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HIGHLIGHTS

Health risks in Pakistan floods

Cholera fact sheet

Doctor checks woman's blood pressure in a rural health care clinic, Lao People's Democratic Republic.

WHO/Jim Holmes

Improving developing countries' access to medical devices
9 September 2010 -- The benefits of medical devices - which range from high-cost, high-tech equipment such as linear accelerators to treat cancer to stethoscopes and wheelchairs, pacemakers and prostheses - are unevenly and unfairly distributed globally. Health experts from over 100 countries are meeting to review new evidence and agree ways to improve developing country access to life-saving medical devices.
Read the note for the media on the Global Forum on Medical Devices
Read the fact sheet on medical devices

Brazil's march towards universal coverage
7 September 2010 -- Two decades after establishing its Unified Health System, more than 75% of the country's estimated 190 million people rely exclusively on it for their health care coverage. This article from the WHO Bulletin shows that despite the various financing issues, there have been significant improvements in health-care outcomes in Brazil.
Read the WHO Bulletin article on universal health care coverage in Brazil