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Article
How doctors are saving the sight of newborns
Gulnaz* waited with her newborn son for a check-up at the Osh Children's Hospital in Kyrgyzstan. He was born at 29 weeks of pregnancy – putting him at risk of retinopathy, a condition in which the retina, the part of the eye which senses light, is damaged or has not developed properly. Left untreated, retinopathy ...
Article
Home-visiting nurse Nina becomes a local hero
Five days a week, six family visits a day and more than 1,000 family visits a year: Nina Dimova is a local hero for children and families in Sliven region, in central Bulgaria. Nina is one of only 12 home-visiting nurses from the Centre for Maternal and Child Health in the region, which has a population of almost ...
Press release
Aid cuts threaten fragile progress in ending maternal deaths, UN agencies warn
GENEVA/NEW YORK,, 7 April 2025, – Women today are more likely than ever to survive pregnancy and childbirth, according to a major new report released today, but United Nations (UN) agencies highlight the threat of major backsliding as unprecedented aid cuts take effect around the world. Released on World Health D...
Document
A life-saving investment in health information systems
In 2021, UNICEF commissioned the development of the 'e-Perinatal Referral System' in Tajikistan to track referral data for maternal and newborn health services during the perinatal period, to support child growth monitoring, and to record immunization data, aiming to enable evidence-based decision-making. The Syst...
Article
Autism symptoms: Common signs of ASD in children
One of the most important things that parents and other caregivers can do to support children with autism is to recognize when they have it. This is the first step to getting a child a diagnosis, early intervention, and other types of support that give them the best chance of living a fulfilling, healthy and happy...
Video essay
Travelling by horseback to deliver lifesaving care in remote Kyrgyzstan
Jiydegul Rysbaeva Seitkazievna has been a medical nurse in Kyrgyzstan since 1988. In the rural, isolated valley where she lives, it isn't convenient – or even possible – to drive to the families she serves by car, or to take a train. Instead, she uses a different mode of transport. “I administer vaccines on horseb...
Document
2023 HIV and AIDS Eastern Europe and Central Asia snapshot
A snapshot of pregnant women, children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This includes facts and figures on: Regional variation in the percentage reduction since 2010 in new HIV infections among children aged 0—14 years, taking note of the overall number of new infectionsRegional va...
Article
Your common questions about measles and the MMR vaccine, answered
Jump to, Common questions about the measles Common questions about the measles vaccination, What is measles? , Measles is a very contagious disease caused by a virus. Although many people know about the disease because of the rash it causes on the skin of the infected person, measles can also cause a high fever, c...
Press release
European Region reports highest number of measles cases in more than 25 years – UNICEF, WHO/Europe
GENEVA/COPENHAGEN, 13 March 2025, – 127,350 measles cases were reported in the European Region in 2024, double the number of cases reported for 2023 and the highest number since 1997, according to an analysis by WHO and UNICEF. Children under five accounted for more than 40 per cent of reported cases in the Region...
Report
European Region reports highest number of measles cases in more than 25 years
Children under five accounted for 43 per cent ‑ more than 54,000 - of reported cases. More than half of all people – nearly 74,000 – who contracted measles in 2024 required hospitalization.Hospitalizations from measles are mostly due to complications such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, and dehydration, which can be life...
Article
Measles cases have soared over the past two years
Before the introduction of the measles vaccine, around 2.6 million people died of the disease around the world every year. Millions more have experienced life-threatening or life-altering complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis, kidney damage, liver disease, brain damage, loss of hearing and loss of visio...
Campaign
Health is life
Every child deserves the best start in life, Every year, too many children in Europe and Central Asia are denied their right to essential healthcare, nutrition and development support. In 2022, 28,000 children under-five died, half of whom died in their first month of life, with children from marginalized communit...