A report launched jointly today by Population Services International (PSI), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the World Health Organization shows that people’s knowledge of their HIV status in sub-Saharan African countries nearly doubled just four years after self-testing programmes were introduced. Separately, a group of French NGOs called on the French President to lead elimination of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by 2030. Continue reading ->
As world leaders attending this year’s Group of 20 (G20) Summit face off on thorny issues of trade, migration and climate change – health was likely to remain on the margins of the maelstrom, observers said. The two-day Summit of the 20 largest global economies opened today in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Continue reading ->
Dorli Kahr-Gottlieb writes: For more than 20 years, every October, around 500 leading health experts from governmental institutions, civil society, the academic world, and the private sector meet up at the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG). They meet to discuss Europe’s contemporary health challenges and address pressing issues around the sustainability of European health systems in a Davos like setting, in the presence of Ministers of Health and senior European Commission and WHO officials. This year’s edition of the EHFG, called simply “Gastein” by the cognoscente, is an official Austrian EU Presidency event. Over the three days, Gastein is not going to shy away from the big European political debates such as how much of a role Europe should play in shaping health policy; but also it is going to take on some of the big global health policy challenges. Continue reading ->
Thomas Cueni writes: It’s often hard to see progress when the realities surrounding you are bleak: non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the world’s biggest killer, responsible for around 70 percent of global deaths. Each year some 40 million people die of such chronic diseases as cardiovascular failure, cancer, respiratory illnesses and diabetes: the four main killers. Tragically, they take the lives of as many as 15 million people in their most productive period, between 25 and 65. Worse, many of these deaths are entirely preventable. Prevention and innovation are the two key weapons in the fight against NCDs. Continue reading ->