-Live Mint   Out-of-pocket payments for health are highest among all WHO regions and one-third of new annual poverty is healthcare related New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) will seek to provide access to health services for all in Southeast Asia and put in place robust healthcare systems in the region, the agency's regional director Poonam Khetrapal Singh said in a speech at a conference on Wednesday in Paro, Bhutan. Public health experts,...

-The Hindu   Three out of four people are at risk of malaria in World Health Organisation's South-East Asia Region, which is home to a quarter of the world's population despite huge gains in tackling the disease. The WHO has urged the governments, development partners and the corporate sector to invest more to sustain the gains and eliminate malaria. WHO's South-East Asia Region comprises 11 member-states: Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Democratic People's Republic of...

-Reuters   PUNE: India and its South Asian neighbours are expected to see below average to average rains this year if the El Nino weather pattern gains strength during the four-month monsoon season, a forum of weather experts said on Wednesday. Poor monsoons could dent crop output in India - the world's No.2 rice and sugar producer, while less rains in soybean areas could make the country, already the world's top importer...

-The Business Standard   International organisations recognise the impending shortage of potable water but their approach is entirely wrong During this year's gathering in Davos, the World Economic Forum released its ninth annual Global Risks report, which relies on a survey of more than 700 business leaders, government officials and non-profit actors to identify the world's most serious risks in the next decade. Perhaps most remarkably, four of the 10 threats listed this...

-The Hindu Vector-borne diseases are adding to the vicious cycle of poverty and have a significant impact of socio-economic status of communities, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. While countries in South-East Asia have made substantial economic progress, dengue and malaria fuel a vicious cycle of poverty and are still killing thousands of people. On World Health Day - April 7 - the WHO has impressed upon countries to prevent...