Global Happenings
WHO is expanding access to quality-assured, child-friendly cancer medicines to improve treatment for children with cancer. The initiative supports reliable availability of appropriate medicines, helping health systems provide safer, effective and affordable care. Improved access aims to reduce treatment gaps and strengthen outcomes for children affected by cancer worldwide.
Haiti is facing a severe child nutrition crisis, with nearly one in thirteen children under five suffering from acute malnutrition. The situation is driven by food insecurity, poverty, displacement and limited access to healthcare. Urgent nutrition support, including screening, treatment and access to nutritious food, is essential to prevent further deterioration.
India and Sri Lanka have strengthened collaboration on food safety through knowledge exchange and sharing of technical expertise. The initiative focuses on improving food safety systems, strengthening regulatory practices, enhancing laboratory capacities, and promoting evidence-based approaches. Such cooperation aims to protect consumers, improve food quality, and strengthen national food safety frameworks.
A new WHO and UNICEF report reveals significant gaps in essential water, sanitation, hygiene and environmental health services in health-care facilities worldwide. Reportedly, only four in ten facilities meet basic sanitation standards and less than six in ten achieve basic environmental cleaning standards such patient rooms and wards, operating theatres, examination and treatment areas, toilets and sanitation facilities, leaving patients and health workers exposed to preventable health risks.
ICMR and UNICEF have called for strengthening nutrition education from Classes 1–12 to address the growing burden of childhood obesity in India. The recommendation emphasizes equipping children with practical knowledge about healthy eating, balanced diets, physical activity, and informed food choices. Schools can play a crucial role in shaping lifelong healthy behaviours by integrating age-appropriate nutrition education into the curriculum.
The World Health Organization (WHO) urges countries to strengthen breastfeeding support through resilient health systems, skilled counselling, and supportive workplace and community policies. Improving breastfeeding practices helps ensure every child receives optimal nutrition, boosts immunity, supports healthy growth and development, and reduces the risk of illness and malnutrition from the earliest stages of life.
A new UN report says global hunger has declined for the third year in a row, showing gradual recovery after recent crises. However, progress remains uneven, with hunger worsening in parts of Africa and Western Asia. The report urges stronger action to reduce regional inequalities and achieve global food security.
The first global estimates of breast cancer survival reveal major disparities across regions and income levels. Women in high-income countries generally have much higher survival rates due to earlier diagnosis and better treatment access, while low- and middle-income countries experience poorer outcomes, highlighting urgent needs for equitable healthcare, screening, and cancer care worldwide.
The WHO Global Status Report on Cancer 2026 highlights rising cancer cases alongside major scientific advances, but warns that unequal access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care persists. It urges people-centred, equitable cancer control through stronger health systems, universal coverage, social protection, and value-driven innovation to improve outcomes for everyone worldwide.
Beat the Heat is a initiative under WHO’s Sport for Health programme, developed in collaboration with FIFA. Initiative promotes evidence-based action and capacity building. It engages governments, businesses, workers’ groups, sports bodies, mass gathering organizers, and communities in high-risk areas.