Results for WHO

The World Health Organization is urging countries to eliminate industrially produced trans-fat (TFA), from the global food supply by 2023, due to its link to heart disease and death. In Tonga, 1.71 % of coronary heart disease deaths is due to trans-fat intake. Trans-fats raise our bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and lower your good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Examples of foods that may contain trans-fat include doughnuts, cookies, crackers, muffins, pies and cakes.

A new song featuring the Tongan Nurses Choir and other singing nurses from around the world, was released by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) on 22 July, with the hope that it will become the anthem for nurses globally.

Dressed in a Tongan designed shirt, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus dedicated his closing speech of the 73rd World Health Assembly in Switzerland on 19 May, to a Tongan nurses choir, who were supposed to perform at the conference but were unable to travel due to coronavirus restrictions.

Like climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of why we need multilateralism in a globalized world. Rather than resorting to thinly veiled racism and isolationist policies, global leaders – particularly the United States – should have started organizing a collective response weeks ago. China’s experience with the virus in January and February is likely to be repeated in much of the rest of the world in March and April. We should be preparing intelligently...not succumbing to irrational panic. By Kevin Rudd.

Due to the outbreak and fast spreading of the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organisation has declared it a global health emergency, on January 30. The death toll has now risen over 200 in China.

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, global heads of state are meeting on September 26-27 to highlight two major health threats. On the first day, they will discuss strategies to end tuberculosis (TB), an ancient bacterium that remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease. On the second day, world leaders will discuss plans to beat leading NCDs such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular and lung disease. Combined, NCDs are responsible for seven out of every ten deaths globally. By Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Tonga has finally eliminated lymphatic filariasis (kulokula fua), after more than three centuries, validated by the WHO. This is a health problem that caused the swelling of one's limbs, scrotum and breast.

"Use antibiotics responsibly" is the theme of a World Antibiotics Awareness Week launched in Nuku’alofa on Monday, November 14 to raise awareness about the serious health issue of antibiotic resistance. Tonga's doctors pointed out that misuse of antibiotics is not only dangerous but also costly and urged Tongans to adopt better hygiene to help fight the spread of infectious diseases.

Naming Tonga the fattest nation in the world, a BBC report on 18 January 2016 says that consumption of imported mutton lamb flaps is to blame. But Tonga’s Director of Health, Dr Siale 'Akau'ola, says that it’s the quantity of food Tongans eat that’s the main problem, not mutton lamb flaps.