Asia Pacific | FOCUS May 16, 2020

Caught in Trump-China feud, WHO leader under siege

The internal debate over the WHO’s messaging around China provides a window into the challenges facing the 72-year-old U.N. organization and its leader.

World / Science & Health Oct 1, 2019

Food fight: New review of red meat's risks carves path of contention

Cutting back on red and processed meat brings few if any health benefits, according to a review of studies involving millions of people, a finding that contradicts dietary advice of leading international agencies and raised immediate objections from many health experts. Most people can continue ...

World / Science & Health Apr 24, 2016

How the World Health Organization's cancer agency confuses consumers

Thanks to scientists working under the auspices of the World Health Organization, you can be fairly sure your toothbrush won't give you cancer. Over four decades, a WHO research agency has assessed 989 substances and activities, ranging from arsenic to hair dressing. It found ...

World / Science & Health Feb 11, 2016

Heal thyself: U.N.'s WHO at crossroads; experts call for fresh focus, structure

When executive board members of the World Health Organization sat down for their annual meeting in Geneva in January, many powerful figures spoke forcefully of the need to reform the leading global authority on health and disease. "It's time to stop talking," Stewart Jessamine, New ...

World / Science & Health May 30, 2015

Is nicotine addiction bad for your health?

Since he ditched Marlboro Lights five years ago, Daniel's fix is fruit-flavored nicotine gum that comes in neat, pop-out strips. He gets through 12 to 15 pieces a day and says he has "packets of the stuff" stashed all over. But he doesn't see ...

World / Science & Health Oct 4, 2014

Benefits of parkrun go well beyond physical

The thousands of Britons who take to their local green space each week for a mass 5 km parkrun can expect to reap health benefits well beyond losing 1 kg and lowering their blood pressure. Scientists who have studied the mass participation events, which from ...

World / Science & Health | FOCUS Aug 21, 2014

The search for new antibiotics turns to insect guts and genome mining

Pampering leafcutter ants with fragrant rose petals and fresh oranges may seem an unlikely way to rescue modern medicine, but scientists at a lab in eastern England think it is well worth trying. As the world cries out for new antibiotics, researchers at the John ...

World / Science & Health Aug 3, 2014

Africa's Ebola fight weakens by spread among health workers

Jenneh became a nurse in Sierra Leone 15 years ago with the hope of saving lives in one of the world's poorest countries. Now she fears for her own after three of her colleagues died of Ebola. Health workers like Jenneh are on the front ...