Sorted by date Results 1 - 4 of 4
GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday lamented the U.S. decision to halt funding for the U.N. agency, promising a review of its decisions while sidestepping President Donald Trump's complaints about its alleged mismanagement, cover-up and missteps. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was on the defensive after Trump announced a halt to U.S. funding that has totaled nearly a half-billion dollars annually in recent years. Trump claimed the WHO had parroted Chinese assurances about how the virus is s...
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic and urged aggressive action from all countries to fight it, as U.S. stocks plunged into bear market territory and several American cities joined global counterparts in banning large gatherings. By using the charged word "pandemic" after shying away from calling it so earlier, the U.N. health agency sought to shock lethargic countries into pulling out all the stops. "We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action. We have rung the a...
GENEVA (AP) — A panel convened by the World Health Organization said it would be "irresponsible" for scientists to use gene editing for reproductive purposes, but stopped short of calling for a ban. The experts also called for the U.N. health agency to create a database of scientists working on gene editing. The recommendation was announced Tuesday after a two-day meeting in Geneva to examine the scientific, ethical, social and legal challenges of such research. "At this time, it is irresponsible for anyone to proceed" with making g...
GENEVA (AP) — Africa, where viruses such as HIV, Ebola and Zika emerged, has its first chief of the U.N. health agency. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a former Ethiopian minister of health, was elected Tuesday as the next director-general of the World Health Organization, becoming the first non-medical doctor and the first African tapped to lead an influential agency that helps set health priorities worldwide. Health ministers and other senior envoys to WHO's annual World Health Assembly elected Tedros over Dr. David Nabarro of Britain, a U.N. v...
