Devex: Discord looms over WHO board meeting “The World Health Organization is expected to confront two controversial issues during the executive board’s 144th session, opening Thursday, as stakeholders gather to discuss its reports on access to medicine, as well as proposals on its engagement with nonstate actors. As in previous…

The BMJ: Solutions for non-communicable disease prevention and control “Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) constitute a major global health challenge, hampering nations’ economic growth and sustainable development. … This new collection issue brings together a wide and diverse author group, to focus on key issues and suggest scalable solutions to accelerate the…

Associated Press: Duterte critics laud U.N. vote to scrutinize drug killings (Gomez, 7/12). Deutsche Welle: Sugary drink consumption increases cancer risk, research suggests (7/11). Devex: Q&A: Engaging the private sector on health security (Cornish, 7/12). Devex: Is it time to take ‘more of a gamble’ to scale nutrition interventions? (Welsh,…

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Opinion: Bolder actions are needed to eradicate hunger and fight obesity José Graziano da Silva, director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) “Our food systems are distorted, and unless bolder actions are taken soon to fix them, humanity is at grave risk of increasing…

The Guardian: Battle against tobacco epidemic is far from won, WHO report finds “The battle against the global tobacco epidemic is far from won, even as more countries adopt measures such as smoke-free environments and warnings on packaging to curb its use, a new report has revealed. The report from…

Al Jazeera: What’s the cure for misinformation on vaccines? (Ahelbarra, 9/13). BBC: Which countries have banned pesticides used in suicide? (9/15). DW: Big Pharma nixes new drugs despite impending ‘antibiotic apocalypse’ (Schumacher, 9/14). The Telegraph: The greatest threat was in the lab, says the scientist who co-discovered Ebola (Newey, 9/16).…

Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program’s “New Security Beat”:  The Maternal Health Initiative Launches the CODE BLUE Series on Non-communicable Diseases and Maternal Health “Each year, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 2 in every 3 deaths among women globally. It is estimated that NCDs kill 35 million people…

BMJ Opinion: Richard Smith: The “NCD crowd” vent their frustrations but identify some ways forward Richard Smith, former BMJ editor and director of the Ovations initiative, discusses a recent meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at Chatham House, where proponents of addressing NCDs voiced “frustration.” Smith concludes, “[B]ut positives did emerge…

U.S. Government Accountability Office: Global Tobacco Control: U.S. Efforts Have Primarily Focused on Research and Surveillance This GAO report reviews U.S. global tobacco control efforts, examining funding and activities related to global tobacco control in fiscal years 2015-2018 through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, USAID, and the…

Agence France-Presse/VOA News: USAID Launches Latest Cleanup of Agent Orange Site “The U.S. launched on Saturday a $183 million cleanup at a former Vietnam storage site for Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant used in the nations’ bitter war, which years later is still blamed for severe birth defects, cancers, and…