More toxic than normal air pollution, wildfire smoke can linger in the air for weeks and travel hundreds of miles.

Britain has long hired from abroad to staff its state-run National Health Service, and its vote to leave the European Union in 2016 meant the number of EU staff has dropped sharply in recent years.

The WHO and member states are trying to reform how the agency - and countries - respond to health emergencies, as well as shoring up the WHO's funding.

The annual World Health Assembly in Geneva, which coincides with the body's 75th anniversary, is set to address global health challenges including future pandemics.

The NHS Confederation says it is concerned that 'fuel poverty', in the absence of further government support, would cause more deaths associated with cold homes, which are currently estimated at around 10,000 a year.

A document provided by the agency says an external report into its response found public guidance had caused confusion, while important information was sometimes released too late to inform federal decisions.

The changes before Christmas are a stumble in the country's plans for a permanent reopening after nearly two years of stop-start lockdowns as the new variant rages through the community.

Beijing 2022 organisers have left nothing to chance with the games set in February, restricting entry to the capital and insisting on daily virus tests for thousands of athletes kept within a 'closed-loop' bubble.

Last year, New Delhi's 20 million residents breathed some of the cleanest air on record in the summer because of coronavirus lockdown curbs, but battled toxic air in winter following a sharp increase in farm residue burning in nearby states.

Concerns over privacy and data harvesting have for now been overshadowed by China's relative success in bringing the virus to heel.