Over a billion people across the world are living with mental health disorders, a slight but significant increase over the numbers from the last time the data was collected in 2000, with anxiety and depression being the most prevalent conditions. In low-income countries, fewer than 10% of affected individuals receive care, compared to over 50% […] Continue reading ->
Africa’s population over the age of 60 will triple by 2050, bringing “a sharp rise in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, with profound health and economic costs”, according to a paper published in Nature last week. The paper highlights a five-year strategy, headed by a pan-African task force, to address this demographic shift on the continent, […] Continue reading ->
Digital tests based on speech and smell are being developed to screen for cognitive decline, researchers told the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto. Two speech apps are already some way down the road, testing several markers including speech speed, vocabulary and rhythm in different languages to establish a baseline for testing, a session convened […] Continue reading ->
Americans are about 20% more likely to experience memory problems if they lived in areas with high levels of atmospheric lead, according to a study of over 600,000 adults over the age of 65 released at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto on Tuesday. Researchers examined how exposure to airborne lead between 1960 and […] Continue reading ->
LONDON – Summit it was not as there were no heads of state or even Bill Gates, although the UK’s Minister for Climate Change made a compelling presentation showing the kind of policy leadership starkly absent in the United States. Even so, the recent Climate and Health Summit, hosted by the UK Physiological Society, the […] Continue reading ->
Canada’s struggle with substance use is more than a health issue—it’s a matter of language, policy, and public trust, said Dr. Kwame McKenzie in the latest episode of the Global Health Matters podcast with Dr. Garry Aslanyan. McKenzie, CEO of the Wellesley Institute and Director of Health Equity at Canada’s Centre for Addiction and Mental […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced his new team of 36 directors at headquarters on Tuesday, according to an internal message to WHO staff, seen by Health Policy Watch. Nine of the appointments, including key positions heading the Departments of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, and the newly-combined Department of Environment, […] Continue reading ->
SRINAGAR, India – Areeba* tucks a strip of tiny blue pills into the back of her mathematics textbook before heading to class. It’s become second nature. “Half when I can’t sleep. One if I can’t walk,” says the 22-year-old university student, her voice calm, as if describing a cold remedy. “I don’t really want to […] Continue reading ->
In a rare moment for the World Health Assembly, delegates expanded their debates beyond the usual lexicon of disease pathogens to address something far more intimate: loneliness. The Assembly approved a first-ever resolution on Fostering social connection for global health: the essential role of social connection in combating loneliness, social isolation and inequities in health, […] Continue reading ->
Self-care can be a key strategy in tackling the global crisis of non-communicable diseases that are responsible for three-quarters of premature deaths globally and 86 percent of early deaths (before age 70) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Moreover, dentists, pharmacists and community health workers are trained professionals who can provide innovative forms of self-care […] Continue reading ->
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