Category: Global health
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Paradise at risk: recommendations to control tobacco and alcohol industry interference in Pacific Island Countries and Territories
Tobacco and alcohol industry influence threatens public health across the Pacific. The authors consider how governments can better protect health policy from that interference.
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Vaping law reform: Protecting the Pacific
Vaping is on the rise and governments are scrambling to respond. Guest authors Sophia Bleakley, Clare Gim and Helen Zhang analyse the issues.
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Alcohol causes 3 million deaths each year. Eliminating conflicts of interest is vital to bringing this number down
Alcohol causes three million deaths each year, including 13.5% of deaths amongst those aged 20-39 years. But the personal and economic costs of alcohol-related harm are not met by the alcohol industry.
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Developed countries, dwindling national flexibilities, and access to essential medications during public-health emergencies
Developed countries have wound back the breadth and effectiveness of flexible obligations in international patent agreements.
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Prospects for the World Health Assembly’s pandemic instrument
The World Health Assembly (WHA) has established an intergovernmental negotiating body to “draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response”. The Assembly’s decision was made at the special session of the WHA, convened for the specific purpose of considering the benefits of such an instrument. But…
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COVID-19, patients’ mental capacity and prisoners
The coronavirus pandemic has raised an abundance of issues at the intersection of law and medicine. In recent co-authored articles, Cameron Stewart, Professor of Health, Law and Ethics at the University of Sydney Law School considers some of these issues. Mental capacity assessments for COVID-19 patients: Emergency admissions and the CARD approach In this Journal of Bioethical Inquiry article, Professor Cameron…
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Cracking the Codex: the new frontier for nutrition labelling
Food labels hit the New York Times recently when leaks from North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations suggested the US was being urged by big American food and soft-drink companies to limit the ability of the pact’s three members – Mexico, Canada and the US – to implement warning labels on unhealthy foods. There is no escaping…
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How can pacific island countries reduce the crippling burden of non-communicable diseases?
Pacific island countries and territories (PICTs) are some of the most geographically isolated in the world. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancers, tobacco-related diseases and diabetes are rampant in PICTs. These diseases are partly driven by loss of traditional diets, global trade in harmful products, and by a cluster of inter-related risk factors including tobacco use,…