Longer lifespans and expanded use of information technologies are expected to be among the most disruptive forces to health in the next decade. Still, the underlying question of who pays for healthcare, and who gets access to its benefits, highlights how inequality is still at the heart of many health challenges, speakers on a panel […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization’s Director-General called on global and national leaders meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to increase their national healthcare spending by an average of 1% of National Gross Domestic Product (GDP). A 1% GDP increase in spending would inject more than US $200 billion a year into community-based primary […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization will convene an Emergency Committee meeting over the new coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, after more than 300 new cases were confirmed since 17 January, including the first cases to hit other Chinese megacities and provinces. On Tuesday, the virus crossed the Pacific, with the first case in the […] Continue reading ->
The mysterious new pneumonia coronavirus that has emerged in Wuhan, China may also be transmitted between people, health experts in China and Geneva now suspect. Officials are concerned that the outbreak may also spread globally as a new exported cases of the novel virus were confirmed in Thailand on Friday and Japan on Thursday, and […] Continue reading ->
More public disclosure and information-sharing about drug prices and their R&D costs, is key to determining a fair price for essential medicines, concludes a series of five articles on fair pricing published Monday in the BMJ. The series, supported in part by the World Health Organization, highlights the increased priority drug price transparency is receiving […] Continue reading ->
Chinese authorities have been commended for the speed at which they have identified the genetic make up of a novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV as the cause of a new pneumonia-like illness in Wuhan, China. The virus has infected 42 people, and is likely transmitted primarily through animals to humans, said a leading infectious disease specialist on […] Continue reading ->
Mental Health – Among The ‘Most Neglected’ Of Neglected Tropical Disease Issues, Says DNDi Scientist
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) can lead to physical disfiguration, stress and stigmatization, which leave lifelong impacts on the mental health of many of those infected, even after the disease itself is cured. As the health community prepares to mark the first-ever World NTD Day on 30 January, Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft, director of Neglected Tropical Diseases at […] Continue reading ->
For the first time in two decades, tobacco use is projected to decline among men in 2020, according to a new World Health Organization report on trends in global tobacco use. However, the new report does not consider trends in e-cigarette use, where use may in fact be increasing. “For many years now we had […] Continue reading ->
More than one-third of low- and middle-income countries worldwide are facing significant rates of obesity alongside continued pockets of undernutrition, according to a major new study published on Monday in The Lancet. The four-part series The Double Burden of Malnutrition, led by the World Health Organization in collaboration with a number of universities and researchers […] Continue reading ->
The number of new Ebola virus cases in the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo shot up to 27 confirmed cases in the last week, triple the number of 9 confirmed cases reported between 27 November to 3 December. The recent surge in cases comes in the wake of insecurity and a […] Continue reading ->