11/24/2015 - Lack of access to toilets is endangering millions of the world’s poorest children, UNICEF said today, pointing to emerging evidence of links between inadequate sanitation and malnutrition.    Some 2.4 billion people globally do not have toilets and 946 million – roughly 1 in 8 of the world’s population – defecate in the open. Meanwhile, an estimated 159 million children under 5 years old are stunted (short for their age) and another 50 million are wasted (low weight for age).    A report issued today, Improving Nutrition Outcomes with Better Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, from UNICEF, USAID and the World Health Organization, for the first time brings together years of research and case studies which demonstrate the link between sanitation and malnutrition. More importantly, it provides guidance for action.  

11/18/2015 - The ministers of health of MERCOSUR and Associate States completed initial negotiations with a number of pharmaceutical companies on 13 November in Asunción, Paraguay, that will lead to the joint procurement of high-cost medicines, with the support of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). In an initial round of negotiations, the ministers of health received an offer from the pharmaceutical company Gilead for an antiviral medicine against hepatitis C at the lowest price available in the region. Agreement was also reached on using the PAHO Strategic Fund for pooled procurement of an antiretroviral medicine to treat HIV/AIDS.

11/16/2015 - An estimated 11 million children are at risk from hunger, disease and lack of water in eastern and southern Africa as a result of a strengthening El Niño, which is also causing droughts and floods in parts of Asia, the Pacific and Latin America, UNICEF warned on Tuesday. The consequences could ripple through generations unless affected communities receive support amid crop failures and lack of access to drinking water that are leaving children malnourished and at risk of killer diseases, UNICEF said in report called A Wake Up Call: El Niño's Impact on Children.

10/26/2015 - With the purpose of responding to the needs of countries of the Andean area in order to ensure the access to quality and efficient medicines at a low cost, the electronic platform of the Andean Observatory on Medicines was launched in Cochabamba (Bolivia), on October 13. The mechanism was developed by the Executive Secretariat and by the Subregional Technical Commission on Policies for the Access to Medicines of ORAS-CONHU, and received support from PAHO Bolivia, as well as contributions from the Ministries of Health of the region. The strategic points of the Andean policy for medicines outlined the four central axes that constitute the Observatory: the access to medicines; quality, efficiency and safety; the rational use of medicines; research and development.