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A World Health Organization spokesperson on Tuesday confirmed that its European region would hold a special meeting next week on the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on health and healthcare. "There will be a meeting on 10 May on the impact of war on Ukraine health system," said Tarik Jasarevic at a Geneva press briefing. Reuters reported last week that Kyiv had requested the meeting, citing a letter written by the Ukraine diplomatic mission in Geneva signed by some 38 other countries. read more Russia, one of the 53 members of WHO's Europe region, has not yet responded to a Reuters' request for comment on the event. (5/3)

The four main parties to negotiations on an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines have prepared an "outcome document" for approval by the broader membership, the WTO said on Tuesday, with its chief hoping for a final deal by June. WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who has made vaccine equity her top priority since taking office in 2021, has been working for months to broker a compromise between the United States, the European Union, India and South Africa to break an 18-month-long impasse. (Farge, 5/3)

The World Health Organization says the rates of people who are obese and overweight in Europe have hit “epidemic proportions,” with nearly 60% of adults and a third of children in one of those categories. In a report issued Tuesday, the U.N. health agency’s European office said the prevalence of obesity among adults is higher across the continent than any other world region — except for the Americas. “Alarmingly, there have been consistent increases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the WHO European region and no member state is on track to reach the target of halting the rise in obesity by 2025,” the report said. Among the countries it counts in its Europe region, WHO said the highest rates of obesity were seen in Turkey, Malta, Israel and Britain. (5/3)

India registered about 475,000 more total deaths in 2020 than the previous year, government data released months ahead of schedule on Tuesday showed, as the World Health Organization readies its estimates of excess COVID-19 deaths whose methodology New Delhi has opposed. Some experts estimate India's actual COVID death toll is as high as 4 million, about eight times the official figure, especially as a record wave driven by the Delta variant killed many people in April and May of last year. The WHO's estimate will be published on Thursday. (Das, 5/4)

Beijing on Wednesday closed around 10% of the stations in its vast subway system as an additional measure against the spread of coronavirus. The subway authority in a brief message said only that the measure to shut 40 mostly downtown stations was being taken as part of epidemic control measures. No date for resumption of service was given. Beijing has been on high alert for the spread of COVID-19, with restaurants and bars limited to takeout only, gyms closed and classes suspended indefinitely. Major tourist sites in the city, including the Forbidden City and the Beijing Zoo, have closed their indoor exhibition halls and are operating at only partial capacity. (5/3)

China’s capital is deploying an increasingly hardcore playbook to contain its nascent Covid-19 outbreak, from repeat testing of most residents to barring access to public places without a negative result as it seeks to avoid the chaos seen in Shanghai. Beijing halted dining-in at restaurants for the duration of the May Day holiday, which runs through Wednesday, made entry into places like parks and monuments dependent on a negative Covid test and has shuttered gyms. Officials on Tuesday urged residents not to leave the city unnecessarily, with only people with green health codes and who have received a negative Covid test within 48 hours able to leave. (5/3)

Vietnam on Tuesday reported its first day without an official death from Covid-19 since Aug. 21 as recorded daily infections have dropped significantly in recent weeks, the health ministry’s publication Suc Khoe Doi Song said on Wednesday. Vietnam’s seven-day local infection average dropped to 5,121 a day on Tuesday, down from a seven-day average of 75,319 reported on April 3, according to the health ministry. The nation’s seven-day average of deaths dropped to two a day from 42 a day a month earlier. (Ngoc Chau, 5/4)

European Union patients will be allowed to move their health-care data across the bloc, part of a wide-ranging proposal unveiled by the European Commission. The EU’s European Health Data Space aims to get citizens access to their e-prescriptions and health records online, according to an announcement from the European Commission on Tuesday. This system, to start by 2025, will be connected with all 27 EU member states, meaning people can travel around the EU and still access their health information. (Deutsch and Pronina, 5/3)