SciDev.Net

China must confront changing diets, more sedentary lives, and a 'plump is prosperous' culture to halt obesity, say Rachel Huxley and Yangfeng Wu.

A meeting of African scientists and ministers on the environment's impact on health is welcome, if long overdue, says an editorial in The Lancet.

African countries must set money aside for malaria vaccines now, and hire business leaders to run control programmes, says Tom Egwang.

A Peruvian clinic's treatment of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis is an example to the developing world, says Mario C. Raviglione.

Malaria control efforts should be joined with those of neglected tropical diseases to achieve eradication, say Peter J. Hotez and David H. Molyneux.

Cancer care in Africa faces the same challenges as general healthcare, but also needs local data and targeted solutions, says Twalib Ngoma.

To stem the spread of obesity, we must study the web of commercial interests and strategies driving it, says Jonathan Wells.

We need better global monitoring for chronic diseases before we can really tackle the risks factors and prevent illness, says Colin Mathers.

Developing nations must stop aping the North's mental health services and use strategies tailored to their own needs, says Vikram Patel.

Multidrug-resistant TB needs more research to equip healthcare workers with the right tools, write Frank G. J. Cobelens and colleagues.

Tadataka Yamada, Alice Dautry and Mark Walport want to see better coordination and financing for a global H5N1 virus vaccine stockpile.

The EU's 'Blue Card' could rob Africa of its highly-skilled workers and reverse gains made in fighting poverty and poor health, says Peter Ngatia.

Researchers are putting women's lives at risk by being too cautious about trialling drugs during pregnancy, say Nicholas J. White and colleagues.

Non-communicable disease treatment has a lot to learn from tuberculosis control programmes, say Anthony D. Harries and colleagues.

Doruk Ozgediz and Robert Riviello make the case for devoting more resources to easily treated surgical conditions in Africa.

Public-private partnership organisations have failed to include African researchers on an equal basis, say T. J. Tucker and M. W. Makgoba.

African malaria research networks have helped scientists combat the disease, but they need more stable support and longer-term funding, says Thomas Egwang.

The UN programme for HIV/AIDS is out of touch with reality and hindering health capacity building, argues Roger England.

Hypertensive disease kills large numbers in developing countries, but efforts to tackle it are lacking, say Stephen MacMahon and colleagues.

Successful vaccination against the main causes of pneumonia will complicate care of remaining cases, say J. Anthony G. Scott and Mike English.