Blow the Truth

Our genitals are such an important and sensitive part of our bodies. So it’s not surprising that keeping them healthy was as important in antiquity as it is today. Some ancient ideas about our genitals, and ways of caring for them, may make us wince, and certainly wouldn’t be recommended today. But one attitude remains.

On 31 December 2019, WHO was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. Chinese authorities identified the SARS-CoV-2 as the causative virus on 7 January 2020, and the disease was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by WHO on 11 February 2020. As part of WHO’s response to the outbreak, a Research and Development (R&D) Blueprint has been activated to accelerate the development of diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for this novel coronavirus. Under WHO’s coordination, a group of experts with diverse backgrounds is working towards the development of vaccines against COVID-19. The group makes a call to everyone to follow recommendations to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 virus and protect the health of individuals. The group also thanks everyone for putting their trust in the scientific community. Declaration  We are scientists, physicians, funders and manufacturers who have come together as part ...

WHO: Good morning, good afternoon and good evening. As Tarik said, we’re delighted to be joined today by Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing-Director of the International Monetary Fund. Welcome, my sister. Kristalina will say more in a few minutes about the economic impact of the pandemic and what the IMF is doing to support countries and the global economy.   More than 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO, including more than 50,000 deaths. But we know that this is much more than a health crisis. We are all aware of the profound social and economic consequences of the pandemic. The restrictions many countries have put in place to protect health are taking a heavy toll on the income of individuals and families, and the economies of communities and nations.  We are in a shared struggle to protect both lives and livelihoods. In the short term, countries can ease the burden on their populations through social welfare programs to ensure people ha...

WHO' Pandemic continues to take a massive toll on health and so many parts of life. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, wherever you are. The pandemic continues to take a massive toll not just on health, but on so many parts of life. esterday, the Government of Japan and the International Olympic Committee took a difficult but wise decision to postpone this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. I thank Prime Minister Abe and the members of the IOC for making this sacrifice to protect the health of athletes, spectators and officials. We look forward to next year's Olympics and Paralympics, which we hope will be an even bigger and better celebration of our shared humanity – and I look forward to joining. We have overcome many pandemics and crises before. We will overcome this one too. The question is how large a price we will pay. Already we have lost more than 16,000 lives. We know we will lose more – how many more will be determined by the decisions we make and the ac...

The World Health Organization has warned that severe and mounting disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) – caused by rising demand, panic buying, hoarding and misuse – is putting lives at risk from the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases. Healthcare workers rely on personal protective equipment to protect themselves and their patients from being infected and infecting others. But shortages are leaving doctors, nurses and other frontline workers dangerously ill-equipped to care for COVID-19 patients, due to limited access to supplies such as gloves, medical masks, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns, and aprons. “Without secure supply chains, the risk to healthcare workers around the world is real. Industry and governments must act quickly to boost supply, ease export restrictions and put measures in place to stop speculation and hoarding. We can’t stop COVID-19 without protecting health workers first,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros ...