Some community-based mental health services can outperform traditional services – and are cheaper, and often more rights-based – according to a new guidance released this week by the World Health Organization (WHO). The guidance provides two-dozen peer-reviewed examples of outstanding community-based mental health projects – including the Friendship Bench in Zimbabwe, Atmiyata in India, and […] Continue reading ->
Providing community-based mental health care that is respectful of human rights and recovery-focused has proven successful and cost-effective, according to a new report released by the World Health Organization.  WHO’s new “Guidance on community mental health service: promoting person-centered and rights-based approaches”, released today, includes examples from countries including Brazil, India, Kenya, Myanmar, New Zealand, […] Continue reading ->
A new study published by the journal Lancet Psychiatry estimates that one in three COVID-19 survivors received a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis within six months of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.  The study, conducted with researchers from both the United States and United Kingdom, analyzed the electronic health records of 236,379 COVID-19 patients primarily from […] Continue reading ->
Almost one in three women experience physical and/or sexual violence across the course of their lifetimes. And over the past 12 months, more than one in ten women suffered from physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, according to a new WHO-led report on gender-based violence, published just a day after International Women’s Day. Gender-based violence […] Continue reading ->
Some 50% of countries surveyed by WHO have had cancer services partially or completely disruptive because of the pandemic, according to new WHO data released just ahead of World Cancer Day on Thursday. There have also been significant reductions in cancer-related research and clinical trials, said Andre Ilbawi, speaking at a press briefing in Geneva […] Continue reading ->
The world is “on the brink of a catastrophe and moral failure – and the price of this failure will be paid with the lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries,” declared WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in his harshest rebuke to date of both countries and the pharma industry for failing […] Continue reading ->
Two new studies published this week highlight the challenges to health policy posed by COVID-19 – with seriously ill COVID-19 patients continuing to suffer with “Long COVID”  months after being released from the hospital – while completely asymptomatic cases drive more than half of overall disease transmission.   More than three quarters of patients diagnosed with […] Continue reading ->
Despite the “enormous” contributions that migrants have made to society, they still face discrimination, social exclusion, and struggle to access health services even years after migrating, especially during the current pandemic, the first survey ever of migrant health during COVID-19 has found. The report, which was led by Ghent University and the University of Copenhagen […] Continue reading ->
Indian lockdowns, telehealth in California, a “sin tax” on alcohol and cigarettes in the Philippines – three public health advocates reflect on how these and other events have shaped the narrative around non-communicable diseases (NCDs).  The three included Apoorva Gomber, a medical doctor; Gina Agiostratidou, a philanthropic donor; and civil society leader Katie Dain, found […] Continue reading ->