PUBLICATIONS FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ON PUBLIC HEALTH
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO)
Food Outlook – Biannual report on global food markets. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2024; 144 p. ISBN 978-92-5-138860-0. Food Outlook is published by the Markets and Trade Division of FAO under the Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS). It is a biannual publication focusing on developments affecting global food and feed markets. Each report provides comprehensive assessments and short-term forecasts for production, utilization, trade, stocks and prices on a commodity-by-commodity basis and includes feature articles on topical issues. This June issue offers FAO’s reviews of market supply and demand trends for the world’s major foodstuffs, namely cereals, oil crops, sugar, meat, dairy and fish. It also looks at trends in food import bills, Ocean freight rates, international food prices and futures markets.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023. Urbanization, agrifood systems transformation and healthy diets across the rural–urban continuum. Rome: FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO 2023; 316 p. ISBN 978-92-5-137226-5. This report provides an update on global progress towards the targets of ending hunger (SDG Target 2.1) and all forms of malnutrition (SDG Target 2.2) and estimates the number of people who are unable to afford a healthy diet. Since its 2017 edition, this report has repeatedly highlighted that the intensification and interaction of conflict, climate extremes and economic slowdowns and downturns, combined with highly unaffordable nutritious foods and growing inequality, are pushing us off track to meet the SDG 2 targets. However, other important megatrends must also be factored into the analysis to fully understand the challenges and opportunities for meeting the SDG 2 targets. One such megatrend, and the focus of this year’s report, is urbanization. New evidence shows that food purchases in some countries are no longer high only among urban households but also among rural households. Consumption of highly processed foods is also increasing in peri-urban and rural areas of some countries. These changes are affecting people’s food security and nutrition in ways that differ depending on where they live across the rural-urban continuum. This timely and relevant theme is aligned with the United Nations General Assembly-endorsed New Urban Agenda, and the report provides recommendations on the policies, investments and actions needed to address the challenges of agrifood systems transformation under urbanization and to enable opportunities for ensuring access to affordable healthy diets for everyone.
UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO)
State of the ocean report, 2024. Paris: UNESCO Publishing 2024; 89 p. The State of the Ocean Report (StOR) has the ambition to inform policymakers about the state of the ocean and to stimulate research and policy actions towards “the ocean we need for the future we want”, contributing to the 2030 Agenda and in particular SDG 14, which reads “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources”, as well as other global processes such as the UNFCCC, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Structured around the seven outcomes of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the report provides important information about the achievements of the UN Ocean Decade and, in the longer term, about ocean well-being. The StOR will be used to inform policy and administrative priorities and identify research focus areas that need to be strengthened or developed. More than 98 authors from 25 countries contributed to the report. The different sections provide insights on ocean related scientific activities and analyses describing the current and future state of the ocean, addressing physical, chemical, ecological, socio-economic and governance aspects.
JOINT UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME ON HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
UNAIDS DATA 2023. Geneva: United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 2023; 436 p. Every year UNAIDS provides revised global, regional and country-specific modelled estimates using the best available epidemiological and programmatic data to track the HIV epidemic. Modelled estimates are required because it is not possible to count the exact number of people living with HIV, people who are newly infected with HIV or people who have died from AIDS-related causes in any country: doing so would require regularly testing every person for HIV and investigating all deaths, which is logistically infeasible and ethically problematic. Modelled estimates – and the lower and upper bounds around these estimates – provide a scientifically appropriate way of describing HIV epidemic levels and trends.
HIV Prevention: From Crisis to Opportunity. Key findings from the 2023 Global HIV Prevention Coalition scorecards. Geneva: United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 2024; 107 p. This sixth progress report of the GPC reviews the status of HIV prevention in 40 countries: the 28 initial focus countries of the Coalition and the 12 countries that were invited to join the Coalition in 2023. It tracks progress in the 28 initial focus countries and serves as a baseline assessment for the 12 newly invited countries. This report describes and analyses key developments in HIV prevention by 2022, identifies the main challenges and opportunities and outlines priorities for the years ahead. It is divided into two main sections. The main body of the report reviews progress made across the five main prevention pillars, examines implementation of the ten action points in the 2025 HIV Prevention Road Map and discusses key priorities for the immediate future. The Annex comprises country fact sheets for all 40 focus countries. Those fact sheets present in detail the progress made in implementing HIV prevention programmes at the country level, as represented by country HIV prevention scorecards and Road Map action plans in the 28 initial focus countries and as a baseline for the 12 newly invited countries.
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)
OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2024-2033. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2024; 335 p. ISBN 978-92-64-72259-0 (print) ISBN 978-92-64-59211-7 (PDF) ISBN 978-92-64-94407-7 (HTML) ISBN 978-92-64-38550-4 (epub). This report provides a comprehensive assessment of national, regional and global agricultural commodity markets over the next ten years. This 20th joint edition of the Agricultural Outlook comprises four parts: Agricultural and food markets. Trends and prospects which outlines key projections and insights on challenges facing agri-food systems over the coming decade; Regional briefs which explores key trends and issues in the agricultural sector across the seven FAO regions, the third part, Commodity, which describes recent market developments and medium-term projections for consumption, production, trade, and prices for the commodities covered in the Outlook, and a fourth part, Statistical Annex, presenting projections for production, consumption, trade, and prices for agricultural commodities, fish, and biofuels, as well as macroeconomic and policy assumptions
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION (ILO)
World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2024. Geneva: International Labour Organization 2024; 120 p. ISBN 978-92-2-040041-8 (print) ISBN 978-92-2-040042-5 (web PDF). This report reveals a complex global employment scenario. It forecasts a slight increase in global unemployment in 2024, signalling emerging labour market challenges. The report highlights also disparities between high and low-income countries, noting higher unemployment and poverty rates in lower-income nations. It also points out that a significant portion of the global workforce remains in informal employment. Key concerns include worsening income inequality and the impact of inflation on real incomes, especially in G20 countries. The report underscores the need for policy interventions focused on social justice to ensure a fair and sustainable global economic recovery.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
Intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders 2022–2031: implementation toolkit. Geneva: World Health Organization 2024; 160 p. ISBN 978-92-4-009635-6 (electronic version) ISBN 978-92-4-009636-3 (print version). This toolkit operationalizes the implementation of the Intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders 2022-2031 (IGAP), directed at reducing the burden and strengthening services for people with neurological disorders. The implementation toolkit is intended to be a “go-to” resource for those involved in IGAP implementation in countries. It lists actions and suggests tools and resources that can be utilized to realize fully the vision of IGAP and progress towards achieving the 10 global targets of the action plan. It is primarily intended for use by policymakers at national and subnational levels as well as programme managers and service planners across various sectors such as health, social services, education, environment, finance, employment, justice, and housing. The toolkit is also relevant for academics and the donor and development community as a blueprint for meeting the targets in the action plan. People with neurological disorders, their carers and families and associations that represent them are an essential part of the implementation process and are placed at the heart of all actions.
Prevention and control of iodine deficiency in the WHO European Region: adapting to changes in diet and lifestyle. Geneva: World Health Organization 2024; 122 p. ISBN 978-92-890-6119-3 (PDF). Iodine deficiency, especially mild deficiency, is still a widespread problem in the WHO European Region. Since the last WHO report on iodine deficiency in the Region was published 15 years ago, a wealth of new data on iodine status has become available, particularly concerning vulnerable population groups. This report reviews the iodine status in the WHO European Region, as well as current scientific knowledge on the consequences of mild iodine deficiency, dietary sources of iodine and the present effectiveness of iodine deficiency prevention measures. This report is also unique as it combines information sourced not only from scientific publications and public health reports, but also animal husbandry science and reporting, and the food industry.
Guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis, care and treatment for people with chronic hepatitis B infection. Geneva: World Health Organization 2024; 272 p. ISBN 978-92-4-009090-3 (electronic version) ISBN 978-92-4-009091-0 (print version). The 2024 HBV guidelines provide updated evidence-informed recommendations on key priority topics. These include expanded and simplified treatment criteria for adults but now also for adolescents; expanded eligibility for antiviral prophylaxis for pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HBV; improving HBV diagnostics through use of point-of-care HBV DNA viral load and reflex approaches to HBV DNA testing; who to test and how to test for HDV infection; and approaches to promote delivery of high-quality HBV services, including strategies to promote adherence to long-term antiviral therapy and retention in care. These guidelines include 11 updated chapters with new recommendations. There are also updates to five chapters relating to monitoring with unchanged recommendations from the 2015 guidelines, but these have been updated with new context, additional studies and research gaps.