Adim Gertrude, sitting left a medical lab technician for a youth foundation checks samples of blood taken from people at the voluntary counseling and testing centre venue of the International Conference on HIV/AIDS. (Source: Keystone)

💡🧪Shining a light on HIV self testing. Even with increased HIV services and sensitisation programmes globally, stigma and discrimination suffered by people living with HIV/AIDS is still a huge barrier to testing. Geneva-based global health agency, Unitaid is finding new ways to address this testing gap through innovative mass media campaigns introducing self-test kits.

⚖️🤝Weighing in on a new treaty on pandemics. The World Health Organization along with the European Union recently announced their intention to produce a new global treaty on pandemics. Writing for Geneva Solutions, Jagan Chapagain secretary general of the international Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies puts forward a case for what this agreement should look like.

🔐💉Tackling vaccine access behind closed doors. The WHO and WTO have both been hosting key global meetings this week aimed at improving global access to Covid-19 vaccines and promoting fair medicine prices amid growing calls to address the inequality gap to tackle the pandemic.

Carlos Ribeiro Justiniano Chagas (1879-1934), Brazillian bacteriologist discovered the parasitic disease named after him (Chagas disease) in 1909. (Source: Keystone).

Chagas disease remains a public health problem. Discovered over a century ago, the Chagas disease infects an estimated 7 million people worldwide, mostly in endemic Latin American countries. Named after the Brazillian bacteriologist, Carlos Chagas, the disease is mostly asymptomatic, but if left undiagnosed and untreated could lead to sudden death or heart failure. Marking World Chagas Disease Day on Thursday, the World Health Organization calls for comprehensive and equitable access to healthcare and services for those affected by the disease.

📍 15 April | Climate action, gender equality, and resilient health systems Co-hosted by the World Health Organization, the National Adaptation Plans (NAP) Global Network and Women Deliver, a panel of experts will present findings from recent NAP documents that explore the intersections of health, gender equality, and climate resilience.

📍 15 April | How is the pandemic affecting property markets in the UNECE region? As part of the “Land administration during Covid-19 pandemic” webinar series, UNECE will look at recent developments and driving forces underpinning national property markets, highlighting how national land registries are coping with the challenges posed by the pandemic and how private sector are adapting to the situation.

Women’s lives ‘governed by others’. According to a new report by the UN population agency, almost half of women in some 57 countries do not have the power to make choices over their healthcare, contraception or sex lives. This lack of bodily autonomy worsened during the coronavirus pandemic, has placed a record number of women and girls at risk of gender-based violence.