India’s new COVID-19 vaccination milestone in figures

How many people have been fully vaccinated and how many are yet to get a single shot? 

After WASH report, burden of eradicating open defecation shifts to Africa

Around 196 million of the 494 million people practising open defecation in the world are from sub-Saharan Africa

Need emergency action to avert measles and polio epidemics, warn UN bodies

$655 million would be needed to address the immunity gaps in non-Gavi eligible countries and target age groups

WHO launches special programme to prevent infant deaths

The First Embrace campaign will focus on saving more than 50,000 newborns and prevent complications in neonatal care in the Western Pacific region

By 2015, Nigeria will account for one-fifth of all births in Africa

With increasing poverty and lack of educational infrastructure, many children will be driven towards crime, violence and insurgency

What Africa needs to do to avert demographic disaster

Better family planning and support from international community much needed, says Unicef

Ghana’s community-based volunteers are saviours for many kids

A sizeable number of people in communities across the country, especially Ghana's Northern Region, do not have access to health facilities

India's polio-free status a cruel joke

The definition of polio has been changed repeatedly since the programme was launched, thus automatically leading to a drastic fall in the number …

Measles accounted for most excess deaths as a result of COVID-19 related vaccine disruptions

Excess deaths due to vaccine breaks amounted to 967,000 deaths, catch-up shots could avert 79% of them, finds Lancet study

Ukraine-Russia war has pushed 4 million children into poverty

UNICEF report finds child poverty across Europe, Central Asia has soared by 19%

Drought impact: Acute malnutrition among children rises 40% in Somalia & Somaliland

Families in Somalia taking extreme measures to survive

One-third of births across globe not registered: UNICEF

India has maximum number of unregistered children

Heavy rain triggered 10,000 landslides in Maharashtra in July 2021: Study

Report bats for early warning system to minimise losses to life, property    

Odisha bets on departments working together to end child marriages

The state has declared 5,600 villages free of child marriage since January 2021 amid COVID-19 pandemic

Deaths by exposure to hazardous chemicals increased 29% between 2016 and 2019: WHO

While most of these deaths are preventable, countries still don’t have enough legal control on the use of hazardous compounds such as lead

25% healthcare centres lack water facilities, 20% sanitation facilities: WHO

The report highlights that each year 17 million women in least developed countries give birth in centres with inadequate facilities for water, …

WHO urges countries to adopt First Embrace to save millions of newborns

Within 4 years, the Early Essential Newborn Care has benefitted 4 million newborns annually

Highlights of 2016 UNICEF report on the state of the world's children

The UNICEF report, titled The State of the World's Children 2016, makes startling revelations on prevalence of inequity in child health, …

Poor access to healthcare hits HIV eradication goal

UNICEF says its global goal of reducing new HIV infections in children by 90 per cent between 2009 and 2015 is still out of reach

15 African nations set up fund to fight Ebola

The recent outbreak of disease has claimed about 500 lives; medics continue efforts to combat misconceptions and mistrust around the disease

Despite having toilets at home, many in rural India choose to defecate in open

Programmes launched to promote use of latrines have failed to influence sanitation behaviours of many people

Southeast Asia’s double whammy—child malnutrition and obesity

WHO/UNICEF report does a reality check on region’s 'double burden'

Bednet gain

Africa can now combat malaria

World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF pledge close to $600 million to combat cervical cancer

Commitments at first ever global forum to eliminate the fourth most prevalent cancer among women

Over 19 million kids in Bangladesh at risk from climate change

UNICEF report says nearly 86% of these children living in 17 districts are under threat from floods and cyclones