IntraHealth International’s “VITAL”: 10 Global Health Issues to Watch in 2019 Margarite Nathe, principal editor/writer at IntraHealth International, highlights 10 key global health issues that IntraHealth International will be watching and responding to in the coming year, including food security, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), violence and the health sector, PEPFAR, health…

Devex: Opinion: People with disabilities are the experts in disability-inclusive development Alexandra Kay, disability inclusion adviser at Scope Global “With the right levels of support, people with disabilities make highly effective development workers. … Here are five lessons we’ve learned about including people with disabilities in development programs. 1. Catalyze…

Brookings Institution’s “Future Development”: Can higher mortality be a sign of progress? Wolfgang Fengler, lead economist for trade and competitiveness at the World Bank, discusses the global shift in mortality, writing, “Never has life expectancy been so high, which means more and older people. The increase in life expectancy is…

WHO: Ten threats to global health in 2019 “…2019 sees the start of the World Health Organization’s new five-year strategic plan — the 13th General Programme of Work. This plan focuses on a triple billion target: ensuring one billion more people benefit from access to universal health coverage, one billion…

The Lancet: Cervical cancer: unequal progress Editorial Board “Cervical cancer — a disease affecting more than half a million women every year — is now largely preventable. And yet despite an effective vaccine being available for more than 13 years, it still caused 270,000 deaths globally in 2015, 90 percent…

Agence France-Presse: AI beats expert doctors at finding cervical pre-cancers “Artificial intelligence may be poised to wipe out cervical cancer, after a study showed on Thursday computer algorithms can detect pre-cancerous lesions far better than trained experts or conventional screening tests. According to the World Health Organization, cervical cancer is…

The Economist: Reported cases of HIV in China are rising rapidly (1/12). The Guardian: Mother and two boys suffocate in Nepal’s latest ‘period hut’ tragedy (Budhathoki/Safi, 1/10). The Guardian: India’s sick left out in the cold as New Delhi’s top hospital struggles to cope (Dhillon, 1/10). New York Times: Rwanda…

Devex: Opinion: Can tobacco companies contribute to development outcomes? Christopher Hirst, CEO of Palladium “…While socially responsible investors move to divest from ‘sin’ products such as fossil fuels, weapons, and tobacco, the reality remains that 90 percent of tobacco is grown in low- and middle-income countries, where commercially viable alternatives…

Gizmodo: Report: Coca-Cola Is Quietly Influencing China’s Obesity Policy — and Shifting Blame From Itself “Soft drink companies have fought tooth and nail to hold onto their customers, even as public health experts and governments have tried to get people to cut down on the sugary products they make. But…

American Council on Science and Health: What Does It Cost To Have A Non-Communicable Disease? Chuck Dinerstein, senior medical fellow at the American Council on Science and Health, examines results of a PLOS Medicine study on health system costs across diseases and comorbid noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), noting, “The more diseases…