Between January 1 and today—World No Tobacco Day—tobacco use will have killed nearly 3 million people across the globe. About another 4 million will die before the year’s end. Approximately 1.1 billion people around the world smoke, and 80% of them live in low- and middle-…
Afloat on the Amazon River drifts the impoverished slum of Claverito, made up of 50 homes filled with over 280 migrants. Neglected by the Peruvian government, Claverito residents start their daily challenges with a water source polluted with sewage and garbage—the same…
GENEVA – Kwanele Asante speaks her mind. And what’s on her mind at this year’s World Health Assembly is real action on noncommunicable diseases.
GENEVA – BA and AA. A bright line clearly divided 2 sections at a World Health Assembly side event on universal health coverage Thursday at the Swiss Press Club. It demarcated “Before Azar” and “After Azar.” US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar brought a…
GENEVA – The World Health Assembly can be crowded, exhausting and chaotic yet Loyce Pace keeps coming back. This is her 11th WHA. The reason? For all its flaws, it’s still the people getting together and trying to solve health problems, she says.
GENEVA – What if you there were a single number assigned to each country that would provide a snapshot of its readiness for disease outbreaks? You would have a quick take on where countries stand—and ideally where they need to improve. And if that number were updated every…
GENEVA – Is there anything less appetizing than “industrial trans fats”? Likely not, but partially hydrogenated oils have been in the food supply since the early 20th century. Manufacturers use them because they extend shelf life and improve the texture of foods. The…
GENEVA – Rwandan Sen. Richard Sezibera spelled out the challenge this way: Ebola in 2014. Zika in 2016. Plague in 2017. Ebola again in 2018. “Microbes have always been on the warpath, and they are reminding us they remain on the warpath,” Sen. Sezibera said at a World…
GENEVA – The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to worsen with an updated total of 58 cases and 27 deaths, according to new data announced this morning at the World Health Assembly.
GENEVA – Noncommunicable diseases are having a bit of a moment. They are sprinkled throughout this year’s World Health Assembly agenda and highlighted in numerous side events. And, of course, NCDs will be spotlighted this fall at a UN high-level meeting that aims to…
