World Health Organisation — international health body providing guidance on road safety, surgical targets, drowning prevention, and African health sovereignty amid funding challenges.
… ctivities show that particulate matter concentrations exceed national air quality standards in most monitoring locations, while “virtually the entire population in both urban and rural areas is exposed to particulate matter concentrations that exceed the World Health Organisation …
People living close to the epicentre of a deadly Ebola outbreak have told the BBC of their fear, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned cases may be spreading faster than originally thought. …
The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has praised President John Mahama for his leadership in pushing reforms aimed at reshaping the global health system amid declining international aid. …
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a public health emergency of international concern. …
… The President said some of the largest Western economies had significantly cut their overseas development assistance, adding that the World Health Organisation’s budget had been gutted by the withdrawal of United States assistance, forcing the organisation to scale down programme …
… Experts say the resulting delays risk hobbling efforts to contain the outbreak, which the World Health Organisation declared a public health emergency of international concern at the weekend. …
… It brings together donor and partner governments, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the World Bank, vaccine manufacturers, technical agencies, civil society organisations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other private sector partners. …
… The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation and brings together world leaders, health ministers and policymakers to discuss global health priorities. …
Africa records the world's highest road traffic fatality rate, with an estimated 225,000 deaths in a recent year, accounting for nearly a fifth of global road deaths despite owning barely three per cent of the world's vehicles. The World Health Organisation estimates road crashes kill approximately 1.19 million people yearly globally, with road traffic injuries the leading cause of death among young people aged 5–29.
Africa records the world's highest road traffic fatality rate, with an estimated 225,000 deaths in a recent year, accounting for nearly a fifth of global road deaths despite owning barely three per cent of the world's vehicles. The World Health Organisation estimates road crashes kill approximately 1.19 million people yearly globally, with road traffic injuries the leading cause of death among young people aged 5–29.
Ghana's Food and Drugs Authority recorded a GH¢70 million surplus in 2025, up 51 per cent from GH¢46 million in 2024, with total assets rising to GH¢358 million and liabilities falling to GH¢3.4 million. The Authority identified ageing laboratory equipment and illicit products as ongoing public health concerns, while internally generated funds comprised 66 per cent of its GH¢420 million total revenue.
A state-wide eye health survey in Jigawa State found that cataract accounts for 40.8 per cent of blindness cases, with glaucoma at 23.6 per cent and trachomatous and corneal opacities at 21.1 per cent. The survey also found an estimated 36,623 people form a cataract surgical backlog, with surgical coverage at 34.9 per cent, substantially below the World Health Organisation's recommended target of at least 80 per cent.
Contaminated equipment reused without proper sterilisation in barbering, tattooing, and circumcision can expose people to Hepatitis B through infected blood, warns the Programme Manager of the National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme.
A Ghanaian study of 243 women with breast symptoms found that awareness alone is insufficient: though all were referred for biopsy, 21.1% did not complete it, and of 102 with confirmed malignancy, only 65 initiated treatment, with both patient and health-system factors hindering completion.
The Vice President of the Ghana Institution of Engineering has urged the government to strengthen primary-level health infrastructure, noting that Ghana's ambulance-to-population ratio is 1 to 84,000, leaving many rural communities without reliable access to essential healthcare services.
Air pollution is estimated to contribute to 35,000 premature deaths in Ghana every year, with urban planners and public-health experts attributing a major driver to poor city design that concentrates essential services in one location, forcing lengthy commutes and gridlock.
Ghana's maternal mortality ratio stands at 235 deaths per 100,000 live births, above the WHO target of 70. Zipline's Country Director has urged the government to expand medical drone delivery services nationwide, citing a study showing hospitals served by the company in the Ashanti region recorded a 56.4 per cent reduction in maternal mortality.
The University of Health and Allied Sciences plans to establish an AI Centre of Excellence focused on research, innovation and capacity building in healthcare. The centre will conduct research on clinical trials, drug development, sustainable health financing and health leadership, and will train health professionals and students from tertiary institutions.
Parliament Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin inaugurated a GH¢4 million expanded dialysis facility at Upper West Regional Hospital in Wa, featuring six additional dialysis machines and equipment to serve kidney patients across northern Ghana's regions. The facility is expected to reduce the need for patients to travel to Accra and Kumasi for treatment.
A pastor shares how he supported his wife's recovery and breastfeeding by helping with nighttime baby care and expressed milk feeding. Experts note that while fathers cannot breastfeed directly, their role in household responsibilities and childcare enables mothers to breastfeed successfully and recover from childbirth.
Hepatitis B infection accounts for about 75 per cent of liver cancer cases in Ghana, making it the leading cause and highlighting the need to decentralise treatment services, according to liver disease specialists. Ghana records one of the highest liver cancer burdens in Africa, with liver cancer being the second most common cancer among men and the fourth most common among women.
A law student describes witnessing a five-year-old child transported unsafely on a motorbike to school, and notes that despite Ghana's constitutional protections and the Children's Act, many poor families lack safe transportation options while wealthier families can afford protected commutes.
The Health Minister says the government is implementing measures aligned with WHO guidelines to ensure safe storage and distribution of pharmaceutical and medical products. The FDA has established licensing guidelines and is strengthening compliance through training programmes for pharmacists, supply chain managers and logistics personnel.
The Ghana Health Service disclosed at World Hepatitis Day 2026 commemoration that approximately three million people are infected with Hepatitis B and 500,000 with Hepatitis C in the country, with about 21,000 new infections occurring annually. In 2024, Hepatitis B and C caused an estimated over 3 million deaths worldwide, more than tuberculosis or malaria, with Ghana recording 15,442 deaths from Hepatitis B and 2,004 from Hepatitis C.
The World Health Organisation has unveiled the PROTECT technical package, a global policy framework built on seven evidence-based strategies to guide governments and stakeholders in preventing drowning. WHO notes that about 300,000 people die from drowning globally each year, with over 90 per cent of deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries, particularly among children under five and people under 30.
The World Health Organisation has launched its PROTECT Technical Package for Drowning Prevention in Accra ahead of World Drowning Prevention Day, a global policy framework to help countries reduce drowning deaths, which claim an estimated 300,000 lives annually. The initiative brings together government, development partners, academia and civil society to strengthen policies and systems around water safety, addressing what WHO calls a neglected but preventable public health challenge.
Heads of State and Government, health ministers, and development partners met in Accra to advance Africa's health agenda, with a focus on ending AIDS and tuberculosis by 2030, reducing maternal mortality, and boosting local pharmaceutical manufacturing. Delegates are expected to adopt a fully-costed continental roadmap and declarations on monitoring non-communicable and neglected tropical diseases.
At the African Union's first Extraordinary Summit on health in Accra, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that declining international funding threatens Africa's progress against HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases, urging African leaders to prioritise health sovereignty and increase domestic investment in healthcare systems.
JICA Ghana, in partnership with the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, WHO, and other partners, trained eight healthcare professionals from six African countries in parasitology, bacteriology, virology, biosafety, and laboratory quality management systems. Since its launch in 2019, the Third Country Training Programme has trained 80 biomedical scientists from West Africa, Central Africa, and other African countries to strengthen regional diagnostics and outbreak response.
Ghana is finalising its first standard treatment guidelines for managing lead exposure and poisoning to strengthen diagnosis, treatment, and health system preparedness. The guidelines will specify required tests, treatment options at different care levels, and equipment and facilities needed across the health system.
Ghana is finalising its first standard treatment guidelines for managing lead exposure and poisoning to strengthen diagnosis, treatment, and health system preparedness. The guidelines will specify required tests, treatment options by level of care, and equipment and facilities needed across the health system.
The Trump administration has considered disengaging from UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, prompting diplomats and U.N. officials to lobby for continued U.S. support, according to sources familiar with the matter. The deliberation follows a disagreement over the appointment of a deputy high commissioner, and potential cuts to U.S. funding—historically the agency's largest source—would weaken it amid near-record displacement levels globally.
Canada announced it will temporarily bar foreign nationals who visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo within the last 21 days, effective July 20, to curb spread of the Ebola outbreak. The move conflicts with WHO guidance against broad travel restrictions during public health emergencies.
Ghana's Minister of State for Climate Change says climate change is no longer a future threat but a current public health emergency worsening disease outbreaks, food insecurity, and pressure on health systems across Africa. He called for stronger collaboration among governments, scientists, and development partners at the launch of two African-led consortiums on climate and health in Accra.
Ghana's Minister of State for Climate Change says Africa must treat climate change as a present public health crisis, not a future threat, as it is already worsening disease outbreaks, food insecurity, and straining health systems. He called for stronger collaboration among governments, scientists, and development partners at the launch of two African-led research consortiums on climate and health, hosted by KNUST in partnership with Wellcome Trust.
As Western Europe experiences record heat and intensifying heatwaves, portable split air-conditioners made by Chinese manufacturer Midea have sold out across the region and become highly sought-after products, with units reselling at double or triple their original retail price of around €750.
The Ghana Medical Trust Fund and the World Health Organisation have held discussions on strengthening collaboration to improve access to specialised healthcare services across the country, with a focus on the Trust Fund's four-pillar mandate, financial sustainability, governance and accountability.
The Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has warned that illegal mining activities and ultra-processed foods are threatening food safety in Ghana, launching its 2026 National Nutrition Month campaign under the theme "Food Safety: Everyone's Responsibility" to promote safer food practices across the country.