According to GBD 2010, tobacco smoking continues to be the second leading risk factor for death and disability globally. 1 Tobacco-attributable deaths are projected to rise from 5.4 million in 2005 to 6.4 million in 2015 (10% of all deaths globally) and 8.3 million in 2030. 2 Over 1 billion people smoke globally – the […]
New Government must tackle cervical cancer that Crisis Card shows kills 7,000 women Pakistan every year from cervical cancer. Australia provides a global model to tackle the disease. More women die of cervical cancer in India than anywhere in the world. India along with China, Brazil, Bangladesh and Nigeria represent over 50% of the global […]
It took 12 minutes in a taxi to get to my meeting in Sao Paulo last Thursday. By the evening, the same drive back to my hotel took more than two hours. Alternatives? There aren’t many – limited public transportation, a bus system that would have not provided much of an option, and certainly no […]
In a recent meeting convened by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean to discuss the regional agenda for noncommunicable diseases, the crucial role of high salt intake was highlighted. This is quite appropriate considering the emphasis of this year’s World Health Day (held April 7th) on hypertension. Among the leading risk factors in […]
The whole concept of World Hypertension Day is misguided because it perpetutes an unfortunate myth – it implies that we can deal with “hypertension” (i.e. raised blood pressure) problem through treatment. Based on current knowledge and experiences, reductions in population blood pressure levels will be most efficiently achieved through salt intake reduction and this should […]
Asia is a large continent that has undergone pronounced demographic, epidemiologic, and socioeconomic changes in the recent decades. The South Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal) form a large subcontinent within Asia and share geographic boundaries, economic and cultural similarities. It is also home to some of the world’s most populous countries. […]
High Blood Pressure or “Hypertension” in medical terms has been known to be a risk factor for premature death ever since the Actuaries at the New York Metropolitan Insurance Company started keeping a track of blood pressure measurements in their life insurance policy holders over a century ago. Doctors recognized the importance of this simple […]
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of deaths globally, with grave consequences on national economies of low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) in terms of consumption of healthcare resources, and loss of productive life years. 1, 2Uncontrolled hypertension confers the highest attributable risk of disability and mortality from CVD. According to the 2010 Global […]
The 7th April is World Health Day which marks the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1948 and invites us to reflect on public health in the world. In many European countries, one can hardly look at the status of healthcare without seeing the effects of austerity measures on the […]
In most populations, more than 40% of adults aged 25 and over suffer from high blood pressure, a disease which, if left untreated, has unparalleled potential to kill and disable, inflict enormous suffering and significantly undermine quality of life. Millions of people across the world – a majority of them poor – needlessly suffer from […]
With thanks to our generous donor, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
