World Health Organization

About: World Health Organization is a government organization based out in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 13330 authors who have published 22232 publications receiving 1322023 citations. The organization is also known as: World Health Organisation & WHO.

A global response to a global problem: the epidemic of overnutrition

Abstract: It is estimated that by 2020 two-thirds of the global burden of disease will be attributable to chronic noncommunicable diseases, most of them strongly associated with diet. The nutrition transition towards refined foods, foods of animal origin, and increased fats plays a major role in the current global epidemics of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, among other noncommunicable conditions. Sedentary lifestyles and the use of tobacco are also significant risk factors. The epidemics cannot be ended simply by encouraging people to reduce their risk factors and adopt healthier lifestyles, although such encouragement is undoubtedly beneficial if the targeted people can respond. Unfortunately, increasingly obesogenic environments, reinforced by many of the cultural changes associated with globalization, make even the adoption of healthy lifestyles, especially by children and adolescents, more and more difficult. The present paper examines some possible mechanisms for, and WHO's role in, the development of a coordinated global strategy on diet, physical activity and health. The situation presents many countries with unmanageable costs. At the same time there are often continuing problems of undernutrition. A concerted multisectoral approach, involving the use of policy, education and trade mechanisms, is necessary to address these matters.

Global Incidence of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis

Abstract: Background. The global number of incident cases of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) in 2000 was estimated to be 272,906 (95% confidence interval [CI], 184,948‐414,295). For accurate planning of TB control programs, this estimate and others have been revised using data from additional countries and by including in the model previously treated TB cases, which had not been accounted for in the previous analysis. Methods. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify variables that were predictive of MDR-TB frequency among new and previously treated cases surveyed in 90 and 77 countries, respectively. These variables were then used to estimate MDR-TB frequencies in countries that had not been surveyed. Results. The total number of MDR-TB cases estimated to have occurred worldwide in 2004 is 424,203 (95% CI, 376,019‐620,061), or 4.3% (95% CI, 3.8%‐6.1%) of all new and previously treated TB cases. In the same year, 181,408 (95% CI, 135,276‐319,017) MDR-TB cases were estimated to have occurred among previously treated TB cases alone. Three countries—China, India, and the Russian Federation—accounted for 261,362 (95% CI, 180,779‐414,749) MDR-TB cases, or 62% of the estimated global burden. Conclusions. These updated sets of estimates incorporating previously treated TB cases call for an urgent plan to expand appropriate diagnostic and treatment services for patients with MDR-TB in low-resource settings. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) presents a formidable challenge to TB control in several settings,

Genetic architecture of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum.

Abstract: We report a large multicenter genome-wide association study of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to artemisinin, the frontline antimalarial drug. Across 15 locations in Southeast Asia, we identified at least 20 mutations in kelch13 (PF3D7_1343700) affecting the encoded propeller and BTB/POZ domains, which were associated with a slow parasite clearance rate after treatment with artemisinin derivatives. Nonsynonymous polymorphisms in fd (ferredoxin), arps10 (apicoplast ribosomal protein S10), mdr2 (multidrug resistance protein 2) and crt (chloroquine resistance transporter) also showed strong associations with artemisinin resistance. Analysis of the fine structure of the parasite population showed that the fd, arps10, mdr2 and crt polymorphisms are markers of a genetic background on which kelch13 mutations are particularly likely to arise and that they correlate with the contemporary geographical boundaries and population frequencies of artemisinin resistance. These findings indicate that the risk of new resistance-causing mutations emerging is determined by specific predisposing genetic factors in the underlying parasite population.