Editorial: Full-text - For a Modern Concept of Palliative Care

"Unfortunately, in most countries hospice care addresses end-of-life care."

"....This late referral to palliative care is also in contrast with the classical definition of palliative care provided by WHO: “Palliative care is ….. applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications” [6]. "

Reforming the World Health Organization (WHO) — JAMA

WHO | World Health Organization - radiation information/FAQ

WHO warns against self-medicating against radiation

17 March 2011 -- WHO is cautioning people concerned about the radiation issues in Japan against self-medicating with potassium iodide or taking products containing iodine. The advice follows reports of people using these substances in response to radiation leaks from nuclear plants in Japan. Potassium iodide should only be taken when there is a clear public health recommendation to do so.

• FAQs: Japan nuclear concerns
• More on the crisis in Japan

free full access: WHO/PLoS Collection “No Health Without Research”

"It seems astonishing that in the 21st century decisions on health care can still be made without a solid grounding in research evidence. This is true even in clinical research, whether for simple or complex interventions [1], where systematic reviews time and time again conclude that the evidence base is inadequate [2]. It is even more true in the areas of health policy and health systems, where quality research is hampered further by a lack of shared definitions, a lack of consensus on guiding principles, poor capacity (especially in low-resource regions), and methodological challenges [3],[4].
The World Health Report (WHR) for 2012 will be on the theme of “No Health without Research”. This flagship report from WHO will, for the first time in its history, focus on research for better health. The primary target audience of the report will be ministers of health in the WHO member states, and the goal of the report is to provide new ideas, innovative thinking, and pragmatic advice for member states on how to strengthen their own health research systems. The report will have the three following aims.

1. To show that research is important for meeting health needs and improving health outcomes;
2. To encourage countries to therefore invest more resources in developing and strengthening their national health research systems;
3. To argue that countries should not see research as an expense or as an afterthought, but as an investment for a better, healthier future.....cont'd

Cochrane Collaboration awarded seat on World Health Assembly

(Geneva, Switzerland – January 24, 2011) On
January 24, 2011, the
World Health Organization (WHO) awarded
The Cochrane Collaboration a seat on the World Health Assembly allowing the Collaboration to provide input on WHO health resolutions.

The Cochrane Collaboration was accepted as a Non-Governmental Organization in Official Relations
with the WHO at the WHO’s Executive Board meeting, establishing a partnership with formalized communication
between the two organizations.

You can read more in the official press release announcing this story on www.cochrane.org. It is available in Arabic, Standard Chinese, German, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

WHO Responds to BMJ Report - Medical News

Note: see prior posting regarding criticisms of WHO (June 2010)

"Financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry did not play a role in the declaration and handling of the H1N1 influenza pandemic, said Margaret Chan, MD, MPH, secretary-general of the World Health Organization.
"At no time, not for one second, did commercial interests enter my decision-making," she wrote in a letter to the editors of the BMJ, which published a report last week detailing undisclosed conflicts of interest among researchers advising the WHO.
The implication of the report was that these ties to industry may have influenced some of the guidance the advisers were giving to the WHO.
"Without question, the BMJ feature and editorial will leave many readers with the impression that WHO's decision to declare a pandemic was at least partially influenced by a desire to boost the profits of the pharmaceutical industry," Chan wrote. "The bottom line, however, is that decisions to raise the level of pandemic alert were based on clearly defined virological and epidemiological criteria. It is hard to bend these criteria, no matter what the motive."
Although Chan disagreed with any implication of untoward influence from industry, she agreed that difficult questions about conflicts of interest are warranted...."

Editorial free full access: Conflicts of interest and pandemic flu -- Godlee 340: c2947 -- BMJ