A recent court case between the Indian Government and pharmaceutical company, Novartis, has caused a stir in the global community. Novartis is challenging Section 3(d) of India’s Patent Act, which requires companies to prove that their drug is more successful than alternative treatments for a disease to receive or extend a patent.
To get around this regulation, many companies begin “evergreening” – making minor changes to a drug that may not improve its efficacy but claim it does in order to extend its patent. If Novartis succeeds, this may open the door for other companies to follow suit, ultimately driving up prices for crucial medicines produced in India and needed around the world.
Unsafe abortion due to unintended pregnancies has become a leading cause in maternal death, and this practice occurs often in areas where abortion has been outlawed. In fact, abortion rates are higher in areas where the practice has been deemed illegal—evidence that there are other factors to consider. In this video produced by the Guttmacher Institute, family planning and modern contraceptive methods are offered as solutions to lower rates of unintended pregnancies and abortions worldwide.
This post was written jointly by Sarah Simpson and myself.
The Food & Drug Administration, better known as the FDA, is the regulatory arm of the US government responsible for ensuring the safety of the food and drugs Americans consume. As our food, drugs and products travel from around the world to our table, the FDA’s role has become increasingly more globalized.
Recently FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg sat down with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Global Health Policy Center to discuss the FDA’s more globalized role. She argues that the FDA serves an often underappreciated role in the global economy, and that it is important that they continue to receive funding to build partnerships, supply chains, and monitoring systems.
Because of this increasing globalization, the FDA has been pursuing more international partnerships and relationships to ensure the safety of imported goods as well as domestic ones. This has led them to create physical offices in several countries around the world such as Chile, South Africa, China, and India.
While the FDA by no means has an unblemished record, this is yet another example of a global health initiative threatened by budget cuts (particularly in an election year), and why we need to fight to maintain funding for global health programs.
Do you or someone you know have a big black dog following them? The World Health Organization recently collaborated with illustrator Matthew Johnstone, author of “I Had a Black Dog”, to mark the 20th anniversary of World Mental Health Day as designated by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH). Initiated in 1992, World Mental Health Day signifies a day to encourage public discussion of mental disorders and to bring awareness to investments in mental disorder prevention, promotion and treatment services. This year’s theme is “Depression: A Global Health Crisis”. In the book “I Had a Black Dog”, Johnstone chronicles his struggle with depression through narrative and illustrations. Interestingly, the “black dog” reference was popularized by Winston Churchill, a long-time sufferer of depression and mental illness. Using Johnstone’s illustrations, WHO has come up with the series of videos, featured below that highlight symptoms of this illness along with ways to prevent and treat it.
Depression is one of the world’s most widespread illnesses, often co-existing with other serious illnesses. It also doesn’t discriminate and anyone from men to women, adults to children, the rich to the poor can be affected. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is a common mental disorder with more than 350 million people suffering from this “hidden burden” world-wide.
As these videos show, depression is different from one’s usual mood fluctuations. Depression not only makes you feel sadness for long periods of time, but it also interferes with your ability to function and perform everyday activities at work, school or home. Effective treatments include psychosocial treatment and medication. The active involvement of depressed people and those who are close to them in addressing depression is key. The first step in treating this illness is to recognize the depression and seek support. The earlier the treatment begins, the more effective it is in treating this illness that affects so many people.
This video presents eLENA – an online library of evidence-informed guidelines for an expanding list of nutrition interventions. eLENA is a single point of reference for:
– latest nutrition guidelines and recommendations
– scientific evidence supporting the guidelines
– statements on biological, behavioural and contextual rationale
– commentaries from invited experts
– related information
eLENA aims to help countries successfully implement and scale-up nutrition interventions by informing as well as guiding policy development and programme design.
IH CONNECT 