4 November 2026
The 76th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe closed on 4 November 2026 after three days of meetings. The member states unanimously adopted a regional strategy on healthy ageing called Ageing is Living. They also approved a roadmap on the use of artificial intelligence in health, which sets out how countries in the region should bring AI tools into health systems. The WHO European Region is one of the organisation's six regions and covers 53 countries. A Regional Committee is the governing meeting of a WHO region, where health ministers and their delegations adopt strategies and elect members to the region's governing bodies. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, gave his final address to the committee at this session.
Session:
76th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe
Strategy adopted:
Ageing is Living
Countries in the region:
53
Why it matters for exams: The regional strategy on healthy ageing is named Ageing is Living, and the WHO European Region covers 53 countries out of the organisation's six regions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
WHO World Health Organization — The United Nations agency for international public health, with six regional offices.
4 November 2026
At the close of its 76th session on 4 November 2026, the WHO Regional Committee for Europe cleared two complementary strategies. One covers noncommunicable diseases and well-being for the period 2028 to 2037, and the other covers mental health and well-being. The committee also elected Estonia, Finland, the Republic of Moldova and Poland to the Standing Committee, the small group of member states that guides the region's work between annual sessions. Portugal was elected to the Joint Coordinating Board of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases. Dr Corinne Capuano, the Officer-in-Charge of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, opened the session on the Regional Director's report. The 77th session is set for 26 to 28 October 2027.
NCD strategy period:
2028 to 2037
Elected to the Standing Committee:
Estonia, Finland, Republic of Moldova, Poland
Next session:
26 to 28 October 2027
Why it matters for exams: The Standing Committee of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe took in Estonia, Finland, the Republic of Moldova and Poland, and the regional NCD strategy runs from 2028 to 2037.
UPSC
In plain words
NCD Noncommunicable disease — A long-running illness such as diabetes, cancer or heart disease that does not spread from person to person.
5 November 2026
The Bank of England has put its main interest rate up. At the meeting that ended on 4 November 2026, the Monetary Policy Committee chose by a majority of 8 to 1 to add 0.25 percentage points to Bank Rate, taking it to 4%. The single member in the minority wanted a larger step of 0.5 percentage points, which would have made the rate 4.25%. Bank Rate is the rate the Bank of England pays on reserves held with it by commercial banks, and it steers the rates those banks offer savers and borrowers. The Committee pointed to global energy prices climbing further and to UK consumer price inflation reaching 3.5% in September, which it expects to touch about 5% by the middle of next year. The Bank is required to bring consumer price inflation back to its 2% target over the medium term. The Committee said policy is not fixed in advance and that it will weigh fresh evidence at every meeting. Its next decision on Bank Rate is listed for 17 December 2026.
New Bank Rate:
4%
Size of the rise:
0.25 percentage points
Vote:
8-1 majority of the Monetary Policy Committee
UK CPI inflation in September:
3.5%
Inflation target:
2%
Next decision:
17 December 2026
Why it matters for exams: Bank Rate, the policy rate of the Bank of England, is now 4%, set by its Monetary Policy Committee against a 2% consumer price inflation target.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
MPC Monetary Policy Committee — The committee of the Bank of England that decides Bank Rate.
Bank Rate the official interest rate of the Bank of England — The rate paid on reserves that commercial banks hold at the Bank of England.
CPI Consumer Prices Index — The price index used for the United Kingdom's inflation target.
4 November 2026
Norway's central bank has left its main interest rate where it was. Norges Bank announced that its Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee decided at the meeting on 4 November to hold the policy rate at 4.5%. The rate had been lifted to that level at the September meeting. The Governor of Norges Bank, Ida Wolden Bache, said inflation is too high and that the rate will probably have to stay elevated for a time, adding that the bank is prepared to raise it if that is needed to bring inflation down to target. Twelve-month consumer price inflation in Norway was 3.4% in September. A narrower measure that leaves out energy products and adjusts for tax changes, called CPI-ATE, was 3.0%. The committee judged that a restrictive monetary policy is still required, while saying it does not want to hold back the economy more than necessary.
Policy rate:
4.5%, unchanged
Deciding body:
Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee
Governor:
Ida Wolden Bache
CPI inflation in September:
3.4%
CPI-ATE:
3.0%
Why it matters for exams: Norway's central bank is Norges Bank, its Governor is Ida Wolden Bache, and its policy rate stands at 4.5%.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Norges Bank the central bank of Norway — It sets Norway's policy rate and is headed by a Governor.
CPI-ATE consumer price index adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy products — Norway's measure of underlying inflation.
4 November 2026
Sweden's central bank has raised the cost of borrowing. The Executive Board of Sveriges Riksbank decided to lift the policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 2 per cent, and said a further rise in the coming year is likely if the outlook holds. The Riksbank linked its move to stronger economic activity at home and to cost increases caused by supply disruptions, which together are expected to push inflation up. CPIF inflation in Sweden was 1.5 per cent in September; stripping out temporary fiscal measures it was 3 per cent, and the measure that also leaves out energy prices was 1.6 per cent. The bank expects both CPIF inflation and underlying inflation to climb above 2 per cent next year, which is the level the Riksbank targets. The new rate applies from 11 November 2026, and the minutes of the Executive Board's meeting are to be published on 10 November 2026.
New policy rate:
2 per cent
Size of the rise:
0.25 percentage points
Deciding body:
Executive Board of Sveriges Riksbank
CPIF inflation in September:
1.5 per cent
Rate applies from:
11 November 2026
Why it matters for exams: Sweden's central bank is Sveriges Riksbank, its decisions are taken by an Executive Board, its policy rate is now 2 per cent and its inflation target is 2 per cent measured by CPIF.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Sveriges Riksbank the central bank of Sweden — Its policy rate decisions are taken by an Executive Board.
CPIF consumer price index with a fixed interest rate — The price measure used for Sweden's inflation target.
5 November 2026
The World Health Organization says two further vaccine candidates will be added to Tumaini, the multi-vaccine study running against Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
One is ChAdOx1, built by the University of Oxford together with the Serum Institute of India; the other is Moderna's mRNA-1469.
WHO's independent Technical Advisory Group on Candidate Vaccines Prioritization picked out both for further clinical evaluation, and each will join once the country's own regulators clear it.
Tumaini, a Swahili word for hope, began on 23 October at Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri in the east.
It puts several candidates through one study and relies on ring vaccination, in which the people around a confirmed case are immunised.
Four such rings have been set up.
The epidemic behind it is of the Bundibugyo species and is the country's largest, standing at more than 10,500 confirmed cases and 5,126 deaths on 1 November.
New candidates:
ChAdOx1 and mRNA-1469
Trial site:
Bunia, Ituri province
Confirmed cases:
More than 10,500
Deaths:
5,126
Why it matters for exams: ChAdOx1 comes from the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and the Tumaini trial uses ring vaccination against the Bundibugyo species of Ebola.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Ring vaccination Vaccinating the contacts of a confirmed case — A method that vaccinates the people around a patient to stop the chain of spread.
Ervebo Licensed vaccine against Zaire ebolavirus — The approved Ebola vaccine that targets the Zaire species, now being tested against Bundibugyo.
5 November 2026
A new policy brief from the International Labour Organization asks what the Middle East crisis and the search for energy security mean for work across Asia and the Pacific.
It was prepared by the ILO's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, based in Bangkok.
Interrupted energy supplies, it argues, have shown how heavily the region leans on fuel it must buy from abroad, which is one more reason to broaden the energy mix.
Moving faster on renewables, storage and electrification would open work for engineers, electricians, builders, installers, technicians and maintenance staff.
Its caution is that these openings need not go to the workers, industries or places that lose out, in a region where close to two-thirds of all employment is informal.
Tuomo Poutiainen, the ILO's Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, notes that the new work may sit elsewhere and call for other skills.
Governments are urged to put retraining alongside employment services and to widen social protection.
Informal employment in the region:
Nearly two-thirds
Issuing office:
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok
Why it matters for exams: ILO stands for the International Labour Organization, and its Asia-Pacific regional office is at Bangkok; the brief notes nearly two-thirds of regional employment is informal.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ILO International Labour Organization — The United Nations agency for labour standards, with governments, employers and workers in its governing structure.
Just transition A fair shift away from fossil fuels — Moving to clean energy in a way that protects the workers and communities who lose out.
Background
Behind every change in Bank Rate stands one committee. The Bank of England explains that its Monetary Policy Committee has nine members. Five of them hold posts inside the bank: the Governor, three Deputy Governors, for Monetary Policy, for Financial Stability and for Markets and Banking, and the bank's Chief Economist. The other four are external members appointed directly by the Chancellor, so that the committee gets thinking from outside the bank. Members serve fixed terms and may then be replaced or reappointed; they are independent and do not represent any group or region. A representative of HM Treasury also sits with the committee at its meetings and may discuss policy, but is not allowed to vote. Andrew Bailey is the Governor of the Bank of England and Huw Pill is its Chief Economist. The committee's economic analysis and inflation projections are set out in the Monetary Policy Report, which the bank brings out every quarter.
Members:
9
External members:
4, appointed by the Chancellor
Deputy Governors on the committee:
3
Governor:
Andrew Bailey
Chief Economist:
Huw Pill
Why it matters for exams: The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England has nine members, four of them external members appointed by the Chancellor, and the Governor is Andrew Bailey.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
MPC Monetary Policy Committee — The nine-member committee of the Bank of England that decides Bank Rate.
HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury — The United Kingdom's finance ministry, headed by the Chancellor.
Background
The World Health Organization works through six regions, and the European Region is the one that has just adopted its healthy ageing strategy. That region comprises 53 countries, which stretch from Portugal in the west to Central Asia in the east, so it is far wider than the European Union. Its Regional Director is Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge. The region's governance has two parts. The Regional Committee is the annual meeting of all 53 member states, where strategies are adopted and members are elected to other bodies. Between those annual sessions, a smaller Standing Committee of member states guides the region's work and prepares the agenda. The Regional Committee also nominates countries for seats on the WHO Executive Board, which are then confirmed at the World Health Assembly.
Countries in the region:
53
Regional Director:
Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge
WHO regions:
Six
Why it matters for exams: The WHO European Region has 53 countries and its Regional Director is Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, with a Regional Committee and a Standing Committee as its governing bodies.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
WHO Executive Board Governing board of the World Health Organization — The board that gives effect to the decisions of the World Health Assembly.