World Health Organization

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has sought to allay public concerns over Disease X, a theoretical virus believed to be 20 times deadlier than COVID-19, stating that it's not a real thing.

"A presumed disease. Disease X, as the [World Health Organization] WHO calls it. It has no equivalent in real life," Koca said on social media platform X on Jan. 24, attempting to calm fears.

The head of the World Health Organization voiced fears Monday that countries will fail to strike a pandemic preparedness agreement by May, saying "future generations may not forgive us".

Türkiye has emerged as the leading nation globally for the highest number of cigarettes smoked, earning the disconcerting distinction with 17.1 cigarettes per capita per day, according to a European Union (EU) Statistics Office report.

Israel bombarded southern Gaza on Friday after it publicly sparred with its main ally the United States over the possibility of a Palestinian state, the creation of which Washington sees as the only pathway to a lasting peace.

Following investigations in the aftermath of the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes that rattled 11 provinces, a team of scientists has found that water supplies were deemed unfit for consumption in some areas, prompting urgent attention to the need for water treatment units.

COVID-19 vaccines have significantly curbed pandemic-related deaths, saving 1.4 million lives in the WHO European Region, according to a recent study.

At least 1.4 million lives have been saved in Europe thanks to Covid vaccines, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, recalling that the virus was "here to stay".

Officials in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday dozens were killed overnight in "intense" Israeli bombardment, as the war which has sent shockwaves across the region passed the grim 100-day milestone.

Cape Verde has become the third African nation to be declared malaria free, even as the disease continues to kill hundreds of thousands of people on the continent, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The Atlantic archipelago of about 500,000 inhabitants follows Mauritius in 1973 and Algeria in 2019.

After nearly three months of deadly strikes, incessant displacements and sputtering humanitarian aid, "exhausted" Gazans say they are desperate for an end to the fighting as Israel's war against Hamas looks set to grind on into the new year.