05 APRIL 2016 - WHO and partners need US$ 2.2 billion to provide lifesaving health services to more than 79 million people in more than 30 countries facing protracted emergencies this year, according to WHO’s Humanitarian Response Plans 2016 launched today.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is to announce Wednesday it will transfer leftover money from the largely successful fight against Ebola to combat the growing threat of the Zika virus, congressional officials say.

Roughly 75 percent of the $600 million or so would be devoted to the Centers for Disease Control, which is focused on research and development of anti-Zika vaccines, treating those infected with the virus and combating the mosquitoes that spread it. The rest would go to foreign aid accounts to fight the virus overseas.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter before the White House announcement.

submitted by Albert Gomez 

CLICK HERE - The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment

Climate change is a significant threat to the health of the American people. This scientific assessment examines how climate change is already affecting human health and the changes that may occur in the future.

USGCRP, 2016: The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment. Crimmins, A., J. Balbus, J.L. Gamble, C.B. Beard, J.E. Bell, D. Dodgen, R.J. Eisen, N. Fann, M.D. Hawkins, S.C. Herring, L. Jantarasami, D.M. Mills, S. Saha, M.C. Sarofim, J. Trtanj, and L. Ziska, Eds. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, 312 pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.7930/J0R49NQX

https://health2016.globalchange.gov

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016

nytimes.com - by The Editorial Board - April 4, 2016

Some world leaders, especially in developing countries like India, have long said it’s hard to reduce the emissions that are warming the planet because they need to use relatively inexpensive — but highly carbon-intensive — fuels like coal to keep energy affordable. That argument is losing its salience as the cost of renewable energy sources like wind and solar continues to fall.

reuters.com - (Reporting by Mai Nguyen and Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Michael Perry) - April 4, 2016

Two Vietnamese women have contracted the Zika virus which has been linked to thousands of suspected cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect, in Brazil, and are the first Zika infections in Vietnam, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

A 64-year-old woman in the beach city of Nha Trang and another woman, 33, in Ho Chi Minh City fell sick in late March, and three rounds of tests have confirmed they are Zika-positive, the ministry said in a statement.

The two patients are in stable condition while no further infections among their relatives and neighbors have been found, the ministry said.

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Image: The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest living structure and can be seen from space.

bbc.com - March 29th 2016

Evidence that Australia's Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its worst coral bleaching on record has renewed calls for the UN to list it as "in-danger".

The National Coral Bleaching Taskforce says 95% of reefs from Cairns to Papua New Guinea are now severely bleached.

It says only four reefs out of 520 have no evidence of bleaching.

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In a meeting held at the sensi hub in 62 sir samuel lewis road, Arberdeen; the project cordinator Mr. Moses explain the important of the light in proving energy to those who can not afford the commercial energy supplies for their homes and charging of cell phones, he said this light would be available in the country on a soft loan basis. The consumers would purchase the light in a year period given with a small amount the user would be able to pay. 

The green solar project is focussing in area were the country electricity would not be able to reach and help those spot with centres for easy purchasing of the solar light.

A woman has died of Ebola in Liberia, months after the West African nation was declared free of the deadly virus and weeks after neighboring Guinea also recorded a new flare-up, health officials said on Friday.

"A young lady in her early thirties died of Ebola yesterday at the Redemption Hospital," a senior health ministry official said. A hospital worker also confirmed the woman had tested positive for the disease.

(Reporting by Alphonso Toweh; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Larry King)

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Carlos Lopes. File Photo: UNECA

Migration, climate change and what's been called "green" industrialization are just some of the issues topping the agenda when African economic and finance ministers gather in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, beginning this Thursday.

The conference is part of the wider events for the first African Development Week organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa, known as the ECA, and the African Union.

Carlos Lopes is the ECA Executive Secretary at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Ernest Chicho asked him about the background for the week and what to expect.

Duration: 4'28"

see more on: http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2016/03/green-industrialization-part-of-focus-for-african-development-week/#.Vv0A1tIrJdh

apps.who.int - March 30, 2016

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The WHO said that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa no longer constituted an international emergency, but the announcement of new cases in Guinea demonstrates the difficulty of managing the aftermath of the virus (AFP Photo/Carl de Souza)

AFP - news.yahoo.com - March 30, 2016

Conakry (AFP) - A resurgence of Ebola in a rural Guinean community has killed seven people, health officials said Wednesday, even as the World Health Organization voiced confidence that remaining isolated cases could be contained.

The WHO said Tuesday that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa no longer constituted an international emergency, but the announcement of new cases demonstrated the difficulty of managing the aftermath of the virus.

The death of a man, two of his wives and his daughter were announced two weeks ago by the Guinean health authorities, who confirmed Wednesday a third wife and a mother-in-law also died after becoming infected in the village of Koropara.

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The 2016 GEF ECW for the Coastal West Africa Constituency will take place in Freetown, Sierra Leone from 10 to 13 May 2016.

The ECWs bring together GEF focal points, national focal points from the main international environmental conventions (biodiversity, desertification, climate change, and persistent organic pollutants), representatives from the civil society, GEF Agencies, and the GEF Secretariat. These workshops are an opportunity for participants to meet with their counterparts from other regional countries and other GEF partners, to discuss and review policies and procedures, and to share lessons and experiences from development and implementation of GEF projects and their integration within national policy frameworks.

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