Results for WHO

Dr. Saia Ma’u Piukala has been appointed as the World Health Organization Regional Director for the Western Pacific, taking his oath of office yesterday, 23 January, during the 154th session of the WHO Executive Board at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

In a joint statement at the weekend the United Nations humanitarian agencies called for the utmost respect of international humanitarian law by all parties in the ongoing Middle East conflict. “Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities. It is now catastrophic. The world must do more,” said the UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP and WHO statement on humanitarian supplies crossing into Gaza, on 21 October. The statement which did not name the warring parties, described the humanitarian crisis and called for a humanitarian ceasefire and immediate access for distribution of aid supplies.

The fifteenth Pacific Health Ministers Meeting (PHMM) opened today, Nuku'alofa, and will run from the 20-22 September.

This month the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 as no longer a public health emergency of international concern and countries will now transition from emergency mode to managing Covid-19 alongside other infectious diseases. Tonga achieved high vaccination coverage during the pandemic and achieved a low death rate due to Covid-19.

Alcohol misuse has contributed to several road deaths in Tonga. Now, new alcohol breathalyzer devices presented to Tonga Police in December will help frontline officers to detect and remove more drunk drivers and maintain safety on roads.

Essential medical equipment for COVID-19 will be distributed to 11 Pacific Islands from the government of the United Kingdom and World Health Organization.

With people everywhere struggling to preserve their livelihoods under the constant threat of the coronavirus, it has become clear that this pandemic is more than a health emergency. It has become a global whole-of-society crisis. In this context, one of our greatest fears is that after decades of improvement, future generations’ prospects have suddenly plummeted. Some regions are experiencing a reversal of gains achieved in the past 20 years. It will be many months – even years – before vaccines against current and future variants of the virus are accessible to everyone. By Palitha Abeykoon, Maha El Rabbat, David Nabarro

New York Times reporting: Citing what they call “the biggest challenge to the global community since the 1940s,” the leaders of more than two dozen countries, the European Union and the World Health Organization on Tuesday floated an international treaty to protect the world from pandemics. The current pandemic is “a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe,” the leaders write. The suggested treaty is an acknowledgment that the current system of international health institutions, symbolized by the relatively powerless WHO, a U.N. agency, is inadequate to the problem.

New York Times reporting: The World Health Organization on Monday authorized the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, clearing a path for the cheap and easy-to-store shots to be distributed in lower- and middle-income countries around the world.