euractiv.com (19.04.2019) MEPs approved the creation of a European Labour Authority, as well as several positions that favour the rights of European workers and combat social dumping. But major changes still need to be made.

CNBC (28.05.2019) For the first time, the WHO has officially classified workplace burnout as an occupational phenomenon in its latest revision of the International Classification of Diseases. The agency previously defined burnout as a “state of vital exhaustion,” but this is the first time it’s being directly linked in its classification of diseases as a work hazard.

Philstar.com (22.05.2019) President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure that institutionalizes a cash transfer program that aims to address poverty and to improve the health and education of poor children. 

lenews (27.05.2019) Recently, Switzerland’s Federal Council voiced its opposition to an initiative to create universal paid leave for the fathers of newborns, according to the newspaper Le Matin.

jordantimes (29.05.2019) "opportunities, dignity and empowerment”, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz on Wednesday launched the Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Strategy for 2019-2025 that aims at supporting the country’s underprivileged population. In addition to supporting impoverished Jordanians, the strategy seeks to protect other social classes from sliding into poverty, according to government officials.

Europa (24.05.2019) A new Synthesis Report produced by the European Social Policy Network (ESPN) puts forward several recommendations and calls for more effective policy action at European and national levels to tackle in-work poverty.

Le Temps (29.05.2019) La multinationale californienne du transport met en place un système d'assurance accident pour ses chauffeurs et coursiers suisses, mais craint d'être reconnue comme leur employeur. Interview de son directeur pour la Suisse, Steve Salom

 China.org.cn (23.05.2019) The German Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Hubertus Heil, presented his reform to supplement the German basic pension on Wednesday. According to the draft law, a pension supplement is planned from 2021 onwards for long-term, low-income earners in Germany and will be financed primarily from tax revenues.

InCyprus (27.05.2019) In view of a recent spike in work related accidents the Technical Chamber (Etek) has expressed concern at the lack of a ‘safety culture’ on the island.  The Technical Chamber has placed health and safety high up on its list of priorities and intensified its efforts in this direction. As part of its participation in the Pancyprian Health and Safety Council, it recently submitted specific proposals to reduce the number of labour accidents and work related illnesses

dasinvestment (14.05.2019) Am 1. Januar 2019 löste die Pflegeversicherung die Arbeitslosenversicherung als drittgrößte Sozialversicherung ab. Die Beiträge dürften weiter steigen, ebenso der Bedarf an Zusatzvorsorge, meint Rolf Tilmes, Vorstandschef des Financial Plannung Standards Board Deutschland (FPSB).

Le Monde (23.05.2019) Tout touriste ayant visité les temples d’Angkor connaît le personnage : le chauffeur de tuk-tuk, triporteur motorisé faisant fonction de taxi, est partie intégrante de la carte postale cambodgienne. Ce que les visiteurs étrangers savent moins, c’est à quel point ce métier peut être éloigné des normes internationales du « travail décent ».

abc.net. (20,05.2019) Australians born after 1946 began to retire in huge numbers in 2011. Demand for the aged pension, aged care and health services have been rising commensurately. The working age population is a net contributor to the federal budget. Older people, on the other hand, are the largest recipients of welfare, aged care and health care services.

The BMJ (24.05.2019 Universal health coverage (UHC) has been identified as a priority for international development by the G20, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations General Assembly. Since it was explicitly incorporated into the sustainable development goals (SDGs) as target 3.8, much effort has been expended on promoting UHC. Here we focus on four areas that, on current trajectories, are unlikely to achieve sufficient progress to meet the target.

dawn/news (23.05.2019) Social protection has to move away from schemes for formal workers towards accommodating more dynamic work patterns.

oecd-forum.org (20.05.2019) New technologies give many hope for the prevention and better treatment of diseases that may currently be difficult to diagnose and treat. There are great expectations for how the combination of improved data collection through wearables, mobile apps, AI and big data and new diagnostics and treatments including precision medicine could lead to better treatments and higher quality of life.

Efederation-auto-entrepreneur (20.05.2019) Examinée par les députés depuis le début de la semaine, la loi d’orientation des mobilités entre dans la dernière ligne droite. En tant qu’acteurs désormais majeurs de la mobilité, les plateformes figurent au cœur du projet : l’article 20 – introduit dans le projet de loi initial – se saisit du sujet crucial de la responsabilité sociale des plateformes, y compris celles opérant hors du secteur des transports.

digitaljournal.com (23.05.2019) OECD, plus partner countries, has formally adopted a new set of OECD 'Principles on Artificial Intelligence'. This took place at the Organisation’s 2019 Ministerial Council Meeting on May 22 in Paris.

WHO (March 2019) The purpose for a Global Strategy on Digital Health is to promote healthy lives and wellbeing for everyone, everywhere, at all ages. The potential of Digital Health to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to support health systems in all countries, in health promotion and disease prevention has been widely recognized1. To deliver its potential, national or regional Digital Health initiatives must be guided by a robust Strategy that integrates financial, organizational, human and technological resources2.
In May 2018, the Seventy-First World Health Assembly (WHA) passed Resolution WHA71.7 on Digital Health. Amongst other topics, the Resolution requested the Director-General “to develop in close consultation with Member States and with inputs from stakeholders, a global strategy on digital health, identifying priority areas including where the World Health Organization (WHO) should focus its efforts”. In addition, it urged Member States:
“…[T]o assess their use of digital technologies for health, including in health information systems at the national and subnational levels, in order to identify areas of improvement, and to prioritize, as appropriate, the development, evaluation, implementation, scale-up and greater utilization of digital technologies, as a means of promoting equitable, affordable and universal access to health for all, including the special needs of groups that are vulnerable in the context of digital health”.
The field of digital health is dynamic and progressing rapidly. eHealth, medical informatics, health informatics, telemedicine, telehealth and mHealth are some of the terms that have been used over the last five decades, depending on the available technologies and accessibility of the baseline infrastructure. These terms have been used to describe the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to areas of health, health care and wellbeing. More recently, the term digital health has been selected to embody integration of concepts yet be flexible enough to foster diversity of purposes, technologies and other specificities.
Moving from eHealth to Digital Health puts

weforum (21.05.2019) This week, the World Health Assembly (WHA) is convening in Geneva to address the implementation of the health-related goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a particular focus on how to make universal health coverage (UHC) a reality.

lexology. (06.05.2019) Ever since the Law on Social Insurance[1] was issued in late 2014, employees and employers have been on notice that “expat employees working in Vietnam” will be required to participate in the State’s compulsory social insurance (SI) regime “from 2018”. 2018 came however with no further clarity around the details.

 Bloomberg (17.05.2019) Japan’s ballooning debt fueled by social security obligations. Government seeks to persuade more elderly to stay in work

Business Standard News (10.04.2019) Some economists expect the average pension-to-wage ratio to keep deteriorating and worries are growing that Japan's 'pay-as-you-go' pension scheme may be unsustainable

Le Temps (21.05.2019) Au lendemain du oui au financement de 2 milliards pour l’AVS, les Jeunes PLR défendent la retraite à 66 ans, voire davantage. Cela leur vaut les foudres des jeunes du centre et de gauche

 Personnel Today (20.05.2019) Denmark has some of the most generous parental leave and childcare support schemes in the world. But have these had an impact on closing its gender pay gap? Jason Downes looks at what the UK can learn from its policies.

climatecentre (01.05.2019) The IFRC together with the United Nations children’s agency Unicef and the UK Department for International Development last month jointly hosted its first workshop on links between humanitarian cash-transfers and social protection.