One Health and One Welfare for all

By Rebeca Garcia Pinillos “Health for all” has been the guiding vision of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for more than seven decades, underpinning the principle that “all people should be able to realize their right to the highest possible level of health”. This of course includes both health and welfare, terms that are intrinsically…
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Universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere…what about cancer?

The World Health Organization is supporting countries moving to universal health coverage and World Health Day, April 7th is part of a year long campaign. WE consider the costs of cancer control in universal health coverage plans, and using cervical cancer as an example the importance of prevention as a cost-effective strategy for low and middle income countries.
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Can the air we breathe be increasing our risk of diabetes?

World Health Day this year focuses on diabetes prevention and treatment with emphasis on what lifestyle changes people can make to stop themselves getting diabetes. There is some intriguing evidence that although lifestyle factors are influential we should also be considering some other environmental factors that could be influencing the risk of disease. One of…
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Dengue situation in a Southern Indian state (Andhra Pradesh) – Gaps and opportunities in Community Awareness

Dengue is the fastest growing vector-borne disease worldwide, and reported cases in the Southern Indian state Andra Pradesh have steadily risen from 313 in 2008 to 2299 in 2012. The many missed cases due to partial reporting by private hospitals and clinics in this state, increased urbanisation and lack of people participation in health issues, makes one sceptical of the true burden of this potentially deadly disease. A community physician in Hyderabad summarises knowledge and practice on community awareness of dengue in Andra Pradesh, and looks at strategies to make information & communication a priority for addressing know-do gaps.
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The 2014 World Health Day focuses on Vector-Borne diseases

For World Health Day April 7th 2014, CABI's "Handpicked" features blogs from regions where vector-borne diseases daily kill or debilitate. In “The 2014 World Health Day focuses on Vector-Borne diseases”, Joseph Ana, editor of BMJ West Africa and former Commissioner for Health, Cross River State, Nigeria, makes the case for information dissemination & regional cooperation on vector-borne diseases. Drawing on personal experience, he highlights the need to support low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) where good public health practice has significantly reduced vector borne diseases, & to actively extend their best practice to other regions lagging behind.
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