World health organization

WHO warns ‘black rain’ in Iran after oil strikes could cause respiratory problems

The UN health agency, which has an office in Iran and works with authorities on health emergencies, said it has received multiple reports of oil-laden rain this week.

An Iranian Kurdish man in traditional outfit walks past an anti-US billboard displayed on a building in Tehran's Valiasr Square on February 4, 2026
Slimming injections

Dr. Maya Rosman reveals: How much weight do slimming injections really help you lose?

  The World Health Organization (WHO) logo is seen near its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, February 2, 2023.

Mendelovich says Israel should remain in WHO until alternative is set up

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker pauses as he speaks during a Veterans Day commemoration at the Manuel Perez Jr. Plaza in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., November 11, 2025.

Illinois joins WHO global outbreak network despite US withdrawal from agency


Congo’s Ebola outbreak contained, health officials declare

Congolese health officials declared the Ebola outbreak over after the DRC used a revamped national surveillance system to rapidly contain transmission in Kasai Province.

Kavota Mugisha Robert (L), a healthcare worker who volunteered in the Ebola response, stands with decontamination gear as his colleague prepare to enter a house where a woman, 85, is suspected of dying of Ebola in the Eastern Congolese town of Beni in the Democratic Republic of Congo, October 8, 201

Renewed fighting in central Sudan displaces 2,000 people, conflict intensifies in north Kordofan

The war in Sudan continues to escalate, displacing 2,000 people from towns around Bara as the army and RSF fight for control. Aid groups warn the real death toll is far higher than 40,000.

A Sudanese refugee uses a megaphone during an awareness campaign at Tine transit camp in Chad on November 8, 2025.

WHO discussed use of term ‘famine’ to pressure Israel in December 2023, doctor reveals

Thieren said he was shocked that the roles of perpetrator and victim were assigned from the outset of the war.

Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, July 27, 2025

Australia defends plan to send deportees to tiny Pacific nation of Nauru

Australia defended its $2.5b deal to deport non-citizens to Nauru, despite rights groups warning of poor healthcare and past neglect on the island.

Chinese migrants protest against Australia's policy shift on the investment visa scheme, as they march outside the Australian Broadcasting Corporation office in Sydney, Australia June 16, 2023.

Wildfires are fueling air pollution, UN weather body says

Wildfires are a significant contributor to particle pollution, and the problem is expected to worsen unless concerted efforts are made.

 Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire near Ierapetra, on the island of Crete, Greece, July 3, 2025

WHO reports release of staff member detained by Israeli forces in Gaza

In July, the United Nations agency said the Israeli military had attacked its staff residence and main warehouse in the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah.

IDF operates in Jabalya, August 24, 2025.

Turned back from Gaza, aid shipments sit in warehouses, on roadsides

Responding to international outrage sparked by images of starving Gazans, Israel on July 27 announced measures to let more aid into Gaza. But aid agencies say only a fraction of what's sent gets in.

ARMED PALESTINIANS ride on trucks carrying humanitarian aid near the Zikim border crossing from Israel into the northern Gaza Strip in June. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF accuse Hamas of blocking deliveries and stealing supplies, the writer notes.

'She understood our pain': Hostage mothers meet with Red Cross president in Geneva

“We felt the president was sincere in her response and assured us that she would do everything in her power to help," Galia David, the mother of Evyatar David.

Vicky Cohen

New COVID variant 'Stratus' rapidly spreads across US and Europe, WHO asseses as low risk

The World Health Organization assessed that the global risk from this variant is low, but data indicates a sharp rise in cases in recent months. However, in Israel, the infection rate remains lower.

 New COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1 spreads globally, cases confirmed in Russia and US. Illustration.

Int'l Red Cross, WHO, call for the release of the hostages in Gaza in joint statement

The International Red Cross and the World Health Organization call for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages.

 International Red Cross vehicles drive by on the day of the handover of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander to the International Red Cross, in the Gaza Strip May 12, 2025.