Poonam Khetrapal Singh

Health for all demands not just commitment but action from every person, everywhere.

The year 2020 marked a watershed in global efforts to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030. First, it was because, by 2020, the TB-affected countries aimed to achieve the first set of “End TB” milestones: a 35 percent reduction in TB deaths, a 20 percent

The world is at a crossroads. Almost two years since SARS-CoV-2 was detected, some countries globally are returning to normal, or something very close. Many more countries—including in the WHO South-East Asia Region—continue to aggressively respond, battling new and more transmissible variants. Social and economic disruptions continue.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people globally every year, more than a third of them prematurely. The four major NCDs—

The WHO South-East Asia Region has in recent months witnessed a sharp and sustained surge of SARS-CoV2 infection. For consecutive weeks in April and May, the Region has reported more than two million new cases, with some areas reporting test positivity rates of upwards of 40 percent.

This World Health Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) is highlighting the opportunity we have to build a fairer and healthier post-Covid-19 world. For well over a year now,

Immunisation saves lives and promotes life-long health and well-being. It is among the most powerful public health and development interventions that exist.

For more than nine months now, the WHO and its Member States in the South-East Asia Region have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic with speed, scale and solidarity. Speed, in efforts to control local outbreaks by acting on epidemiological evidence.

Covid-19 is a direct threat to the health and well-being of all people in the WHO South-East Asia Region. For as long as the virus spreads, the health and well-being of the region’s near two billion people will be at risk, whatever the transmission scenario.

The WHO South-East Asia Region is entering a new phase in its pandemic response. In recent weeks, the spread of Covid-19 in the region has slowed, due in large part to the unprecedented physical distancing measures that countries implemented early and aggressively.

Nurses and mid-wives are central to the delivery of quality primary health services for all.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

On Dece-mber 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck the ocean floor off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake then triggered a tsunami that rumbled out across the Indian Ocean and onto the coastlines of surrounding countries. Almost 200,000 people were killed

Unsafe food causes a staggering range of diseases. From diarrhoea to cancer and to hepatitis, food containing harmful bacteria,

The promise of universal health coverage (UHC) is bold: that all people can access quality health services, when and where they need them, without suffering financial hardship. UHC's benefits are clear. UHC is central to improving health and well-being—a fundamental human right. Healthier populations in turn create more productive economies that raise living standards.

Climate change is happening. In recent years average temperatures across the globe have increased, with significant impact on humanity's most precious resource—the environment. Water systems are being stressed. Food sources are being imperilled. And areas once safe for settlement are being threatened and erased.

Mosquitoes are a pest with no equal. Though not all mosquitoes transmit life-threatening diseases, those that do kill approximately 725,000 people worldwide every year. When not fatal, the diseases mosquitoes spread can result in bouts of debilitating fever, nausea and vomiting, compromising immune systems and disrupting economies. The WHO South-East Asia Region is particularly affected.