The obesity pandemic is in “the same room” as the COVID pandemic in terms of its threats to health – putting people at greater risk of premature death from multiple causes, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that leads to COVID-19. And ever since stay-at-home measures became routine, people have gained even more weight – up to […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the profound dangers of having social, economic and health care systems that marginalize public health. To go forward, we must start by looking back. We must build a stronger foundation with better systems that can prevent future pandemics and also weave health into all aspects of society, from our workplaces […] Continue reading ->
Third in a series – Cities are major drivers of public health and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought increasing and urgent necessity for effective, innovative leadership and collaboration within and between cities. “The COVID-19 pandemic has upended lives around the globe and nowhere has the impact of this virus been more evident than in urban areas, […] Continue reading ->
First in a Series: While COVID continues to cast a long shadow over our everyday lives, from Baku, Azerbaijan to Bogota, Columbia, there are also countless examples of how cities and communities have mobilized to respond to the social and economic fallout from the pandemic – building new forms of cooperation that also promote a […] Continue reading ->
Most shoppers spend less than 10 seconds debating a food choice in the grocery store aisle – and yet choosing processed and low nutrient foods with high levels of sugar, sodium, and fats can lead to chronic diseases, which are expensive to control and often impossible to cure. Now, national regulatory authorities and food companies […] Continue reading ->
The racing sport Formula 1 (F1) has made more than US $4.4 billion in advertising and sponsorship from tobacco companies in the past seven decades, according to a report published by F1 industry monitor Formula Money and global tobacco industry watchdog STOP. The first-ever analysis of its kind, Driving Addiction: F1 and Tobacco Advertising, was published just […] Continue reading ->
On Monday, the Geneva-based NCD Alliance launched the first-ever fund to bolster the efforts of NGOs worldwide fighting chronic diseases alongside the COVID-19 pandemic with some $US 300,000 in initial seed capital. The effort is unique in that it links major pharma interests that develop and produce drugs for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to the support […] Continue reading ->
New technical guidance for national governments was released to support the enhanced measurement of two key indicators for the COVID-19 response; the number of cases and the number of deaths, as reported on national and global dashboards. The package was launched by global health NGO Vital Strategies. Limited COVID-19 testing capacity in low- and middle-income […] Continue reading ->
CAPETOWN, South Africa – As many African countries opt for lockdowns to combat COVID-19, there is uncertainty over whether this will be enough to prevent the pandemic’s spread, or whether authorities will be able to implement this in overcrowded urban areas – as well as fears for patients with HIV, TB and other conditions that […] Continue reading ->
With some 4.2 million deaths worldwide from outdoor air pollution, and many or most cities in low- and middle-income countries failing to meet World Health Organization air quality guidelines, it’s clear that reducing air pollution’s huge death toll needs rapid action by urban centers. But officials and administrators of fast-growing municipalities often lack the right […] Continue reading ->