WHO Reports on Global Health Issues, Including Ebola Outbreak and Obesity Guidelines

The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided updates on several global health issues. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the number of confirmed Ebola cases has reached 8665, with 4178 confirmed deaths. The WHO has offered technical support related to plague and lab biosafety and biosecurity in response to a suspected case of pneumonic plague in a laboratory worker in the Russian Federation. The WHO has also released guidelines addressing the sharp rise in obesity among children and adolescents, recommending structured changes to diet, behaviour and physical activity. Additionally, the WHO has launched a new global roadmap on hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, including pre-eclampsia, to address the innovation gap between the scale of the problem and the availability of medicines. The WHO is also marking World Mental Health Day on October 10th, focusing on the lived experience of people with mental health conditions.