The document "Diabetes in Children and Young People" by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) provides quality standards for the diagnosis, management, and support of diabetes in children and adolescents.
The NICE guideline "Hypertension in Adults: Diagnosis and Management" outlines recommendations for diagnosing and managing hypertension in adults over 18, including those with type 2 diabetes. It emphasizes accurate blood pressure measurement, recommending ambulatory or home monitoring to confirm di...agnosis. Cardiovascular risk and target organ damage should be assessed, considering age, lifestyle, and other conditions. Initial treatment focuses on lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise, and smoking cessation, with medication advised for stage 1 hypertension at high cardiovascular risk or stage 2 hypertension. Regular monitoring and treatment adjustments are recommended to maintain target blood pressure levels, with specific guidance for people over 80 and those with additional conditions like diabetes or kidney disease. The guideline aims to reduce risks of heart attack, stroke, and other complications, supporting evidence-based treatment decisions in clinical practice.
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The article from the African Journal of Thoracic and Critical Care Medicine provides updated guidelines on endoscopic lung volume reduction (ELVR) for treating advanced emphysema, a severe form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is prevalent in South Africa and other low- and mid...dle-income countries. The guidelines focus on identifying suitable patients based on specific criteria, such as age, lung function, and the presence of hyperinflation, while ruling out contraindications like pulmonary hypertension and recent smoking.
ELVR aims to reduce lung volume in the most damaged areas, improving breathing mechanics and quality of life. Various devices, including endobronchial valves, intrabronchial valves, and coils, are reviewed with evidence from clinical trials supporting their use. The guidelines emphasize careful patient selection and recommend only performing ELVR in specialized centers due to its high cost and risk of complications, such as pneumothorax.
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The article "Can we prevent cardiovascular diseases in low- and middle-income countries?" by Claude Lenfant discusses the growing threat of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in developing countries. It highlights that while CVD is already the leading cause of death globally, low- and middle-income coun...tries are now facing rising CVD rates due to lifestyle changes associated with urbanization and economic growth. Lenfant advocates for a dual approach: identifying and treating high-risk individuals and promoting broad, population-wide prevention efforts focused on lifestyle changes such as reducing smoking, lowering salt intake, and increasing physical activity. He emphasizes that early, affordable preventive measures are essential to mitigate the impending CVD epidemic in these countries and prevent significant healthcare and economic strain.
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Health systems in Latin America face many challenges in controlling the increasing burden of diabetes. Digital health interventions are a promise for the provision of care, especially in developing countries where mobile technology has a high penetration. This study evaluated the effectiveness of th...e implementation of a Diabetes Program (DP) that included digital health interventions to improve the quality of care of persons with type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) in a vulnerable population attending the public primary care network.
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The article "Time to Align: Development Cooperation for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases" argues for greater international cooperation and investment in addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs), especially in low- and middle-income countries. Traditionally, global health fu...nding has focused on infectious diseases, but the growing burden of NCDs—such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes—necessitates new approaches to development assistance.
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The article "The Rising Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases in the Americas and the Impact of Population Aging" examines how the aging population in the Americas is contributing to the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), despite improvements in disease prevention and health care. Usi...ng data from the World Health Organization and the United Nations, the study analyzes trends in population growth, aging, and NCD-related mortality and disability rates from 2000 to 2019 across 33 countries.
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The workshop aimed to support countries in the prioritization and acceleration of NCD prevention and management with a specific focus on accelerating the prevention and control of hypertension and diabetes, identifying the most impactful NCD interventions within their context, closing the gaps in ca...ncer care services through regional collaboration and integrating NCD services in when responding to emergencies.
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The webpage from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) discusses the heightened risk that individuals with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)—such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer—face regarding severe illness and mortality from COVID-19. It emphasizes the necessity of informi...ng the public about these health risks and adapting healthcare services to ensure the continuity of essential NCD care during the pandemic. The page provides information and guidance for healthcare providers and the public on managing NCDs in the context of COVID-19, highlighting the importance of addressing NCDs and their risk factors with a medium- to long-term perspective.
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The most recent estimate of the global number of deaths from dog-mediated
rabies is 59 000 per year.1 Rabies is associated with a 99.9% fatality rate and severe trauma in families in which a rabies death
occurs, and remains a major public health concern in most of Africa and Asia and some parts o...f South America
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Poor diets are the major cause of death and disease globally, driving high levels of obesity and noncommunicable diseases. Cheap, heavily marketed, ultra-processed, energy-dense and nutrient-poor food and drinks that are high in fat, sugar and salt play a major role. The high-sugar content of these ...products leads to consumption levels much higher than recommended. The World Health Organization recommends that sugar intake should be reduced to just 5% of energy intake by using fiscal policies and food and drink reformulation strategies. Over the previous decade, the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has implemented several policies aimed at reducing sugar intake. We compare the soft drinks industry levy and the sugar reduction programme, examining how differences in policy design and process may have influenced the outcomes. Success has been mixed: the mandatory levy achieved a reduction in total sugar sales of 34.3%, and the voluntary reduction programme only achieved a 3.5% reduction in sugar levels of key contributors to sugar intake (despite a target of 20%). Both policies can be improved to enhance their impact, for example, by increasing the levy and reducing the sugar content threshold in the soft drinks industry levy, and by setting more stringent subcategory specific targets in the sugar reduction programme. We also recommend that policy-makers should consider applying a similar levy to other discretionary products
that are key contributors to sugar intake. Both approaches provide valuable learnings for future policy in the United Kingdom and globally
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During the Programme Managers’ Review Meeting of Central and East Africa and South-East Asia (online meeting, June 2022), experts proposed additional regional and national subtargets related to VL incidence, as defined below. These targets can be revisited as progress is reviewed and access to dia...gnosis and treatment and surveillance improves.
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Over one third of all deaths in Kenya in 2019 were attributed to NCDs (Vos et al., 2020). The four major NCDs – CVDs, cancer,
diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases – accounted for 57% of these deaths. Furthermore, the direct and indirect economic
impact of NCDs is significant- Kenya is sai...d to have lost Ksh 230 billion or 3.4% of its gross domestic product in 2016 from rising
NCD-related medical costs and indirect productivity losses. At the household level, an estimated decrease of 28.6% in income
due to NCDs was reported in 2007 (Mwai & Muriithi, 2016; Mensah et al., 2020). Therefore, preventing and managing NCDs are
significant public health and economic priorities.
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Mpox continues to affect people around the world. A new framework released today by WHO will guide health authorities, communities and other stakeholders in preventing and controlling mpox outbreaks, eliminating human-to-human transmission of the disease, and reducing spillover of the virus from ani...mals to humans.
Mpox is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV). It can cause a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever. Most people fully recover, but some get very sick. The virus transmits from person to person through close, including sexual, contact. It also has animal reservoirs in east, central and west Africa, where spillovers from animals to humans can occasionally occur, sparking further outbreaks.
There are two different clades of the virus: clade I and clade II. Clade I outbreaks are deadlier than clade II outbreaks.
A major emergence of mpox linked to clade II began in 2017, and since 2022, has spread to all regions of the world. Between July 2022 and May 2023, the outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. While that outbreak has largely subsided, cases and deaths continue to be reported today, illustrating that low-level transmission continues around the world.
Currently, there is also a major outbreak of clade I virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where cases have been on the rise for decades. Since the beginning of the year, over 6500 cases and 345 deaths have been reported in the DRC. Almost half of these are among children under the age of 15 years.
The Strategic framework for enhancing prevention and control of mpox (2024–2027) provides a roadmap for health authorities, communities, and stakeholders worldwide to control mpox outbreaks in every context, advance mpox research and access to countermeasures, and to minimize zoonotic transmission.
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For thousands of years, humans have been using wildlife for commercial and subsistence purposes. Wildlife trade takes place at local, national and international levels, with different forms of wildlife, such as live animals, partly processed products and finished products. Wildlife is a vital source... of safe and nutritious food, clothing, medicine, and other products, in addition to having religious and cultural value. Wildlife trade also contributes to livelihoods, income generation and overall economic development.
However, wildlife trade can have detrimental effects on species conservation, depleting natural resources, impoverishing biodiversity and degrading ecosystems (Morton et al., 2021). Wildlife trade, whether legal or illegal, regulated or unregulated, can pose threats to animal health and welfare. It also presents opportunities for zoonotic pathogens to spill over between wildlife and domestic animals, and for diseases to emerge with serious consequences for public or animal health and profound economic impacts (IPBES, 2020; Swift et al., 2007; Smith et al., 2009; Gortazar et al., 2014; Stephen, 2021; Stephen et al., 2022; FAO, 2020). The risk of pathogen spillover and disease emergence is amplified with increased interaction between humans, wildlife and domestic animals. The risk of pathogen spillover has also been exacerbated by climate change, intensified agriculture and livestock production, deforestation, and other land-use changes. Wildlife trade is also a risk to ecosystem biodiversity via the introduction of invasive species (Wikramanayake et al., 2021). Therefore, increased effort must be put into understanding the potential consequences of the wildlife trade, mapping and analysing the adjacent risks, and implementing strategies to manage those risks. Reducing wildlife-trade risks not only helps to limit disease but also minimises the negative effects of invasive species. Between 1960 and 2021, invasive alien species caused estimated cumulative damage of around 116 billion euros across 39 countries in the European Union alone, despite strict import regulations (Haubrock et al., 2021). The effect of invasive species is extremely apparent.
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This toolkit is a comprehensive set of practical tools and resources designed to support country-level risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) practitioners, decision-makers, and partners to plan and implement readiness and response activities for dengue fever outbreaks. The toolkit conta...ins: information about dengue fever; RCCE considerations for how to approach key issues during dengue fever outbreaks; tools for understanding the context in which dengue fever outbreaks occur; methods for collecting data to inform strategy development and bring evidence into planning and implementation of activities; guidance to support vector control and prevention activities; case studies; and links to existing RCCE tools and training. It is one of a suite of toolkits on RCCE readiness and response to a range of disease and response areas.
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WHO has identified climate change as one of the greatest health threats of the 21st century and air pollution as the single largest environmental health risk. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and cancer, are the leading causes ...of death in the European Region and globally, the latter rate being 74%
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A systematic review of connections between climate change, globalization and NCD'S
A systematic review of connections between climate change, globalization and NCD'S
As our world changes, so too does the burden of disease. Globalisation, evolving trade and consumption patterns, and increased access to life-saving medical care are just some of the factors that have transformed the global health landscape.