The Chinese government will continue to support the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) and try to make active contributions to the health cause of mankind, a senior Chinese diplomat said in Geneva on Monday.

The United Nations has given a mixed review of global efforts to lift millions of people out of extreme poverty. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva where the report has been issued.

Rapid economic growth has spurred progress in the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger in Asia, where the proportion of people living on a dollar a day has been cut by half, but inequality is also growing in parts of the region, says a United Nations report released today in Bangkok.

In April 2007, the General Assembly of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations convened to discuss progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Patrick Webb, PhD, dean for academic affairs at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, presented on the status of the Millennium Development Goal One (MDG1): radically reducing extreme poverty and hunger.

Tackling global poverty requires a concerted effort by governments of developed and developing countries supported by the private sector, civic groups, the media and other players on the international scene, United Nations General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa has told a gathering on financing for development in Doha.