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Feb182021 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

How do dogs benefit your mental health?

Global Health

By LAUREN CORONA Anyone who has loved a dog in their lives knows that dogs are often trusty companions and can be best friends to humans. But can they also improve our mental health? Many studies over the years have shown the impact dogs and other pets have on our mental health, and the consensus is that dogs indeed positively affect the mental health of humans. If you're wondering exactly how dogs benefit mental health, we have some answers for you below. Reasons dogs benefit your mental health Dogs get you out of the house When you aren't feeling your best, it can be hard to even leave the house, despite knowing it might ultimately improve your mood. With a dog to look after, however, you must walk them even when you don't feel up to it. Once you get walking with your dog ...

Feb182021 by GHealth News2 Comments

Daily Coffee Tied to Lower Risk for Heart Failure

NCDs

Fill up that mug: Having one or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day may reduce your risk of heart failure, new research suggests. There was one caveat, however: Decaffeinated coffee doesn't appear to provide the same protection as caffeine-rich blends. "The association between caffeine and heart failure risk reduction was surprising," admitted study senior author Dr. David Kao. "Coffee and caffeine are often considered by the general population to be 'bad' for the heart because people associate them with palpitations, high blood pressure, etc." However, "the consistent relationship between increasing caffeine consumption and decreasing heart failure risk turns that assumption on its head," said Kao, who is assistant professor of cardiology and medical director at the Colorado Ce...

Feb32021 by GHealth News191 Comments

To Stop the Next Pandemic, Invest in Women

COVID19

By LOIS QUAM, RACHEL VOGELSTEIN From the household to the national stage, women play crucial roles in global health systems. Governments should adopt inclusive strategies before another crisis strikes. The coronavirus pandemic has revealed the limitations of the United States and Europe’s current approach to global health. Experts had long predicted the rapid spread of a contagious respiratory virus. But while global health spending increased at an average annual rate of 3.9 percent from 2000 to 2017, countries around the world were ill-prepared for the coronavirus pandemic, global shutdowns, and the economic shocks that followed. Women experience unique challenges during global health crises, and COVID-19 has exacerbated preexisting gender inequalities, including domestic violenc...

Jan252021 by GHealth News1 Comment

Tips for Making 2021 a Healthier Year

Global Health

A New Year's resolution to take better care of yourself is one you should keep, especially in the era of COVID-19. Wearing a mask, maintaining a safe distance from others and washing your hands frequently are going remain important in 2021. But don't forget to prioritize a healthy lifestyle that improves your overall health and quality of life, and helps prevent cancer, according to experts at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The institute offers the following tips: Eat a healthy diet and watch your weight. For cancer prevention, the American Institute for Cancer Research and the American Cancer Society recommend maintaining a healthy weight, staying active and eating a healthy diet. That's one rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruit and beans, with a minimum o...

Jan252021 by GHealth News1 Comment

German hospitals receive digital health boost

Global Health

From this month, public hospitals in Germany can apply for government funding for projects to boost digital health, cybersecurity, and IT infrastructure. Under the Hospital Future Act (KHZG), which came into force in September 2020, public hospitals will receive a share of €4.3 billion for digital health innovation. The German federal government (Bundestag) will make €3 billion available to the KHZF through the liquidity reserve of the health fund with an additional €1.3 billion to be provided through co-funding by the federal states and hospital operators themselves. At least 15% of the funding requested must be used to improve IT security. Hospitals can submit their projected measures to the authorities in their members state before the end of September this year. Funding will b...

Jan192021 by GHealth News36 Comments

WHO experts tweet from Wuhan quarantine ahead of mission into virus origins

COVID19

It’s a question that has generated yearlong discord between China and the West: how did this virus that plunged the world into crisis begin in the first place? Last Thursday, a team of World Health Organization experts touched down in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in 2019, to start a much-delayed mission into the origins of the virus that has now killed more than two million people worldwide. But first, like all travelers to China, the team of 10 must undertake a strict two-week quarantine. Some of them have been tweeting from their hotels in Wuhan, using Virtual Private Networks to circumvent a ban on Twitter in the country. On Monday -- day four of their quarantine -- British-American zoologist Peter Daszak tweeted a picture of his b...

Jan162021 by GHealth News2 Comments

The Japanese authorities understood covid-19 better than most

COVID19

When the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship suffering from an outbreak of covid-19, arrived in Japan in February, it seemed like a stroke of bad luck. A small floating petri dish threatened to turn the Japanese archipelago into a big one. In retrospect, however, the early exposure taught the authorities lessons that have helped make Japan’s epidemic the mildest among the world’s big economies, despite a recent surge in infections. In total 2,487 people have died of the coronavirus in Japan, just over half the number in China and fewer people than on a single day in America several times over the past week. Japan has suffered just 18 deaths per million people, a higher rate than in China, but by far the lowest in the G7, a club of big, industrialised democracies. (Germany comes in sec...

Jan102021 by GHealth News1 Comment

First long-acting HIV treatment approved in Europe

HIV

By: Hannah Balfour The European Commission approval of the long-acting injectable HIV treatment could transform the lives of people living with the disease. ViiV Healthcare has been given marketing authorisation (MA) for the first complete long-acting injectable HIV treatment in Europe. The authorisation means that, for the first time, people living with HIV in Europe have the option of a long-acting injectable treatment that removes the need to take daily oral tablets. The MA is for Vocabria (cabotegravir injection and tablets) in combination with Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson’s Rekambys (rilpivirine injection) and Edurant (rilpivirine tablets) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults who are virologically suppressed on a stable antiretroviral re...

Jan82021 by GHealth News1 Comment

WHO issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine and emphasizes need for equitable global access

COVID19, Vaccines

The World Health Organization (WHO) today listed the Comirnaty COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for emergency use, making the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine the first to receive emergency validation from WHO since the outbreak began a year ago. The WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine. It also enables UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization to procure the vaccine for distribution to countries in need. “This is a very positive step towards ensuring global access to COVID-19 vaccines. But I want to emphasize the need for an even greater global effort to achieve enough vaccine supply to meet the needs of priority populations everywhere,” said Dr Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant-Dire...

Jan42021 by GHealth News1 Comment

The leading causes of death and disability worldwide: 2000-2019

NCDs

Noncommunicable diseases now make up 7 of the world’s top 10 causes of death, according to WHO’s 2019 Global Health Estimates. This is an increase from 4 of the 10 leading causes in 2000. The new data cover the period from 2000 to 2019 inclusive. The estimates reveal trends over the last 2 decades in mortality and morbidity caused by diseases and injuries. They clearly highlight the need for an intensified global focus on preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, as well as tackling injuries, in all regions of the world, as set out in the agenda for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. “These new estimates are another reminder that we need to rapidly step up prevention, diagnosis and treatment of noncommunicable diseases,” sa...