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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Background: Data on burden of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and its attributable risk factors are valuable for policymaking. We aimed to estimate the burden and risk factors for PAD from 1990 to 2019.
Methods: We extracted the data on prevalence, incidence, death, years lived with disability (YLD...s), and years of life lost (YLLs) from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 to measure PAD burden. Moreover, the attributable burden to PAD risk factors was also estimated.
Results: Globally, in 2019, 113,443,017 people lived with PAD and 10,504,092 new cases occurred, resulting in 74,063 deaths, 500,893 YLDs, and 1,035,487 YLLs. The absolute numbers of PAD prevalent and incident cases significantly increased between 1990 and 2019, contrasting with the decline trends in age-standardized prevalence and incidence rates. However, no statistically significant changes were detected in the global age-standardized death or YLL rates. The burden of PAD and its temporal trends varied significantly by location, gender, age group, and social-demographic status. Among all potentially modifiable risk factors, age-standardized PAD deaths worldwide were primarily attributable to high fasting plasma glucose, followed by high systolic blood pressure, tobacco, kidney dysfunction, diet high in sodium, and lead exposure.
Conclusion: PAD remained a serious public health problem worldwide. More strategies aimed at implementing cost-effective interventions and addressing modifiable risk factors should be carried out, especially in regions with high or increasing burden.
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The sixteenth meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTD) was held as a hybrid meeting, 27–28 September 2022.
Dr Ren Minghui, Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage/Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases, welcomed participan...ts to the meeting. He said the World Health Organization’s Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (WHO/NTD) was in a state of transition. Following the death of the late esteemed Director Dr Mwelecele Ntuli Malecela earlier in the year, Dr Gautam Biswas had taken over as Acting Director but would soon retire; the appointment of a new Director was under way. Owing to rotation of STAG-NTD members, this would be the last meeting for some and the first meeting for several new participants. The work however would continue with the same commitment. Discussions over the next two days would focus on critical issues regarding recovery of NTD services following the disruptions caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which had impacted many health services worldwide. He looked forward to receiving the advice and guidance of STAG-N
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Some observers have described the coronavirus pandemic as an 'Anthropocene disease,' thereby highlighting its connection with this new ecological era that is characterised by the considerable pressure human activities are exerting on ecosystems and the consequences on public health, society and the ...environment. This article focuses on the recent emergence of the 'Planetary Health' paradigm. Launched by the Rockefeller Foundation and the medical journal The Lancet, Planetary Health is one of the most ambitious attempts in recent years to systematize global health in the Anthropocene. While recognising the interest and necessity of reflecting on human health and the health of the planet, this article aims to show, however, that the Planetary Health paradigm is problematic and aporetic for two reasons. First, because it is based on a scientistic and depoliticised conception of the Anthropocene, which obscures capitalism's responsibility for the contemporary global and, especially, ecological crisis. Second, because this conception leads to a promotion of solutions that are essentially based on the financialization and technoscientific management of the living world - precisely the underlying cause of the degradation of ecosystems and living conditions that created the Anthropocene in the first place. A different kind of 'planetary health' remains possible and desirable.
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It is estimated that 422 million people in the world live with diabetes. WHO forecasts that this number will reach 622 million by 2040. The majority of people with diabetes live in developing countries. The number of people with diabetes is increasing, notably in Africa, from 3 adults among 100 peop...le in 1980 to 7 adults among 100 people in 2014.
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It is estimated that 422 million people in the world live with diabetes. WHO forecasts that this number will reach 622 million by 2040. The majority of people with diabetes live in developing countries. The number of people with diabetes is increasing, notably in Africa, from 3 adults among 100 peop...le in 1980 to 7 adults among 100 people in 2014.
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Chromoblastomycosis (CBM), represents one of the primary implantation mycoses caused by melanized fungi widely found in nature. It is characterized as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) and mainly affects populations living in poverty with significant morbidity, including stigma and discrimination.
Disease burden is measured in Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) – both from years of life lost due to premature death and years lived witha disability. One DALY equals one year of healthy life.
Estimated annual number of deaths from alcohol and drug use disorders per 100,000 people. These include only direct deaths from thesedisorders, meaning they do not include suicide deaths which can in some cases be connected or attributed to them.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been the biggest disaster in living memory, on almost any measure. More than 6.5 million people are confirmed to have died in less than three years, and the pandemic’s indirect impacts have touched the lives of virtually every community on the planet.
Our World Disasters... Report 2022 focuses on the coronavirus pandemic and preparedness: both the ways preparedness ahead of COVID-19 was inadequate, and how the world can prepare more effectively for future public health emergencies.
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Estimated annual number of deaths from drug use disorders, by type of drug.
Estimated annual number of deaths from drug use disorders per 100,000 people.
Explore the migration of people across the world.
Childhood tuberculosis activity book
Accessed November 2017
Alcohol has historically, and continues to, hold an important role in social engagement and bonding for many. Social drinking or moderate alcohol consumption for many is pleasurable.
However, alcohol consumption – especially in excess – is linked to a number of negative outcomes: as a risk fa...ctor for diseases and health impacts, crime, road incidents, and, for some, alcohol dependence.
This topic page looks at the data on global patterns of alcohol consumption, patterns of drinking, beverage types, the prevalence of alcoholism, and consequences, including crime, mortality, and road incidents.
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Trachoma is a neglected tropical disease. It occurs in some of the poorest populations with limited access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare, and is the leading cause of blindness in the world. Based on 2020 data, it is estimated that 137 million people are at risk of trachoma in 44 endemic... countries.
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The global voice for patient-centred healthcare
IAPO is a unique global alliance representing patients of all nations across all disease areas and promoting patient-centred healthcare across the world.
Chagas disease is found mainly in endemic areas of 21 continental Latin American countries. The most common way people are infected with Chagas is through the blood-sucking triatomine bugs, also known as ‘kissing bugs’ (or vinchuca, barbeiro, pito, chinche, chipo in different Latin American coun...tries). The bugs typically live in wall or roof cracks of poorly constructed homes made of materials such as mud, straw and palm thatch. They come out at night to feed on people’s blood while they’re sleeping, then defecate close to the bite. Their faeces contain the parasite, which can then enter the person’s body when they inadvertently smear the bug’s waste into the bite or another skin break, the eyes or the mouth.
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Around the world, millions of refugees and migrants in vulnerable situations, such as low-skilled migrant workers, face poorer health outcomes than their host communities, especially where living and working conditions are sub-standard, according to the first WHO World report on the health of refuge...es and migrants. This has dire consequences for the probability that the world will not achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for these populations.
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The global epidemic of type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) presents significant challenges to world health both in terms of financial costs as well as morbidity. Thus, considerable research has been focussed on the prevention or delay of the onset of T2DM.
Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is one of the ...most costly and burdensome of chronic diseases and is a global epidemic. Estimates by the International Diabetes Federation indicate that 387 million people have diabetes, and that this figure is expected to rise to 592 million by 2035 with an additional 175 million cases currently undiagnosed.
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