Almost 15 million people likely died as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, nearly three times more than previously reported, a new World Health Organization study estimates.

The researchers said the COVID-19 pandemic caused about 4.5 million more deaths than would have been expected in 2020, and 10.4 million more in 2021, according to the report published online Dec. 14 i...

In updated guidance issued Thursday, the World Health Organization now recommends against using the antibody drugs sotrovimab and casirivimab-imdevimab for patients with COVID-19.

This recommendation replaces previous conditional recommendation for these antibody drugs. The change in guidance was based on emerging evidence that the medications -- which work by binding to the SARS-CoV-2 sp...

Monkeypox, which has now spread to 75 countries and sickened at least 16,000 people, has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The declaration came after WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus overruled a panel of advisors that could not come...

People shouldn't take the drugs colchicine and fluvoxamine to treat mild to moderate COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning.

The antidepressant drug fluvoxamine (Luvox) and the gout drug colchicine are commonly ...

In an about-face from an original report on what might have caused the COVID-19 pandemic, experts enlisted by the World Health Organization said Thursday that they could not discount the "China lab leak" theory.

In contrast, the WHO's initial assessment in 20...

In an estimate that far exceeds reported totals, an expert panel appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that there were nearly 15 million more deaths worldwide during the first two years of the pandemic than would normally have been expected.

That compares with an official tally of 6.2 million COVID-19 deaths r...

The World Health Organization (WHO) is investigating an unexplained increase in severe liver infection in children around the world including in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The severe acute hepatitis cases have led to hospitalizations and even some liver transplants, but not deaths, CBS News report...

Almost no one in the world is breathing good air, according to a new World Health Organization report, which issued a call for reducing the use of fossil fuels.

Air quality is the worst in WHO's Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia regions, but 99% of the global population breathes air that exceeds ai...

Gum disease has been linked to an increased risk for preterm birth, and now new research suggests that chewing sugar-free gum with xylitol during pregnancy may lower this risk.

The study took place in Malawi, Africa, which has one of the world's highest rates of preterm delivery. Experts are quick t...

The latest shipment of 1.1 million COVID-19 vaccines to Rwanda this weekend signaled a noteworthy achievement: The COVAX program, a United Nations-backed program providing poorer countries with vaccines, has now shipped one billion of the doses to combat the coronavirus in 144 countries.

But still, that "is on...

An international trial found that a once-a-day antiretroviral medication for kids with HIV is not only cheap and easy to take, but also better at suppressing HIV than standard treatments.

"Our findings provide strong evidence for the global rollout of dolutegravir for children with HIV," said Dr. Diana Gibb, a professor of epidemiology at University College London and a principal investig...

A new program to boost the supply of cancer medicines for children in low- and middle-income countries has been announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

The hospital is making a six-year, $200 million investment to launch the Global Platform for Access to Childhood C...

With HIV a continuing threat to women's health, the World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the first long-acting device to protect women from sexually transmitted HIV.

The device is a vaginal ring made of silicone elastomer, a flexible rubber-like material that makes it easy to insert and comfortable to use. The ring releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine into the vagina slowly...

New treatment options are giving hope to patients with stomach cancer.

Also known as gastric cancer, the disease is the world's sixth most common cancer with 1.09 million new cases in 2020, according to the World Health Organization.

It's an abnormal growth of cells that can affect any part of the stomach, but typically forms in the main part.

"I tell patients who have been re...

A new rule to sharply cut methane emissions and other oil and gas industry air pollutants that harm health and contribute to climate change is in the works.

The new Clean Air Act rule proposed Tuesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would cut 41 million tons of methane emissions between 2023 and 2035.

That's the equivalent of 920 million metric tons of carbon dioxi...

Most adults who lose smell or taste due to COVID-19 infection regain those senses within months, but a quick recovery is more likely in those under 40, a new study finds.

It included 798 participants in an ongoing survey who reported a loss of either sense after testing positive for COVID.

The first vaccine to protect against malaria has been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and could prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of children a year.

Malaria kills about half a million people worldwide annually. Nearly all of those deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and include 260,000 children under the age of 5, The New York Times reported.

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The United States will buy 500 million more doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine that it will donate to countries in need, President Biden announced at a virtual summit on the pandemic Wednesday.

The United States is doubling its purchase of the vaccine to 1 billion doses as Biden hopes 70% of the world's population can be vaccinated within a year, the Associated Press reporte...

In Africa, only 4% of people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Leaders had once hoped to have 60% of people living on the continent vaccinated this year.

That now appears unlikely.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners said they do hope to provide African countries with 30% of the vaccines the continent needs by February, the Associated Press repor...

An experimental Ebola vaccine appeared effective in children and adults in a clinical trial.

Two doses of Johnson & Johnson's Ebola vaccine appear safe, well tolerated and produce a strong immune response in people over the age of 1, according to two just-published papers.

COVID-19 vaccine booster shots might not be needed for most people, according to a large international review.

The review -- conducted by a team that included scientists from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- concluded that current vaccines are effective enough against severe COVID-19, even from the Delta variant, and that booster shots are unnece...

Fewer COVID-19 vaccine doses than expected will be available through the global COVAX program, affecting many less-affluent nations waiting on these doses.

The United Nations forecast last week that it would have about 25% fewer vaccines to distribute through COVAX this year -- 1.4 billion compared to an earlier projection for 1.9 billion doses,