SciDev.Net

Understanding how neglected tropical diseases affect chronic diseases can help inform health policies, say Peter Hotez and Abdallah Daar.

A change in political outlook is needed to improve health research and translate policies into action, says an editorial in The Lancet.

A new WHO research agenda on climate change and health emphasises the importance of health issues in climate discussions, says The Lancet.

African governments are ill-prepared to address the continent's growing cancer burden, warn Hany Besadaand and Vadim Ermakov.

China must confront changing diets, more sedentary lives, and a 'plump is prosperous' culture to halt obesity, say Rachel Huxley and Yangfeng Wu.

A meeting of African scientists and ministers on the environment's impact on health is welcome, if long overdue, says an editorial in The Lancet.

African countries must set money aside for malaria vaccines now, and hire business leaders to run control programmes, says Tom Egwang.

Malaria control efforts should be joined with those of neglected tropical diseases to achieve eradication, say Peter J. Hotez and David H. Molyneux.

Cancer care in Africa faces the same challenges as general healthcare, but also needs local data and targeted solutions, says Twalib Ngoma.

To stem the spread of obesity, we must study the web of commercial interests and strategies driving it, says Jonathan Wells.

We need better global monitoring for chronic diseases before we can really tackle the risks factors and prevent illness, says Colin Mathers.

Developing nations must stop aping the North's mental health services and use strategies tailored to their own needs, says Vikram Patel.

Multidrug-resistant TB needs more research to equip healthcare workers with the right tools, write Frank G. J. Cobelens and colleagues.

Doruk Ozgediz and Robert Riviello make the case for devoting more resources to easily treated surgical conditions in Africa.

The UN programme for HIV/AIDS is out of touch with reality and hindering health capacity building, argues Roger England.

Hypertensive disease kills large numbers in developing countries, but efforts to tackle it are lacking, say Stephen MacMahon and colleagues.

Elimination of blinding trachoma is entirely possible by 2020, says the New England Journal of Medicine.

Malaria policy needs to be changed if WHO targets are to be met, warn Ephantus J. Muturi, Peter Burgess and Robert J. Novak.

Peter J. Hotez believes the establishment of a new financing mechanism is vital for the control and eradication of neglected diseases.

Amy C. Morrison and colleagues outline key preventative measures for controlling the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads disease.