Africa has the highest rate of suicide in the world, and the lowest per capita spending on mental health – with critical shortages, in particular, of community health workers and facilities that could help prevent many mental health conditions from becoming even more severe.  Two recent high-profile suicides in Tanzania have cast a stark spotlight […] Continue reading ->
New research suggests long-term exposure to wildfire smoke may significantly increase dementia risk, posing a greater threat to brain health than other forms of air pollution. The study, presented this week at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, examined a decade of electronic medical records for 1.2 million older adults in Southern California from 2009 to […] Continue reading ->
Human skin can absorb ‘forever chemicals’, University of Birmingham researchers discovered, revealing a new pathway for these toxic substances to enter the body. The finding amplifies health concerns as researchers increasingly detect per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in people worldwide. PFAS are man-made chemicals that persist in nature and human bodies for a millennium before […] Continue reading ->
The fight against malaria is facing a new and urgent challenge as climate change and extreme weather events threaten to undermine decades of progress, according to warnings from several countries at the 77th World Health Assembly this week. “Recent extreme weather events such as flooding in Malawi and other countries have intensified malaria transmission, disproportionately […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – A resolution aimed at strengthening countries’ capacity to deal with “natural hazards” faced unexpected opposition over gender-related terminology at the World Health Assembly (WHA) on Thursday. This is despite the urgency of countries adapting their health services to address extreme weather events, which are becoming more common globally thanks to climate change. The […] Continue reading ->