Recently a post on the WHO website caught my eye. The title is self explanatory. “Mobile phones help people with diabetes to manage fasting and feasting during Ramadan”. We at Heartfile are heavily engaged in the use of mobile phones, with Heartfile Health Financing (HHF) which is an mHealth enabled social protection system protecting poor […]
The World Health Organization Is Fighting Childhood Obesity
Earlier last week, the Director General of WHO announced the establishment of the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity to strengthen the scientific evidence base for action, to engage all stakeholders and to create awareness and build momentum for action to address this issue. The Director General of WHO has asked that I co-Chair the […]
WHO’s World Malaria Report, 2013: Global progress and call for sustained commitment
A colossal population of approximately 3.3 billion people, nearly half of size of world population, is at risk of malaria is a clear indication of a silent emergency. The recent World Malaria Report, 2013, released by the World Health Organization shows how far we have come in our fight against malaria and it shows that […]
Levels and Trends in Child Mortality Report 2013
As the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals is fast approaching, the global development organizations are synchronizing their efforts to report their achievements in development. In the context of MDG 4 which pertains to maternal, newborn child healthcare, the global partners, WHO, UNICEF, World Bank Group, and UN-DESA Population Division jointly released the Levels and […]
Global health infographic by the George Washington University
This innovative infographic is from the online Masters in Public Health program at The George Washington University. By using WHO data, it explores how health care in the U.S. compares to 16 other countries around the world.
WHO Releases World Health Report 2013: Research for Universal Health Coverage
The World Health Organization launched the “World Health Report 2013: Research for Universal Health Coverage” in Beijing on August 14th, 2013. This report resonates the 2010, World Health Report on “Health Systems Financing: The path to universal coverage”. The interest in universal health coverage has only grown since then as Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director […]
World No Tobacco Day 2013: Not just another day
The 31st of May 2013 will mark the 26th year of successive observance of World No Tobacco Day across the world, when WHO Member States resolved to commemorate a day every year to say NO to use of tobacco through a World Health Assembly Resolution in 1988. While this year’s message calls to ‘free ourselves’ […]
Increasing the use of evidence in the design and implementation of health financing reforms
This week in Geneva, the global community has gathered for the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly. As we recently passed the 1000 day count down to the end of the current Millennium Development goals. The post-MDG framework is at the forefront of this year’s Assembly. Over the past three years, UHC has been gaining traction as […]
Devolution and Health
The devolution of Health and all other social sectors from the federal to provincial tiers materialized on the 1st July 2011. It is common knowledge that the move was undertaken without the adequate necessary groundwork or preparation at either level. The former Ministry of Health was itself in a complete state of denial even shortly […]
Not-so-neglected tropical diseases – the First Annual Report on the Declaration on NTDs
At least one seventh of the world’s population, living in 149 countries and territories, are affected by Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), including roughly 800 million children. In Pakistan, the 2010 and 2011 outbreaks of Dengue – declared by WHO in January 2013 as the world’s ‘fastest-spreading NTD’ – were a stark illustration of the challenges […]