Stopping tobacco industry interference

30 May 2012 -- Tobacco kills almost 6 million people every year and is one of the leading preventable causes of illness and death around the world. On World No Tobacco Day (31 May), WHO is calling on national leaders to be vigilant against the increasingly aggressive attacks by the industry which undermine policies that protect people from the harms of tobacco.

• Read the press release on World No Tobacco Day 2012
• Find out more about World No Tobacco Day 2012

28 May 2012 - - Delegates at the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly endorsed the Global Vaccine Action Plan. The Action Plan aims to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 through more equitable access to vaccines for people in all communities. Member States also designated the last week of April as World Immunization Week.

• Read more on the Global Vaccine Action Plan

26 May 2012 -- The Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly concluded Saturday after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues. The six days of discussions involved nearly 3000 delegates, including health ministers and senior health officials from amongst the 194 WHO Member States, as well as representatives from civil society and other stakeholders.

• Read the news release
• Full coverage of World Health Assembly

16 May 2012 -- One in three adults worldwide has high blood pressure – a condition that causes around half of all deaths from stroke and heart disease. One in 10 adults has diabetes. The growing problem of the noncommunicable diseases burden is the focus of the World health statistics 2012 report released today.

• Read the press release
• World health statistics 2012