Few factors influence health care standards in the United States today more than the actions of the Joint Commission (formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations). And few opportunities hold more promise for increasing the ...

Lymphedema in the tropics has two main causes: lymphatic filariasis caused by the parasitic nematode Wuchereria bancrofti, transmitted by mosquitoes, and podoconiosis, caused by microsilica particles from red-clay volcanic soil that enter the skin of the feet.

Although traumatic brain injury and traumatic amputations may be signature wounds of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the toll on military personnel from diseases and nonbattle injuries is substantial — and largely preventable. The critical element is command support.

Gonorrhea, which disproportionately affects marginalized populations, is the second most commonly reported communicable disease in the United States. Over the past 3 years, the gonococcus has shown decreased susceptibility to our last line of antimicrobial defense.

Government austerity is likely to hit public health programs hard, as these programs compete for funds against the health care delivery juggernaut. But such an approach seems likely to hamper efforts to improve population health and reduce medical spending.

U.S. parents who decline or delay selected vaccinations or refuse to vaccinate their children are a diverse group. Vaccine coverage can be increased by focusing on parents who encounter barriers to obtaining vaccines or hesitate because of fears about safety.

By law, dietary supplements whose ingredients were not sold in the United States before 1994 require demonstration of a “reasonable expectation of safety” — a currently unenforced requirement. Will the FDA's proposed new guidance in this area be adequate?

Of the 100,000-plus implantable cardioverter–defibrillators (ICDs) implanted in the United States annually, at least 25% are generator replacements required for depleted batteries. Should all those patients be receiving replacement ICDs?

Whereas effective treatment for noncommunicable diseases may be too costly to disseminate globally, opioids for pain control are cheap to produce. Yet 80% of the population, including millions of patients with terminal cancer, lacks adequate access to pain treatment.

An Institute of Medicine committee has found that the magnitude of pain in the United States is vast — and costly. It concluded that relieving acute and chronic pain is a significant overlooked problem and that education is key to the cultural transformation required.

On December 7, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled an FDA decision to approve over-the-counter sales of Plan B One-Step. Although the drug can be used safely without medical supervision, it apparently poses unacceptable political risks.

In September, representatives from 192 countries met at a UN conference on noncommunicable diseases, turning international attention from the devastation wrought by well-known epidemics such as those of AIDS and malaria to a quieter, though no less dangerous, threat.

The world faces a shortage of about 4.3 million health professionals required for delivering essential services. The WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel addresses the migration of health workers from lower-income countries.

Somalia has been in the grips of disaster for two decades. Throughout this past summer, the human catastrophe dramatically worsened. Severe malnutrition and measles are rampant among Somali refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia and internally displaced people within Somalia.

One of the factors driving vaccination policy is societal value, one measure of which is cost-effectiveness. Unlike most U.S. public health institutions, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices explicitly considers cost-effectiveness in making recommendations.

The new U.S. dietary guidelines may have limited direct educational influence, but they will affect Americans' diets through federal food policies and food-assistance programs. The new guidelines represent a mix of progress and lost opportunities.

Overconsumption of foods containing excessive salt, sugar, and unhealthful fats poses a public health threat in the United States. A possible policy approach to addressing the threat that recognizes our free-market ideals is “cap and trade” of unhealthy ingredients.