Health experts say further research is needed to determine how COVID-19 first began – including a more detailed analysis of the possibility it was a laboratory accident.That stance by the World Health Organization (WHO) expert group marks a sharp reversal of the United Nations (UN) health agency’s initial assessment of the pandemic’s origins, when it concluded last year that it was “extremely unlikely” that COVID-19 might have spilled into humans from a lab. In a report released on T

The tobacco industry is a far greater threat than many realise as it is one of the world's biggest polluters, from leaving mountains of waste to driving global warming, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday.The WHO accused the industry of causing widespread deforestation, diverting badly needed land and water in poor countries away from food production, spewing out plastic and chemical waste as well as emitting millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide.In its report released on Wor

As the world continues to battle COVID-19 and many countries look at ways to recover from the pandemic, a new virus is making headlines worldwide.The monkeypox virus is now thought to be nearing 100 cases in 12 countries, and more are expected as surveillance is stepped up.

If you're still reeling from the COVID pandemic, well sorry but there's another virus to get to grips with. This time it's monkeypox and there are around 80 confirmed cases in 11 countries, that would not normally expect to have the disease.So, what is going on?

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday gave the green light to Chinese manufacturer CanSinoBIO's COVID-19 vaccine – the ninth jab to get the WHO seal of approval.The WHO granted emergency use listing (EUL) authorisation to the single-shot Convidecia vaccine as China battles a resurgence of the virus triggered by the Omicron variant.It is the third Chinese-made vaccine to be approved by the United Nations (UN) health agency, after Sinovac and Sinopharm.Convidecia was found to hav

North Korea announced its first official cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, saying the highly transmissible Omicron variant had been detected and a national emergency declared.The isolated country has never reported a case of COVID-19 before, and leader Kim Jong-un has ordered nationwide lockdowns in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus.Here's what we know:Is It A Major Outbreak?State media said "persons with fever" at an organisation in the capital Pyongyang had tested positiv

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that 348 probable cases of hepatitis of unknown origin had been identified, as studies into the potential role of adenovirus and COVID-19 infection gather pace.The WHO said the leading hypotheses remain those involving adenovirus.Cases have been reported in 20 countries, with 70 additional cases from a further 13 countries which are pending classification as tests await completion.Only six countries are reporting more than five cases, with more

Since abandoning all COVID safety measures and relying on the government’s “Living with COVID-19” strategy, the United Kingdom (UK) has seen a surge in the number of people becoming infected with the virus. Although numbers are coming down now, they remain at relatively high levels.This new wave is thought to be driven by the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron as well as waning protection from vaccines.

The COVID-19 pandemic killed around 15 million people worldwide in 2020 and 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated Thursday – nearly triple the number of deaths officially attributed to the disease.The WHO’s long-awaited estimate of the total number of deaths caused by the pandemic – including lives lost to its knock-on effects – finally puts a number on the broader impact of the crisis.The figures give a more realistic picture of the worst pandemic in a century, which has, accor

Three children in Indonesia have died from a mysterious liver disease, the country's health ministry said, raising to at least four the global death toll of a fatal ailment puzzling doctors from the United States (US) to Asia.This severe strain of acute hepatitis has been identified in nearly 230 children in 20 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday, raising concerns of the disease's "unknown origin".The symptoms afflicting the children include nausea,