Improved health care, lifestyle changes and changing demography mean that
more people are living longer and often with chronic diseases that cannot
currently be cured. Advances in health care that support longer life are to be
celebrated, but health care systems cannot cope with the increasing incidence
...
The optimal balance between institutional, home-based and community care
for older adults requires an effective mix of organizational, funding and delivery
mechanisms for target populations. This spans health and social care, and the
coordination of care must respect older people’s care preferences and...
Clinical research has led to spectacular developments in health care. It has provided us
with knowledge about how to prevent diseases, like heart disease, how to reduce the
consequences of disease, such as complications of diabetes, and to alleviate symptoms,
such as those of lung disease, and how to reh...
PATH is a nation-wide programme providing two types of grants. The first is a health grant, which is
contingent on certain members of the household attending public health clinics at regularly
scheduled intervals. The second is the education grant, which is contingent on children aged 6-17
attending scho...
Within the last decades, social exclusion, disparities, and absolute poverty – almost 3 billion people living on less than US $2.00 per day – have grown despite globalization and rising per-capita income in many developing nations. Income ratios of the richest 20% of the population to the poorest 20%...
An influenza pandemic seems inevitable. The H5N1 influenza virus, known as the avian influenza, is currently circulating in Asia and has appeared in other regions. Avian influenza (flu), which has been transmitted from birds to humans on a limited basis, can be rapidly fatal, with a reported death rate o...
School health promotion, based on a wide range of research and practice, has evolved over the course of the last 50 years, alongside health promotion in other settings. During the 1990s, WHO, working jointly with the European Commission and the Council of Europe, developed the health promoting schools in...
Osteoporosis – an excessive decrease in bone mass – is more common in women than in men. It is a particularly common condition among elderly women in affluent countries. Osteoporosis is a risk factor for fractures, which occur most commonly at the wrist, spine and hip. Other important risk factors fo...
Overweight and obesity are increasingly prevalent in Europe. In the European Region, the growing prevalence of overweight – a body mass index (BMI) over 25 kg/m2 – ranges from about 25% to 75% of the adult population. Up to a third of the adult population, about 130 million people, are obese – with...
During recent years, the use of mobile phones has increased substantially and has been paralleled by a growing concern about the effects on health attributed to exposure to the electromagnetic fields produced by them and their base stations. Demonstrating that radiation causes adverse effects on health w...
