I follow Richard Horton, the editor of The Lancet, on Twitter (@richardhorton1). I was concerned to see his post yesterday: “China faces a food crisis that threatens child survival. A UN FAO special alert reports wheat/water shortages. The worst in 60 years.”
In the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, visiting fellow Tom Bollyky and coauthor Lawrence Gostin make the case (gated) for increased U.S. engagement on global tobacco control. Tobacco use is currently the leading cause of disease and premature death in the world, tallying more deaths than HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria combined.
A few weeks ago, I wrote with excitement about what the G8 and G20 might mean for global health.
How can it be possible, in 2009, that almost half of all Indian children under three years old are underweight or severely underweight, and that child malnutrition accounts for more than one-fifth of the total burden of disease in that country? Something like three-quarters of all preschool children in India have iron-deficiency anemia, which impairs learning, and more than half have at least mild vitamin A deficiency.