global health

The history of the World Health Organisation shows how global health is entangled with global politics, writes David Brydan.
Covid-19 has spread across six continents and claimed thousands of lives in a rapid space of time. Are we seeing a pandemic unfold and what can we do to protect ourselves from its spread? We spoke with Dr Freja Jephcott to find out what a pandemic is.
“Despite progress, one person still dies every 40 seconds from suicide."
Britain's Wellcome Trust global health charity is injecting £80 million into new research about treating snake bites, calling it a “hidden health crisis”. Snake bites kill 120,000 people a year and up to 400,000 people suffer life-changing injuries form bites, including amputations. Researchers point to the over 100-year-old process of making antivenom which is expensive and unreliable. The trust hopes the money will lead to some new innovations around the treatment and accessibility of treating snake bites, which overwhelmingly affect the poorest communities in Africa, Asia and South America.