WHO | Week Ahead for media - 10 April 2026

No images? Click here Friday , 10 April 2026  | Issue 348   Subscribe to receive this weekly update   A lab techician examining parasite responsible for causing Chagas disease © WHO Monday, 13 April  Hand hygiene action saves live! Are you ready to plan and act? 13 April 2026 13:00 – 14:00 CET https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2026/04/13/default-calendar/hand-hygiene-action-saves-live!-are-you-ready-to-plan-and-act Global warm-up webinar for World Hand Hygiene Day, 5 May 2026 Each year WHO’s World Hand Hygiene Day (WHHD) aims to maintain a global profile on the importance of hand hygiene and IPC in health care and to ‘bring people together’ in support of improvement globally.  In this 18th year of the campaign day, WHO calls on all those providing and supporting health care to refresh their plans and actions on hand hygiene and IPC to ensure patient and health worker safety.   Agenda Registration: https://who.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qKkufST7ReyCW-rIF_G8TA Tuesday, 14 April  World Chagas Disease Day https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-chagas-disease-day/2026 On 14 April this year, World Chagas Disease Day places women where they belong: at the heart of the attention. For too long, women have been neglected and unfairly stigmatized as a "source of infection" for congenital Chagas disease—blamed for passing the parasite to their children. The reality is very different. The vast majority of women living with Chagas disease were infected the same way as their family and neighbours: for instance, through vector transmission by a triatomine bug, or by consuming contaminated food or drink. They are not the source of the problem—they are among its millions of overlooked victims. Despite this, girls and women of childbearing age have been systematically neglected.  They face a lack of information, education, and awareness, coupled with limited access to diagnosis and treatment. This leaves them at risk of developing cardiomyopathy and facing a high-risk pregnancy, or of transmitting the infection to their children. In addition, they receive limited support for the vital role they play in preventing and controlling Chagas disease at the family, home, and community levels. The consequences are severe: up to one-third of women with T. cruzi infection will develop cardiac alterations that can lead to cardiomyopathy, turning pregnancy into a high-risk event for both mother and child. More on Chagas disease:  https://www.who.int/health-topics/chagas-disease#tab=tab_1 Wednesday, 15 April Cholera in humanitarian settings https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2026/04/15/default-calendar/who-health-emergencies-epi-win-webinar-cholera-in-humanitarian-settings 15 April 2026 13:00 – 14:00 CET  Virtual meeting Background Cholera remains a major global public health threat and a key indicator of inequity, disproportionately affecting populations in humanitarian and fragile settings. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 1.3 to 4.0 million cases and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths due to cholera occur globally each year. Recent years have seen a resurgence of cholera, with more countries affected, higher case fatality rates, and outbreaks increasingly concentrated in crisis-affected contexts. Humanitarian settings are particularly vulnerable due to disrupted water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, overcrowded living conditions, population displacement, limited access to healthcare, and insecurity. These factors facilitate rapid transmission and hinder timely detection and response, often leading to more severe and prolonged outbreaks. More on Cholera: https://www.who.int/health-topics/cholera#tab=tab_1 Register Wednesday, 15 April  Third Anniversary of the conflict in Sudan Three years of war in Sudan have shattered essential services like water and health, and plunged the country into the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. Now, 41% of Sudan’s population – 21 million people – still require urgent health assistance for survival. Despite recent returns, 13.6 million people still remain displaced within Sudan or in neighbouring countries. While fighting has subsided in Khartoum and Al Jazirah, it has intensified in the Darfurs and Kordofans, where the population faces high protection risks and extreme limitations of access to basic services, mainly health care. A press release will be posted to mark the date. More information can be found here:  https://www.who.int/emergencies/situations/sudan-emergency LOOK AHEAD 24 April: World Malaria Day: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-malaria-day/2026 24- 30 April : World Immunization Week:  https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-immunization-week/2026   Latest news from WHO here WHO events here Sign up for our newsletters here WHO photos available for media use here WHO media contacts: mediainquiries@who.int You are receiving this NO-REPLY email because you are included on a WHO mail list. If you have been forwarded this update you can click here to subscribe. Do not reply to media@campaign.who.int as it is an unmonitored mailbox. Journalists may write to mediainquiries@who.int.         Share    Tweet    Share    Forward  World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, 1202 Geneva 27, Switzerland  Unsubscribe