Sex education survey: Urgent need for awareness and curriculum reform Sex education survey: Urgent need for awareness and curriculum reform Content Editor: Dr. Urmimala April 15, 2024 Insight IIT-Bombay Sexual Education, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Knowledge-Attitude-Practice The issue of sex education begins with the results of a survey conducted on the college campus in January 2024. The survey found that 36% of undergraduates and 58.4% of postgraduates have engaged in some form of sexual activity. Close to 25% of sexually active respondents, do not use any form of contraception. Around 39% of 1063 respondents did not have any knowledge about the cause, prevention, or treatment of sexually transmitted infections. In contrast, 495 of them knew to some extent. An important finding was that 76.1% of all the respondents felt the need for formal sex education in the college curriculum. Addressing the results of the survey, the issue informs its readers about contraception, consent, and sexual violence as well. Click here to read more.

WHO Prequalifies Additional HPV test, Expanding Options as Countries Pursue Cervical Cancer Elimination WHO Prequalifies Additional HPV test, Expanding Options as Countries Pursue Cervical Cancer Elimination Content Editor: Dr Ashwini Priyadarshini Singh June 29, 2023 WHO News Public health, WHO, Cancer screening, HPV The World Health Organization (WHO) has included a fourth test for human papillomavirus (HPV) in its list of prequalified tests. It highlights the importance of HPV testing as a crucial component of cervical cancer screening. The WHO's prequalification program evaluates the performance of various tests used for HPV detection. The inclusion of Roche Molecular Systems Inc.'s cobas HPV assay expands the range of high-performance tests available to countries, supporting their efforts to improve screening coverage and quality. This step aligns with WHO's commitment to eliminate cervical cancer through strategic targets, including vaccination, screening, and treatment of pre-cancer and invasive cancer cases. HPV tests offer better performance than alternative methods – such as pap smear and visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and provide opportunities for self-sampling, reducing barriers to testing. Incorporating HPV testing into existing laboratory systems further facilitates public health programs and helps achieve screening targets.

WHO's newest initiative- WHO civil society commission WHO's newest initiative- WHO civil society commission Content Editor: Dr Sumana Mukhopadhyay September 11, 2023 WHO News Section Global Health, World Health Organization, International health In Geneva, the WHO unveiled the WHO Civil Society Commission and convened its first Steering Committee gathering. This marks a significant step towards systemic collaboration between civil society and WHO on crucial health concerns. The Commission's primary aim is to: Strengthen conversations and partnerships with WHO and among civil society groups. Offer expert suggestions to assist WHO in championing universal health coverage and the SDGs . Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, emphasized the importance of listening to community voices. The Steering Committee is composed of 22 diverse civil society organizations. The functions of this committee are to: Provide guidance Develop key outputs Convey civil society's advice to the WHO Create a WHO civil society engagement strategy With over 350 organizations expressing interest in joining the Commission, 120 have been initially accepted. The Committee’s co-chairs invite global civil society organizations to actively get involved with the WHO CSO Commission in advancing vital health concerns.

𝗥𝗧𝗦,𝗦 - 𝗪𝗛𝗢-𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 first M𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮 V𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 to be rolled out in 18 African Countries 𝗥𝗧𝗦,𝗦 - 𝗪𝗛𝗢-𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 first M𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮 V𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 to be rolled out in 18 African Countries Content Editor: Dr. Prachi Goswami December 7, 2023 WHO News Section RTS,S - Malaria Vaccine, WHO Around 𝟯𝟯𝟭,𝟮𝟬𝟬 𝗱𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱’𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗛𝗢-𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 M𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮 V𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗥𝗧𝗦,𝗦 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗻 and an additional 1.7 million doses will be delivered to Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone. Supported by 𝙂𝙖𝙫𝙞, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, these countries will start routine immunization from 1st quarter of 2024. The GSK-manufactured RTS,S vaccine follows a 4-dose schedule, which act against P. falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite globally and the most prevalent in Africa. Meanwhile, the 𝗥𝟮𝟭 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India is under review by WHO for prequalification which is expected to be available in mid 2024.