The Dual Burden of Overweight and Underweight in Developing Countries
Increasingly, health systems in poor countries are simultaneously confronting undernutrition and overnutrition―not only at the national level, but also within households. (March 2006)

Community Based Health Insurance Shows Promise in India
As the only nation to require insurance companies to meet quotas for coverage of rural and low-income groups, India has spurred cooperation on CBHI initiatives among corporate insurers, NGOs, private hospitals, government officials, and community grassroots organizations. (March 2006)

The World's Youth 2006 Data Sheet

 While girls and boys are enrolling in secondary school in record numbers and early marriage is on the decline, many young people across the world still face daunting threats to their well-being—from sexually transmitted infections to complications from smoking. (February 2006)

Antimicrobial Resistance Jeopardizes Medical Advancement
Surmounting the problem requires a multipronged approach that addresses the behaviors of consumers and providers as well as the environments in which drugs are prescribed, bought, sold, licensed, and regulated. (February 2006)

Hib Vaccine Could Reduce Major Childhood Diseases
Hib disease annually causes an estimated 3 million cases of serious illness and 400,000 deaths. But despite the availability of financing for Hib vaccination, most countries eligible for GAVI funding have not introduced the vaccine, largely because of information gaps, leaving almost three-quarters of the world's children at risk for Hib disease. (February 2006)

Avian Flu and Influenza Pandemics
Avian flu is killing growing numbers of people, and outbreaks of the virus are reported in birds from Asia to Europe. This article gives an overview of the virus that causes the flu and details how it resembles the virus that caused the 1918 global flu pandemic. (January 2006)

Chronic Diseases Beleaguer Developing Countries
A rapid epidemiological transition—from infectious diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia to chronic ones such as heart disease—threatens to overwhelm the health systems and economies of poor countries. (January 2006)

The Demographic Divide: What It Is and Why It Matters
The vast gulf in birth and death rates among the world’s countries reflects a global division between mostly poor nations with relatively high birth rates and low life expectancies and mostly wealthy nations with low birth rates and life expectancies past age 75. (December 2005)

Polio Eradication Efforts Redouble After Startling Worldwide Outbreak
The resurgence of the disease, which began in 2003, appears to be under control. But questions remain about when polio can be eliminated globally, with routine vaccination rates in some developing countries not even reaching 50 percent of children age 5 and under. (December 2005)

Obesity Creeping Up on Less Developed Countries
A silent epidemic of obesity-related diseases—among them, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and Type-II diabetes—is spreading rapidly across poor and middle-income countries, where such illnesses have been overshadowed by infectious diseases and under nutrition. (October 2005)