Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, delivers his statement during the opening of the World Health Assembly, which took place in Geneva from May 27 to June 1.
(Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
Roojin Habibi, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
The WHO’s International Health Regulations are the world’s only existing international legal agreement focused exclusively on preventing and addressing infectious disease outbreaks across borders.
A health worker takes care of patients at a hospital in Lusaka, Zambia.
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Though the Global South tends to experience higher disease burdens, most public health decisions and knowledge generation are centered in the Global North.
An increase in cases of diseases caused by group A Streptococcus has been seen in several countries including Canada.
(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID))
An increase in serious illnesses caused by group A Streptococcus has recently made Strep A a growing concern in Canada and elsewhere. Here’s why and how it’s spreading, and what symptoms to look for.
A health service on its knees.
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Hospitals have been destroyed, and doctors and health care staff killed. Gaza’s health services may take years to recover, warns a Palestinian health specialist.
One symptom of arsenic poisoning is the growth of plaques on the skin called arsenical keratosis.
Anita Ghosh/REACH via Flickr
Millions of people worldwide are exposed via soil and water to arsenic, whether naturally occurring or related to pollution. Chronic exposure is linked to the formation of cancer stem cells.
The HealthcareLCA database is an interactive tool for exploring health care’s significant environmental impact. It can inform changes in health policy and practice, and identify areas for research.
DNA editing has the capacity to treat many diseases, but how to do this safely and equitably remains unclear.
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André O. Hudson, Rochester Institute of Technology and Gary Skuse, Rochester Institute of Technology
Following the controversial births of the first gene-edited babies, a major focus of the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing was responsible use of CRISPR.
The US PEPFAR initiative has brought HIV medication to millions of people globally. Behind this progress are the activists that pressured politicians and companies to put patients over patents.
Through the choice of images in publications, women and children of colour in low and middle income countries were treated with less dignity and respect than those in high income countries.
Drug patents don’t necessarily spur companies to innovate so much as restrict access to their IP.
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The Medicines Patent Pool was created to promote public health, facilitating generic licensing for patented drugs that treat diseases predominantly affecting low- and middle-income countries.
Time is running out to expand an agreement to relax patent rules on COVID vaccines. Members of the World Trade Organization should broaden its scope to treatments and tests.
Achieving equity in global health requires addressing the root sources of inequity.
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While gender-affirming health care is essential to the well-being of trans people, access to quality services varies significantly by geographic region and social context.
We found most governments were ill-prepared, too slow to act, paid too little attention to the most vulnerable, and were hampered by low public trust and an epidemic of misinformation.
Flooding from hurricanes like Irma in Florida can overwhelm sewer systems and spread pathogens in other ways.
Brian Blanco/Getty Images
It’s not just mosquitos. Flooding, extreme heat and other climate-related hazards are bringing people into contact with pathogens more often, and affecting people’s ability to fight off disease.
The monkeypox virus, shown in this illustration, can be transmitted through close contact between people.
Thom Leach/Science Photos Library via Getty Images
By late July 2022, monkeypox was present in more than 70 countries with significant spread in certain communities. As a result, the World Health Organization began taking steps to fight the virus.
People protesting Poland’s near-total abortion ban.
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