Health | WPN World People News

Delegates at the World Health Assembly today agreed to implement 2 new health strategies that are closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. One relates to women’s children’s and adolescents’ health; the other to healthy ageing.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/wha69-26-may-2016/en/

Scientists using a technology called cryo-EM (cryo-electron microscopy) have broken through a technological barrier in visualizing proteins with an approach that may have an impact on drug discovery and development. They were able to capture images of glutamate dehydrogenase, an enzyme found in cells, at a resolution of 1.8 angstroms, a level of detail at which the structure of the central parts of the enzyme could be visualized in atomic detail. The scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their colleagues also reported achieving another major milestone, by showing that the shapes of cancer target proteins too small to be considered within the reach of current cryo-EM capabilities can now be determined at high resolution.

WHO Member States on Wednesday 25 May agreed to one of the most profound transformations in the Organization’s history, establishing a new Health Emergencies Programme. The programme adds operational capabilities for outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies to complement its traditional technical and normative roles.

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, addressed the World Health Assembly on 24 May. She stressed the links between climate change and health, including those related to the spread of vector-borne diseases. Her address was followed by a technical briefing that underscored the need for multisectoral action in order to achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and agreement on a new resolution on meeting those goals.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization has presented letters of certification to Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) from China and Russia confirming that they are capable of providing mobile emergency field hospitals and staff members in response to natural disasters and disease outbreaks.