NEWS

Recent news from WHO

• More than 1.27 million people have been vaccinated against yellow fever in Paraguay, after an outbreak that has so far claimed six lives, it was reported on 7 March. They were the first cases of the mosquito-borne disease in a Latin American urban area in 60 years.

• On 6 March, the first Global Forum on Human Resources for Health called for immediate action to resolve the critical global shortage of some 4 million health workers. WHO estimates that 57 countries have an acute shortage with sub-Saharan Africa alone requiring an additional 1 million health workers.

• Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR–TB) has reached the highest recorded level so far. There are half a million new cases of MDR–TB annually, about 5% of the estimated 9 million new TB cases worldwide. WHO's report, released on 26 February, was based on a survey of 90 000 patients in 81 countries from 2002 to 2006. Surveys in Latvia and Ukraine found nearly twice the level of MDR–TB among TB patients living with HIV compared with TB patients without HIV.

• WHO has published the third edition of the International Medical Guide for Ships on behalf of the International Maritime Organization and the International Labour Organization. The new edition is consistent with both the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines and the International Health Regulations.

For more about these and other WHO news items please see: http://www.who.int/mediacentre