Although COVID-19 no longer causing the widespread disruption seen during the global health emergency, the virus continues to hospitalize and kill people across Europe and neighboring regions.

Studies carried out by the WHO The European Regional Office confirms that people who receive timely booster doses are much less likely to develop severe illness, require intensive care or die.

THE results are based on data from the European network EuroSAVE (European Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Vaccine Effectiveness), which monitors respiratory infections in hospitals in parts of Europe, the Balkans, the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

Important results

“Studies highlight that while COVID-19 does not cause the widespread illness we have seen during the pandemic, it has nonetheless caused considerable numbers of hospitalizations and deaths. » said Mark Katz, medical epidemiologist at the WHO regional office.

Between May 2023 and April 2024, nearly 4,000 patients were hospitalized for acute respiratory infections in the countries covered by the network.

Nearly 10 percent of these cases were caused by COVID-19, although the pandemic was declared over. Among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, only 3% had received a dose of vaccine in the previous 12 months.

The consequences have often been serious: 13 percent of COVID-19 patients required admission to intensive care units and 11 percent died.

Comparative research also showed that patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were more likely than those with the flu to need oxygen, intensive care or succumb to the illness.

Vaccines provide strong protection

On the other hand, vaccination offers strong protection.

A EuroSAVE study found that an up-to-date COVID-19 vaccine received within the last six months was 72% effective at preventing hospitalization and 67% effective at preventing the most serious outcomes, including intensive care admission and death.

A separate multi-country analysis found that vaccines reduced COVID-related hospitalizations by about 60 percent.

Although funding cuts, conflict and climate shocks have strained health systems around the world – disrupting essential services in many countries – governments and partners have nevertheless made notable progress in disease control, prevention and preparedness.

The United Nations health agency said the mixed picture of progress and pressure in Looking ahead to 2025 highlights both what is possible through evidence-based cooperation and what is at risk if momentum and funding are not sustained..

Victories for disease control

Several countries have reached historic milestones in eliminating infectious diseases.

The Maldives became the first country to achieve “triple elimination” of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis Bwhile Brazil has eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV, making it the most populous country in the Americas to achieve this goal.

Progress has also been made in the fight against neglected tropical diseases. Burundi, Egypt and Fiji have eliminated trachoma; Guinea and Kenya have eliminated sleeping sickness; and Niger became the first African country to eliminate river blindness. Since 2010, the number of people requiring treatment for a neglected tropical disease has fallen by almost a third.

Deaths from tuberculosis (TB) continued to declineparticularly in Africa and Europe, which have seen reductions of more than 45 percent over the past decade. Yet the disease has claimed the lives of an estimated 1.2 million people in 2024, underscoring continued risks from HIV, undernutrition and other factors.

The fight against malaria has also made progress. Georgia, Suriname and Timor-Leste were certified malaria-free, while seven other African countries introduced malaria vaccines in 2025. Combined with newer tools, including improved bed nets, these efforts prevented an estimated 170 million cases and one million deaths in 2024.

© UNICEF/Rabik Upadhayay

A doctor examines a newborn baby at a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Global health cooperation

Beyond disease-specific progress, 2025 also marked significant advances in global health cooperation.

Countries have adopted the the first global agreement on the pandemic and strengthened the International Health Regulations (IHR), laying the foundation for a faster and more equitable response to future health emergencies.

World leaders approved a historic political declaration on noncommunicable diseases and mental health. New evidence-based guidance has also been published covering areas from maternal care and meningitis to diabetes in pregnancy and anti-cancer drugs suitable for children.

Healthier lives, uneven progress

WHOThe World Health Statistics 2025 report revealed that 1.4 billion more people live healthier livesthrough reduced tobacco consumption, cleaner air and improved water and sanitation.

Vaccination has remained at the heart of this progress. Global vaccination efforts have reduced measles deaths by 88 percent since 2000, saving nearly 59 million lives. By 2025, several countries have expanded vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), bringing the world closer to eliminating cervical cancer.

Yet challenges persist. Twenty million children have not received essential vaccines due to conflicts, supply disruptions and misinformation. Maternal and child deaths are also not decreasing fast enough to achieve the global goals, highlighting the need for greater investment in primary health care and safe childbirth programs.

© UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih

Children and adults suffering from cholera are treated in an isolation center at a hospital in Khartoum, Sudan.

Financial pressures, response to the crisis

Funding cuts in 2025 disrupted services including maternal care, immunization, HIV prevention and disease surveillance, with the WHO warning that reduced funding could reverse hard-won progress.

Despite these pressures, WHO has supported rapid responses to health emergencies and crises in 79 countries and territories, including Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, providing emergency medical aid and helping to contain outbreaks.

He delivered medicines, helped keep hospitals open, participated in vaccination campaigns and ensured people could still access regular health services – “because babies still need to be born, heart attacks still need to be prevented, and diabetes still needs to be treated, even in an emergency.”

Looking to the future

Looking ahead to 2026, WHO sees the adoption of the first pandemic agreement and the strengthening of the International Health Regulations as signs of a renewed global commitment to preparedness.

He emphasizes that it remains guided by the principle stated at its creation in 1948: according to which the best state of health that it is capable of achieving must be a right for everyone and not a privilege for a few.

“Together,” WHO stress“through science, solutions and solidarity, we can build a healthier, safer and more promising future for all.»

© UNICEF/Bashir Ahmed Sujan

A baby is held by his mother and entertained by his grandfather at a community clinic in northern Bangladesh.

According to has MINUSCA, preliminary reports from observers indicate that more than 99 percent of polling stations across the country opened as scheduled on Election Day.

The transfer of envelopes containing the results from 19 prefectural capitals to the national capital, Bangui, is now underway, with the logistical and security support of the mission.

The vote of December 28 marked a unprecedented moment in the political history of the countrybringing together four ballots in a single electoral exercise. Municipal elections, in particular, have not taken place in the Central African Republic (CAR) since 1988 and are a key provision of the 2019 Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation.

Vast, sparsely populated and landlocked, the CAR is crisscrossed by dense forests, rivers and long, often impassable roads. Outside of Bangui, many communities are only accessible by plane or multi-day trips.

Ballots are counted under flashlights after elections in the Central African Republic.

Massive UN support for a complex operation

MINUSCA said it worked closely with national authorities and United Nations agencies to support the electoral process.delivering all voting materials on time despite difficult terrain and security constraints.

In total, the mission carried out 84 flights and eight road convoys to transport more than 230 tonnes of electoral materials, including ballots, indelible ink, voter cards, voting booths and ballot boxes.

Election materials were delivered to 6,679 of the country’s 6,700 polling stations, allowing them to operate normally in 20 prefectures.

Technically and operationally, some 34,500 people – including election officials, supervisors and polling station staff – were trained with UN support.

Security measures

Poll security was strengthened thanks to the deployment of additional national troops and police, logistically supported by MINUSCA, alongside patrols reinforced by UN peacekeepers and police personnel.

The mission also provided the Central African armed forces and internal security personnel with vehicles and motorcycles to reach remote and isolated areas.

Speaking at a press conference On Wednesday in Bangui, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the CAR, Valentine Rugwabiza, said the mission had successfully fulfilled its mandate despite a difficult environment.

UN peacekeepers patrol a voting center in the capital Bangui during the elections.

Incident in Haut-Mbomou

Ms. Rugwabiza strongly condemned an attack in Bambouti, in the southeastern Haut-Mbomou prefecture, near the border with South Sudan, which prevented voting there due to insecurity.

The attack, carried out by the armed group Azandé Ani Kpi Gbe (AAKG), was also accompanied by hostage-taking, including the sub-prefect.

She said MINUSCA had been working tirelessly since Sunday to facilitate the release of those taken hostage.

Results expected next week

The National Elections Authority (NEA) is expected to announce the preliminary results of the presidential election on January 5, 2026..

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), since December 26, nationwide attacks have also caused significant damage to civilian infrastructure, leaving parts of the country without power, heat and water as temperatures fall below freezing.

Nationwide, authorities reported nearly 100 civilian casualties during that period.

The most serious consequences were reported in the city of kyiv, where a large-scale attack on December 27 killed and injured several people. Energy facilities, residential buildings, a kindergarten, a university dormitory, civilian vehicles, shops and other civilian premises were damaged.

No heating in winter

OCHA cited an energy company reporting that more than a million homes in and around Kyiv lost electricity as a result of the strikes. Water supplies were disrupted and around a third of the capital’s population was left without heat at the height of winter.

The same wave of attacks affected the Chernihiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy and Odessa regions, causing new victims and damaging homes, educational institutions and infrastructure.

Electricity has since been restored to almost 750,000 homes in Kyiv and almost 350,000 homes in the surrounding Kyivska region. However, heating and electricity remain disrupted by emergency and planned power cuts.

Humanitarian partners have set up warming tents where residents can seek shelter, receive food, charge their mobile phones and access basic assistance.

Essential services under threat

The strikes come against a backdrop of continued pressure on essential services. Ukraine was behind about 42% of all attacks on healthcare recorded worldwide in 2025, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Of more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare facilities worldwide this year, 561 took place in Ukraine, leaving 19 people dead and 201 injured.

Over the weekend, another health facility was damaged in a strike on the town of Izmail in the Odessa region, highlighting continued risks to civilians and medical services as winter conditions intensify.

In a statement, UNICEF identified the latest victim as seven-year-old Ata Mai; he drowned on December 27 during “severe flooding” in an improvised camp for displaced people in Soudaniyeh, northwest of Gaza City.

He is just the latest child in Gaza to succumb to “extreme winter conditions and lack of safe shelter”, said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Teams visiting IDP camps have reported appalling conditions that no child should have to endure, with many tents destroyed by wind or completely collapsing. » he said.

Desperate search

Reports indicate that Ata was living in a camp of around 40 tents when he disappeared one afternoon. Despite search and rescue efforts supported by heavy machinery, his body was not found until hours later.

The UN agency noted that Ata’s siblings “are all under 10 years old…the family had already endured the loss of their mother during the war. UNICEF is currently supporting the family with essential assistance, including blankets, tarpaulins and psychosocial support, while assessing their broader needs.”

Besides Ata Mai, at least five other children have lost their lives this month “after being exposed to such harsh conditions,” Beigbeder said.

Across the Gaza Strip, shelter needs are dire, with more than 1.9 million people displaced and few shelter supplies entering the enclave. Specifically, displaced families sheltering in dilapidated tents or makeshift shelters faced prolonged rains, strong winds and freezing temperatures. Humanitarian teams have repeatedly reported the dangers facing undernourished young people and other vulnerable Gaza residents, whose tents have been repeatedly flooded.

In a update released Tuesday, the UN aid coordination office, OCHAconfirmed flash flooding caused by further rainstorms, “affecting people living in low-lying areas, coastal areas and those sheltering in substandard structures and tents.”

“Seawater has once again flooded tents sheltering displaced families, notably in the Al Mawasi neighborhood of Khan Younis, rendering many shelters uninhabitable,” the update noted.

The rains forced many families, often uprooted by the war, to settle on higher ground after their belongings were soaked.

Strong winds worsened the situation, destroying or seriously damaging many tents and makeshift shelters, OCHA said.

Shelter solutions remain elusive and since the beginning of December, 18 residential buildings “have completely collapsed, resulting in significant human and material losses,” according to the agency’s update.

More than 110 additional buildings suffered dangerous partial damage, posing an immediate threat to thousands of residents in and near them.

“This tragedy highlights the extreme vulnerability of children in the hardest-hit areas of Gaza, where the near-total destruction of homes and water and sewage infrastructure has left families exposed to the elements,” UNICEF said.

This development comes after a week of heavy rains, strong winds and freezing temperatures which affected around 100,000 families.

With further rain and colder conditions forecast, the situation is expected to get worse.

We continue to save lives

Working alongside humanitarian partners, UNICEF is providing essential support to thousands of affected families. This vital work includes:

• install temporary water pipes,
• distribute hygiene items, tarpaulins, blankets and dignity kits,
• ensure access to latrines,
• work to clean and reopen sewer lines, clean storm water inlets, and protect tents from flooding.

UNICEF warned that heavy rains are worsening the situation by increasing fuel needs for sewage pumping and stormwater drainage. Water levels in Sheikh Radwan Lagoon rose from 1.8 to 2.2 meters, requiring 7,000 liters of fuel per day to prevent overflows.

Threat of suspension of INGOs

Since January 1, 37 international humanitarian groups – international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) – are at risk of losing their licenses allowing them to operate across Gaza. They include major and key UN partners, including the Norwegian Refugee Council and others who have full responsibility for the five vital nutritional stabilization centers that treat children suffering from acute malnutrition.

“If INGOs are forced to stop their operations, one in three health facilities in Gaza will close their doors. » The UN and its partners in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) said earlier this month.

In a statement, they insisted that the new INGO registration system “fundamentally undermines the continuation of humanitarian operations throughout the OPT”.

The new system “relies on vague, arbitrary and highly politicized criteria and imposes demands that humanitarian organizations cannot meet without violating international legal obligations or compromising fundamental humanitarian principles,” the humanitarian agencies continued.

Unless Israel reconsiders its decision, dozens of INGOs face delisting by Wednesday, December 31, 2025, followed by the forced closure of their operations within 60 days.

“The work of INGOs cannot be replaced, especially after the restrictions imposed by Israel UNRWA have already pushed the humanitarian response in Gaza to a breaking point,” they said, referring to the UN agency for the Palestinians, which, despite Israeli restrictions, continues to provide essential humanitarian services to more than two million Palestinians in the OPT.