyone, everywhere can access the services they need to prevent and treat these debilitating diseases.”
Published online by the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, the research shows that among men and women aged 15–49 years, there were 127 million new cases of chlamydia in 2016, 87 million of gonorrhoea, 6.3 million of syphilis and 156 million of trichomoniasis.
This policy brief is a summarized version of the thematic report of the UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, on the links and the impact of economic reforms and austerity measures on women’s human rights.
The 2007-2008 fnancial crisis has had a particularly devastating and lasting impact on women and girls. In most cases, government austerity measures implemented in the aftermath of the crisis made existing problems much worse, cutting desperately needed services, while increasing the need for unpaid or under-compensated labor, which mostly falls on them.
The current global economic system is sustained by gender inequality and discrimination against women, due in part to gender stereotypes and to gaps in laws and policies. In particular, mainstream economic thinking often does not recognize the economic value of unpaid domestic and care work, thereby privileging male-biased macroeconomic policies that are detrimental to women and exacerbate structural inequalities. In such scenarios, women are at increased risk of gender-based violence, which further undermines the realization of their human rights.
Around one in seven of all babies worldwide are born with a low birthweight
Geneva, 16 May 2019
More than 20 million babies were born with a low birthweight (less than 2500g; 5.5 pounds) in 2015—around one in seven of all births worldwide according to the first-ever estimates documenting this major health challenge.
These findings and more are documented in a new research paper developed by experts from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, published in The Lancet Global Health.
More than 80% of the world’s 2.5 million newborns who die every year are of low birthweight. Those low birthweight babies who survive have a greater risk of stunting, and developmental and physical ill health later in life, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Copenhagen, 9 May 2019
WHO is scaling up its response to the ongoing measles outbreaks in the European Region, including by creating an operational platform to accelerate its support to affected countries.
The decision followed an assessment of the measles situation in the Region. It was based on the growing number of children and adults affected by and dying from the disease, and the persistence of pockets of non-immunized or under-immunized individuals in many countries fuelling the continuing spread of measles.
Since 1 January 2018, 47 of the 53 countries in the Region have together reported over 100 000 measles cases and over 90 measles-related deaths. WHO has been supporting them over time to improve their immunization coverage and tackle disease spread. However, as measles continues to circulate across countries, more needs to be done.
