U.N. health agency declares COVID-19 no longer a global emergency
Though the emergency phase is over, the World Health Organization's pandemic designation still holds.
World Health Organization (WHO)
Enjoy our Free+ stories and our weekly newsletter
Start your free accessAlready have an account? Log in
Human rights and aid concerns spike as waves of Sudanese flee
Most of Khartoum, Darfur and North Kordofan are too dangerous to operate in, the U.N. refugee agency said.
Human-induced climate change worsened Horn of Africa drought
Low rainfall and high evaporation rates 'would not have led to drought at all in a 1.2° C. cooler world,' scientists concluded.
At 75, U.N. health agency is lightning rod for equity and cooperation
As the World Health Organization celebrated its 75th anniversary – commemorating World Health Day and the day its constitution took effect, recognizing health as a human right – the COVID-19 pandemic's lessons were inescapable.
WHO chief calls 3-year pandemic 'a chaotic patchwork of responses'
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus offered three lessons the world must learn to be able to effectively cope with future global health crises.
In the Greater Horn of Africa, tens of millions hungry and driven to flee
The staggering numbers include 129,000 people "facing starvation and staring death in the eyes," while 11.9 million children under five likely will face acute malnutrition in 2023.
WHO fires Western Pacific regional chief over 'findings of misconduct'
The global health organization said it plans to hold a closed-door election to replace Dr. Takeshi Kasai in October.
Nations work to update draft of WHO's proposed pandemic treaty
The treaty takes aim at the huge inequalities in health care and access to products such as vaccines, therapeutics and tests that the COVID-19 pandemic brought into sharp focus.
WHO's COVID origins investigation in China has become 'very difficult'
The U.N. health agency says it updated its plans based on China's response but there's been "no quiet shelving of any plans" for investigating how the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Groups scramble aid as Turkey-Syria earthquake toll reaches 20,000
Fresh snowfall, freezing temperatures and a disrupted cross-border operation between southern Turkey and war-torn northern Syria added to the despair, frustration and anger.
Pollution, climate change feed drug-resistant 'superbugs'
Fed by pollution and climate change, strains of bacteria immune to all known antibiotics may become a major cause of death by mid-century, says the U.N. environment agency.
Keywords for the next pandemic: accountability, equity, solidarity
Chief among the questions over a proposed pandemic treaty is an "accountability gap" that undermines the proposed treaty's potential, an independent coalition of global leaders said.
Pandemic treaty 'zero draft' gives WHO 20% share of responsibility
The rationale for the World Health Organization's proposed pandemic treaty is to erase the "gross inequities" between rich and poor that's been a scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We're still living in a pandemic, U.N. health agency chief and panel agree
World Health Organization leaders agree COVID-19 remains an emergency but the pandemic may be approaching "an inflection point" of higher immunity resulting in fewer deaths.
U.N. health agency urges nations to update preparations for nuke risks
As recently as May almost half of WHO's 194 member nations said they "still lacked essential elements of preparedness for radiation emergencies," according to senior agency officials.
WHO's chief wants the pandemic declared over in 2023. Some experts say that may not be a good thing.
Despite the temptation to end the pandemic, some leading health experts say it would be better to continue living with the official designation, which keeps up the pressure on authorities and civilians alike to act with caution.