World Health Organization

This archive collects coverage of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency that coordinates global public health efforts. Stories here focus on positive milestones, policy advances, and initiatives that reflect progress in disease prevention, health equity, and international cooperation.

Mosquito, for article on Cape Verde malaria-free

Cape Verde is declared malaria-free

By / / Good News For Humankind

Malaria-free Cape Verde just became the first sub-Saharan African country to earn that distinction in over 50 years, after going three straight years without a single locally transmitted case. The small island nation got there through patient, decades-long work: training surveillance officers to catch cases early, controlling mosquito populations, and offering free diagnosis and treatment to everyone — including travelers and migrants arriving from the mainland. That last choice mattered enormously, since imported cases are often what reignites local outbreaks. Cape Verde joins only Mauritius and Algeria in reaching this milestone on the continent, and its playbook offers something hopeful for the rest of Africa, where malaria still claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

Front of totaled car

Road traffic deaths have fallen significantly across the globe since 2010

By / / Good news links

The new 2023 World Health Organization report on road safety shows that, since 2010, road traffic deaths have fallen by 5%—and that would translate into a 16% drop if the rise in global population was accounted for. 108 countries reported a drop in road traffic-related deaths between 2010 and 2021. Ten countries succeeded in reducing road traffic deaths by over 50%.

Children holding the flag of Bangladesh

Bangladesh eliminates visceral leishmaniasis

By / / Good news links

Bangladesh has become the first country globally to be validated for elimination of visceral leishmaniasis, a life-threatening neglected tropical disease. The country achieved the elimination target of less than one case per 10,000 population at the sub-district level in 2017 and has sustained it to date.

Pyongyang buildings

North Korea eliminates rubella

By / / Good news links

North Korea introduced a mass measles-rubella immunization program in November 2019. Through this mass immunization activity, achieving more than 99.8% coverage in almost 6 million target population, the country has rapidly built substantial population immunity for rubella.

Visualisation of the Covid-19 virus, for article on COVID-19 global health emergency

World Health Organization ends global health emergency declaration for COVID-19

By / / Good News For Humankind

The WHO formally ended its COVID-19 global health emergency on May 5, 2023, more than three years after the designation first triggered a worldwide response. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed to over a year of declining transmission and deaths as the reason most countries can finally return to pre-pandemic rhythms. He didn’t gloss over the loss — nearly 7 million deaths were officially reported, with the true toll likely closer to 20 million — but he credited vaccines, scientific cooperation, and health infrastructure built during the crisis for bending the curve. The closing of this chapter offers a rare pause to honor what collective action can achieve, and a reminder to protect the systems we’ll need before the next crisis arrives.