Introduction: Asbestos has been used for thousands of years but only at a large industrial scale for about 100–150 years. The first identified disease was asbestosis, a type of incurable pneumoconiosis caused by asbestos dust and fibres. The latest estimate of global number of asbestosis deaths from the Global Burden of Disease estimate 2016 is 3495. Asbestos-caused cancer was identified in the late 1930’s but despite today’s overwhelming evidence of the strong carcinogenicity of all asbestos types, including chrysotile, it is still widely used globally. Various estimates have been made over time including those of World Health Organization and International Labour Organization: 107,000–112,000 deaths. Present estimates are much higher. Objective: This article summarizes the special edition of this Journal related to asbestos and key aspects of the past and present of the asbestos problem globally. The objective is to collect and provide the latest evidence of the magnitude of asbestos-related diseases and to provide the present best data for revitalizing the International Labor Organization/World Health Organization Joint Program on Asbestos-related Diseases. Methods: Documentation on asbestos-related diseases, their recognition, reporting, compensation and prevention efforts were examined, in particular from the regulatory and prevention point of view. Estimated global numbers of incidence and mortality of asbestos-related diseases were examined. Results: Asbestos causes an estimated 255,000 deaths (243,223–260,029) annually according to latest knowledge, of which work-related exposures are responsible for 233,000 deaths (222,322–242,802). In the European Union, United States of America and in other high income economies (World Health Organization regional classification) the direct costs for sickness, early retirement and death, including production losses, have been estimated to be very high; in the Western European countries and European Union, and equivalent of 0.70% of the Gross Domestic Product or 114 × 109 United States Dollars. Intangible costs could be much higher. When applying the Value of Statistical Life of 4 million EUR per cancer death used by the European Commission, we arrived at 410 × 109 United States Dollars loss related to occupational cancer and 340 × 109 related to asbestos exposure at work, while the human suffering and loss of life is impossible to quantify. The numbers and costs are increasing practically in every country and region in the world. Asbestos has been banned in 55 countries but is used widely today; some 2,030,000 tons consumed annually according to the latest available consumption data. Every 20 tons of asbestos produced and consumed kills a person somewhere in the world. Buying 1 kg of asbestos powder, e.g., in Asia, costs 0.38 United States Dollars, and 20 tons would cost in such retail market 7600 United States Dollars. Conclusions: Present efforts to eliminate this man-made problem, in fact an epidemiological disaster, and preventing exposures leading to it are insuff...

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The IUTCs are significantly overused in hospitalized medical patients and careful attention to this aspect of medical care may reduce catheter-related complications by primary prevention.

The information drawn from this study demonstrates the enormous variation in suicidal behavior across the areas involved in the START Study. Further research is needed to assess the reliability of the established data-recording systems for suicidal behaviors. The baseline data established in START may allow the development of suicide prevention initiatives sensitive to variation in the profile of suicide across different locations.

Today_s urban settings are redefining the field of public health. The complex dynamics of cities, with their concentration of the poorest and most vulnerable (even within the developed world) pose an urgent challenge to the health community. While retaining fidelity to the core principles of disease prevention and control, major adjustments are needed in the systems and approaches to effectively reach those with the greatest health risks (and the least resilience) within today_s urban environment. This is particularly relevant to infectious disease prevention and control. Controlling and preventing HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and vector-borne diseases like malaria are among the key global health priorities, particularly in poor urban settings. The challenge in slums and informal settlements is not in identifying which interventions work, but rather in ensuring that informal settlers: (1) are captured in health statistics that define disease epidemiology and (2) are provided opportunities equal to the rest of the population to access proven interventions. Growing international attention to the plight of slum dwellers and informal settlers, embodied by Goal 7 Target 11 of the Millennium Development Goals, and the considerable resources being mobilized by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, among others, provide an unprecedented potential opportunity for countries to seriously address the structural and intermediate determinants of poor health in these settings. Viewed within the framework of the Bsocial determinants of disease^model, preventing and controlling HIV/AIDS, TB and vectorborne diseases requires broad and integrated interventions that address the underlying causes of inequity that result in poorer health and worse health outcomes for the urban poor. We examine insights into effective approaches to disease control and prevention within poor urban settings under a comprehensive social development agenda.