Cancer is a leading global cause of death and disability responsible for approximately 7.6 million deaths each year. Around one third of cancers are attributable to a small number of preventable risk factors – including smoking and the harmful consumption of alcohol – for which effective...

A global coalition of civil society and academics recently launched the Joint Action and Learning Initiative on National and Global Responsibilities for Health (JALI), which is developing a post-Millennium Development Goal (MDG) framework for global health. JALI’s mission is the achievement of...

Health inequalities represent perhaps the most consequential global health challenge and yet they persist despite increased funding and innovative programs. The United Nations is revising the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that will shape the world for many years to come. What would a...

Individuals' reproductive choices are private matters, but sexual conduct and pregnancy impose significant public health burdens. Ethical principles of public health are distinguishable from principles applied in modern bioethics. Bioethical principles have been developed at the clinical or...

To realize adolescents’ right to sexual health, state parties’ implementation of the obligations stipulated under Article 14 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa should reflect the key principles of the rights of the child,...

This article focuses on the various eugenics policies used to sterilize and /or control the reproductive capacity of women of color. The word “eugenics” comes from the Greek root meaning “well-born,” although the meaning of this term appears to be benign, the practice of “eugenics”...

In 1989 the first National Women’s Health Policy was launched in Australia. Now, 20 years later, the Federal Government has announced plans for the development of a new National Women’s Health Policy to address the health needs of Australian women. This editorial examines the role for law in...

Mali ranks 175 out of 188 countries on the Human Development Index; its health and literacy indicators are correspondingly low. As of 2013, the rate of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C)—widely regarded as a human rights violation—was 89%. In 2014, an interdisciplinary team partnered...

Chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, are the leading cause of death and disability in both the developed and developing world (excluding sub-Saharan Africa). At present, the global framework for action on chronic disease is strongly 'WHO-centric', defined by...

This paper considers how we can conceptualize a “global response” to chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) - including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and tobacco-related diseases. These diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in developed countries, and also in...