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World Rabies Day 28
September 2011
Rabies is a fatal disease
transmitted to humans through animal bites. However, it is preventable.
About 55 000 people die every
year from rabies in the world, mostly in Asia and Africa,
an average of one death every 10 minutes. Rabies continues to be a major
public health problem in India
killing an estimated 20,000 people annually (multicentric survey conducted by
Association for Prevention and Control of Rabies in India, 2003).
The exact magnitude of animal bites in the country is not reliably known
though some studies have estimated it to be as high as 17 million per annum.
Children and poor people are particularly vulnerable to the disease.
On World Rabies Day 2011, the WHO
Country Office for India
advocates for greater awareness of this dangerous but preventable disease.
More>…
World Malaria Day- 25 April 2011
In WHO’s
South-East Asia Region, national malaria control programmes have achieved
significant progress in the last ten years. But this achievement could be
unravelled by the growing threat of resistance to artemisinin, the most
effective anti-malarial drugs. On World Malaria Day, WHO advocates rational
use of anti-malarial drugs and acknowledges the crucial role of community
health
workers in
reducing malaria in the Region. More
Information
World Health Day- 7 April 2011
Antimicrobial
Resistance and its global spread
We live in an era of medical
breakthroughs with new 'wonder drugs' available to treat conditions that a
few decades ago, or even a few years ago in the case of HIV/AIDS, would have
proved fatal. For World Health Day 2011, WHO will launch a worldwide campaign
to safeguard these medicines for future generations.
Antimicrobial resistance - the theme of World Health Day 2011 - and its
global spread, threatens the continued effectiveness of many medicines used
today to treat the sick, while at the same time it risks jeopardizing
important advances being made against major infectious killers. More>..
Pandemic H1N1 2009
WHO declared the start of the Influenza A(H1N1) pandemic on June 11, 2009. The Director-General of WHO raised the influenza
pandemic alert to the highest level - Phase 6 - on the guidance and
advice from an Emergency Committee established for this purpose under the
International Health Regulations (IHR).
In late April, WHO had announced the emergence of a
novel H1N1 virus. This strain has not circulated
previously in humans. It is contagious spreading easily from one person to another. More than 70 countries are now affected with over 30,000 confirmed
cases Further geographical spread is inevitable. More>…
Partnering with Media to combat Pandemic Influenza
 The Ministry of Health &
Family Welfare joined hands with WHO, UNICEF and the media to strategize on
how to inform and protect the public from Pandemic H1N1 (2009) Influenza at
the National Media Communication Workshop held in New Delhi on 23-24 July, 2009.
Ms Neelam Kapur,
Principal Director General, Press Information Bureau; and WHO Representative
to India, Dr S J Habayeb; stressed on media’s role as a key partner in
effective dissemination of accurate information on Pandemic Influenza, in their opening remarks. More >…
WHO briefs diplomatic and UN missions on Influenza A (H1N1)
A briefing on the spread of the
new Influenza A (H1N1) virus was organized for the diplomatic missions and UN
agencies in New Delhi
on May 26. During the briefing the global situation, India’s preparedness, and WHO
pandemic alert levels were discussed.
WHO Representative to
India, Dr S J Habayeb; Director Department of Communicable Diseases at WHO
South-East Asia Regional Office, Dr Jai Narain; and the National Professional Officer Communicable Disease Section, WHO Country More >…
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