UK: Experts call for fat tax
A 10% fat tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would cut consumption and help reduce the growing obesity epidemic in the UK, according to new research...
Jordan: NCDs a growing concern
The prevalence of NCDs risk factors, such as smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, is a growing public health concern among Jordanian adults, according to new research...
Bhutan: Tobacco bill up for deliberation
Parliament is deciding whether to take up an amendment to the Tobacco Control Act in the upcoming session...
India: Mass media campaigns support tobacco control
Social marketing campaigns that use mass media are effective ways to raise awareness about the dangers of smokeless tobacco in India, according to new research...
Global: WHO sets monitoring targets for NCD prevention
The WHO recently released a discussion paper that outlines a comprehensive global monitoring framework and voluntary global targets for the prevention and control of NCDs, and is now under consultation by Member States...
Turkey: Cigarettes main cause of fires
Cigarettes were the single greatest cause of fires in Istanbul in 2011, according to the Municipality Fire Department...
Global: Palm oils increases CVD mortality
Increased consumption of palm oil has a greater impact on heart disease and stroke deaths in developing countries compared to high-income countries, according to new research...
South Africa: New health professionals help alleviate brain drain
The first batch of a new type of health professionals - called "clinical associates" - recently graduated from Wits University in Johannesburg...
Philippines: Half of smokers would quit if price doubled
More than half (54%) of smokers said they would quit if the price of an individual cigarette increased from P5 to P10, according to new research...
Global: Addressing population growth and health worker shortage
Population growth in developing countries is a critical factor that needs to be taken into account when finding solutions to the increasing health workforce shortage, according to a new report...
Kenya: Mobile phones providing health information
Thanks to startup initiatives working with the country's major telecom company, 18 million Kenyans will have access to health information such as alerts, names of providers, disease outbreaks, even the opportunity to talk to a live doctor for around US$0.02 a minute...
US: Direct CVD costs will triple to US$818 billion by 2030
Assuming no change in policy, four out of ten Americans will have some form of CVD by 2030 and direct medical costs attributed to CVD will triple to US$818 billion, according to new research...
Brazil: Nationwide ban on public smoking
President Dilma Rousseff recently signed a law that bans smoking in enclosed public spaces across all of Brazil...
US: Some cereals are worse than junk food
Of 84 popular brands of cereal sold in the US, only one in four meet the recommended guideline of no more than 26% added sugar by weight, according to new research...
Papua New Guinea: New plan to curb smoking
The health minister has announced new anti-tobacco measures, which ban smoking in public places, stop manufacturers from making five-packs of cigarettes (which target the poor and children), and prevent street vendors from selling individual cigarettes...
Ecuador: Leading the pack on tobacco taxation
A recent tax increase on tobacco products has made Ecuador the leading Latin American country in terms of tobacco taxation...
Global: WHO chief calls for unity in tobacco fight
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan called on countries to stand together against tobacco companies that are pushing to soften the countries' anti-smoking positions during a public health meeting in Geneva...
US: Increase in weight, perception of healthy weight
Americans weigh 20 pounds more than they did 20 years ago, and their perception of their ideal weight has also increased, according to new research...
Lebanon: Students light up to prove a point
A group of students at Notre Dame University-Louaize smoked cigarettes in classrooms and the library to demonstrate the lax enforcement of a smoking ban on university grounds...
Sub-Saharan Africa: Brain drain costs billions
Brain drain - in this case doctors leaving developing countries to work in high-income countries - costs Sub-Saharan Africa more than US$2 billion a year, according to new research...
