WHO Fact Sheet: Tobacco

This case study examines the controversy that followed a 2002 report suggesting that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increased heart disease and stroke risk among postmenopausal women. The report reversed two decades of standard HRT practices and resulted in confusion and anguish for millions of women who were either abruptly taken off hormones or denied treatment. Through this case, students consider the how results were shaped by research methods, raising questions about what constituted reliable evidence.…

This report from the World Health Organization (WHO) discusses the health of cities and particularly focuses on how urbanization, city leaders, and urban design affect public health outcomes such as noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and road safety. Cities, which are home to more than half of the world's population, both face and can impact several public health challenges: sanitation, air pollution, urban violence, road safety, and access to healthy food and spaces. Road traffic injuries and…

This Lancet Series reviews the rise of obesity in China, wherein more than half the adult population are now living with overweight or obesity. While the prevalence of obesity has been well-documented in high-income countries, the growing trends in low- and middle-income countries have been less publicized. Moreover, given that much of the current literature on first-line treatment of overweight and obesity are based on clinical trials with poor racial and ethnic diversity, questions remain…