Ugeskrift for laeger
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Ugeskrift for laeger · Sep 2006
Comparative Study[Consequences of collective violence with special focus on gender perspective].
There is increasing focus on the gender perspective related to the consequences of collective violence. Women run a greater risk of being victims of sexual violence, but few studies have focused on gender differences with respect to physical violence, sexual violations and the impact on health. Further research is needed on these issues as well as research on the identification of evidence based interventions.
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Low-income communities will within the next decades undergo rapid changes. The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes, cardio-vascular disease and cancer, will comprise an increasing proportion of the total disease burden. The results of projections indicate that the already constrained health systems will face a double burden of disease, in which HIV/AIDS and other common infectious diseases will co-exist with the new NCDs. In order for preventive measures directed towards NCD to be cost-effective, these have to be implemented within the next 10-20 years.
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Following the intensification of agriculture and the promotion of agro-chemicals in low and middle income countries, acute pesticide poisoning has become a major public health problem with more than 300,000 deaths each year around the world. The easy availability of highly toxic pesticides in the homes of farming communities has made pesticides a preferred choice for suicide with an extremely high case fatality. Similarly, the extensive use of pesticides exposes the community to both long-term and acute occupational health problems. A concerted effort is urgently needed to address this problem.
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Malnutrition is the major underlying determinant of global disease and death. Maternal undernutrition and the premature introduction of complementary foods with low energy-nutrient density lead to low birth weight, impaired growth and intellectual development, and high mortality due to infectious diseases. More than 5 million of the 10 million annual child deaths are due to underlying undernutrition. As a result of rural-urban migration and access to refined sugar and fat, overnutrition and chronic diseases are also becoming an increasing problem among the poor.
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Of the global budget for health research, only 10% is spent on the disease burden of 90% of the world's population. Investments for international health research are lacking, hampering health for the poor. ⋯ However, in order to understand the obstacles to implementing existing effective interventions, scaling up research for new drugs and vaccines must be accompanied by research in health systems, to understand the obstacles to implement existing effective interventions. The task demands political and private sector commitment.