The Caribbean Looks to Research for Answers to COVID-19, NCD’s and Climate Change Challenges

In 1956, the Caribbean held its first major scientific meeting, organised by the Standing Advisory Committee for Medical Research in the British Caribbean. At the time, the Mayaro Virus, a dengue-like viral disease often called ‘jungle flu’ had just been identified as a new human disease agent by W.G Downs and G.H Wattley in Trinidad.

Women’s Health Policies Should Focus on NCDs

Science and medicine were not subjects of dinnertime conversations in the Norton household in Christchurch, New Zealand, but Professor Robyn Norton grew up observing her parents’ commitment to equity and social justice in improving people’s lives. It left an indelible impression on her young mind.

Opinion: Tobacco Taxes Too Effective to Overlook in Financing for Development

Governments are in the midst of tough talks in New York over the text of the Addis Ababa Accord, which is scheduled to be adopted at the end of the Third Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) , to be held in Ethiopia in July.

Opinion: Healthy Diets for Healthy Lives

In the last half-century, people’s lifestyles have changed dramatically. Life expectancy has risen almost everywhere, but this has been accompanied by an increase of so-called non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, and diabetes – causing more and more deaths in all corners of the world.

Curbing Tobacco Use – One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The numbers are in, and there’s not much to celebrate: every year, about six million people die as a result of tobacco use, including 600,000 who succumb to the effects of second-hand smoke.

Diabetes Epidemic Threatens Development Gains in Pacific Islands

The rapid rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Pacific Islands, which now cause 75 percent of all deaths, is one of the greatest impediments to post-2015 development, health ministers in the region claim.

When Ignorance Is Deadly: Pacific Women Dying From Lack of Breast Cancer Awareness

Women now face a better chance of surviving breast cancer in the Solomon Islands, a developing island state in the southwest Pacific Ocean, following the recent acquisition of the country’s first mammogram machine.

OPINION: Fighting Killer Diseases Is Essential in the Post-2015 Agenda

Undeniably, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) helped lift specific health concerns onto the global agenda.

‘Tsunami’ of Diseases Waiting to Hit

A tsunami is looming on the horizon and the world is unprepared for it. This one won’t be a massive wall of water but a tidal wave of disease – and experts say the international community needs to act fast to keep it from crashing.