Health news
22/05/2007 WHO marks death anniversary of former head
WHO today marks the first anniversary of the death of the former WHO Director-General, Dr LEE Jong-wook. He died on the opening day of the 2006 World Health Assembly following a sudden illness. The current Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, described Dr Lee as her mentor and remembered his "passionate commitment" to the goals of public health.
21/05/2007 Rospotrebnadzor forbade to use a Korean the hepatite B vaccine
As it is indicated in the letter, data of the department of immunization, vaccines and biological preparations of the World Health Organization speak about the serious side reactions in children, including lethal outcomes, revealed with the use of a vaccine “Euvax B” in Vietnam.
21/05/2007 FAO/WHO expert meeting on viruses in food
Date: 21-24 May 2007
Place: Bilthoven, The Netherlands
The Codex Alimentarius Commission is considering the types of risk management tools that can be developed to assist countries in their efforts to protect consumer health from food-borne viral illness. WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) are organizing this expert meeting at the request of the Codex Committee for Food Hygiene.
The objectives of the meeting are to:
* review the current state of knowledge on viruses in food and their public health and trade impact;
* review availability and feasibility and the practical consequences of using analytical methods for detecting viruses; and
* review existing risk profiles (including the state of knowledge on current or future risk management options) and other relevant information pertinent to the evaluation of risks associated with viruses in food.
The output of the meeting will be presented to the committee for consideration at its 39th session in 2007. The committee will use the meeting’s output to gain better insight into this subject and to decide on the priority product-virus combinations on which future work should focus.
FAO and WHO are organizing the meeting in collaboration with RIVM and VWA in the Netherlands.
18/05/2007 WHO publishes key world health statistics
WHO today published World health statistics 2007, the most complete set of health statistics from its 193 Member States. This edition also highlights trends in 10 of the most closely watched global health statistics. It is the authoritative annual reference for a set of 50 health indicators in countries around the world.
In her speech on Tuesday to the World Health Assembly, the WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, focused on the need for accurate evidence and up-to-date statistics as the basis for policy decisions. "Reliable health data and statistics are the foundation of health policies, strategies, and evaluation and monitoring," she said. "Evidence is also the foundation for sound health information for the general public... I regard the generation and use of health information as the most urgent need."
This volume, also available as an online database, should be on the shelves or the desktop of every health policy maker, researcher and journalist. It shows:
How much money is currently spent on health in comparison to regional burdens of disease;
Projected patterns of major causes of death for 2030;
Gaps in reliable information, and how estimates of maternal mortality are made;
The diseases that are killing people, and those that make them sick;
The extent to which people can access treatment, the major risk factors for ill-health, the human resources underpinning health systems; and
Health outcomes in the context of demographic and socioeconomic status of individual countries.
World health statistics 2007 is the official record of data produced by WHO’s technical programmes and regional offices. In publishing these statistics, WHO provides the global evidence base for improvements and continued challenges in global public health.
For more information, please contact:
Kenji Shibuya
Coordinator, Health Statistics and Evidence
WHO, Geneva
Telephone: +41 22 791 2370
E-mail: shibuyak@who.int
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