Recent polio outbreaks in Ukraine and Mali, caused by a vaccine-derived form of poliovirus, don’t mean the vaccine isn’t working. On the contrary, they are a reminder to keep up vaccination rates.
Tropical parasites have been moving up the world health agenda in recent years. They’re still a long way from the top, though.
To grow into healthy adults, children need lots of exercise. The best kind is when they are playing freely – even better when it is with their parents.
Shutterstock
Erica Penfold, South African Institute of International Affairs
Medicine shortages in southern Africa, particularly of anti-retrovirals for HIV patients, require urgent attention. A regional approach to distribution has been tried in South America and could work for the region.
The World Health Organization’s executive boardroom.
Thorkild Tylleskar via Wikimedia Commons
Jordan Jarvis, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Rob Moodie, The University of Melbourne
It is time to have an open and honest discussion about who is – and isn’t – being trained to secure the future of our world’s health at the World Health Organization headquarters.
Teens need help not only with school work, but with their emotions as well.
Girl Image via www.shutterstock.com
There is lot on the minds of teens other than school, grades and friends. Research shows being asked “prying” questions could make a real difference to their mental health.
Two women walk in front of a billboard, which says “Ebola must go. Stopping Ebola is Everybody’s Business” in Monrovia, Liberia, January 15 2015.
UNMEER/Emmanuel Tobey
Along with better strategies to respond to outbreaks in human populations, we need a stronger focus on surveillance in animals to identify infectious diseases before they pose a risk to human health.
Low back pain is one of the leading causes of disability in the world.
Kendra/Flickr
People seeing a doctor for low back pain are often told to take paracetamol. But a study published today shows the drug is ineffective for the condition and its prolonged use has harmful side effects.
Non-communicable diseases were responsible for 38 million (68%) of the world’s 56 million deaths in 2012.
Dave/Flickr
The World Health Organization (WHO) has just released its Global Status Report on Noncommunicable Diseases, the second in a series tracking worldwide progress in the prevention and control of cancers…
Despite all we know about tobacco harm, many countries still look the other way.
Ehab Edward
Tobacco policy is a global issue. Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death and disease in the world. There are well over one billion smokers in the world, smoking rates are still rising in…
Mining giant Rio Tinto, which has operated in Guinea for 50 years, has donated just US$100,000 to the UN Ebola fund.
EPA/Ahmed Jallanzo
The current outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa shows no signs of halting. More than 4,500 people have died and many thousands more are infected. Despite the creation of a new United Nations mission…
Foreign minister Julie Bishop (right) says Australians travelling to West Africa must ensure their employers can evacuate them if they become ill as the government will not.
Alan Porritt/AAP
Well over 5,300 people have been infected and over 2,600 have died in the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa. But these numbers are thought to be gross underestimates as even the most conservative projections…
Most of the world continues with a criminal justice approach to drug use despite ample evidence of its harmfulness.
Jason Verwey/Flickr
In 1967, the Beatles took out a full-page advertisement in The Times describing Britain’s marijuana laws as “immoral in principle and unworkable in practice”. Almost half a century later, both past and…
Polio is still not adequately controlled in Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan.
Wen-Yan King/Flickr
Polio (poliomyelitis) is a viral disease that can lead to incurable paralysis. The World Health Organisation is coordinating a programme to eradicate this disease from the face of the earth, and we are…
Suicidal thoughts among women were more common in developed countries but men were three times more likely to die by suicide.
`Etienne/Flickr
Reema Rattan, The Conversation; Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation, and Warren Clark, The Conversation
One person takes their own life every 40 seconds, equating to 803,900 deaths across the world every year, according to the first World Health Organization report on suicide prevention released today. “Preventing…
The World Health Organisation has been in a rush to deal with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Last week it declared it an international health emergency, and after two infected US doctors were given…
The current outbreak of Ebola is the worst in history. Almost 2,000 people have been infected and around 1,000 people have died. The outbreak seems to have originated in Guinea and has now spread to Sierra…
We’re consuming more salt than just what we add to food during cooking.
Rachel/Flickr (resized)
Most of the salt consumed in Australia is already hidden in processed foods and meals, but there are some simple steps you can take to avoid eating too much of this palatable seasoning. High salt intake…
Despite WHO warnings, C-sections are way too popular.
PhotographybyMK
Last month I attended a protest in London over an incident on the other side of the world. It concerned a woman named Adelir Carmen Lemos de Góes, who was forced to have a caesarean section in Torres…
Dental disease is a growing problem in global health.
Brain Kelley/Flickr
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been consulting on draft sugar intake guidelines that propose revising the recommended daily intake downwards to address obesity and dental disease. The body says…
Director of Koi Tū, the Centre for Informed Futures; former Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau