News highlights - August 2012

FEATURE

World Breastfeeding Week

WHO recommends that mothers worldwide exclusively breastfeed infants for the child's first six months to achieve optimal growth, development and health. World Breastfeeding Week, on 1–7 August, seeks to support all women in feeding their infants and young children optimally.

Understanding the past – Planning the future: Celebrating 10 years of WHO/UNICEF's Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding

NEWS

Reducing health inequalities in small countries: WHO/Europe signs agreement with San Marino
01-08-2012
San Marino is providing €1.25 million for a five-year project to support European countries with small populations address the social determinants of health and reduce health inequities. Claudio Podeschi, Minister of Health and Social Security, National Insurance and Gender Equality, signed the project agreement with WHO/Europe on 1 August 2012.

AIDS 2012: growing HIV epidemic in eastern Europe and central Asia a concern
25-07-2012
Representatives from across the world gathered at a special session of the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) this week, to highlight the key issues in and solutions to the growing challenge of HIV in eastern Europe and central Asia.

Olympic Games: WHO supports United Kingdom Health Protection Agency in securing public health
25-07-2012
WHO is providing technical support to the United Kingdom Health Protection Agency (HPA) in enhancing disease surveillance and response during two upcoming mass gatherings in the United Kingdom: the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Hepatitis: It’s closer than you think
20-07-2012
9 million people in the WHO European Region are infected with hepatitis C and around 86 000 die annually. Most infected people show no symptoms, so the virus remains neglected until the disease becomes chronic. World Hepatitis Day, 28 July 2012, focuses on hepatitis C in injecting drug users and high coinfection with HIV.

WHO to support Ireland reform health systems in response to financial crisis
20-07-2012
WHO will support Ireland in assessing options for reforming its health system in response to the financial crisis, Dr Hans Kluge, Director of the Division of Health Systems and Public Health in WHO/Europe, assured the Irish Minister of Health Dr James Reilly at the end of a discussion with senior policy-makers in Dublin.

WHO assessment mission: better facilities for receiving migrants needed
06-07-2012
The Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa are the entry points to Europe for many migrants from North and sub-Saharan Africa. WHO’s latest mission to the islands concluded that improvement to the quality of, availability of and access to water and sanitation facilities, and infrastructure in general, is urgently needed.

Director-General begins second term, releases report on first term
02-07-2012
Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, began her second term on 1 July 2012. Read her assessment of the achievements, setbacks and remaining health challenges.

More news

RECENTLY PUBLISHED

Is social capital good for health? A European perspective
The aim of the research reported in this publication was to examine the causal impact of social capital on health in 14 European countries. Using data from the European Social Survey, supplemented by regional-level data, the authors studied whether individual and/or community-level social capital positively affects health.

Action Plan for implementation of the European Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2012−2016
With attention to noncommunicable diseases reaching unprecedented levels worldwide, this action plan was adopted in September 2011. It identifies priority action areas and interventions for countries to focus on over the next five years (2012–2016), as they implement the European Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases.

More publications

UPCOMING EVENT

Sixty-second session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe
10-13 September 2012

FROM COUNTRIES

Russian road safety success celebrated at conference on Road Safety in 10 Countries project
03-08-2012

Road-safety campaign leads to increased seat-belt use in Turkish province
27-07-2012

United Nations Secretary-General in Croatia: "We all believe there is no better investment than health"
26-07-2012

WHO visits flood-affected region in the Russian Federation
18-07-2012

Newly independent states aim to reduce noncommunicable diseases
13-07-2012

Blood Donor Day: heroes in Kazakhstan
06-07-2012

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