Dec. 1 marks World AIDS Day. It's a time to remember over 35 million people who have died from the disease since the early-1980s and show support for those who are struggling with it now. It's also a chance for health organizations and charities to raise awareness about testing and treatment. [...] Across the globe, approximately 34 million people suffer from HIV/AIDS, including more than 1.2 million who live in the United States. 

The strengthening cooperation between the United Nations World Food Program and the Korean government is helping eradicate poverty worldwide and equipping communities against future disasters, the humanitarian agency’s leading official said during a visit to Korea in early November. 

International and regional experts convened at The Economist’s Global Crisis of Obesity Summit in Dubai this week to discuss the need for a monumental shift in the way public and private sector organizations, and the wider society, approach the challenges presented by obesity, and resulting diseases including diabetes.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have helped save millions of lives. They have succeeded in part by encouraging recipient countries to take the lead and by involving civil society in their efforts. In 2000, the UN adopted eight Millennium Development Goals, one of which aimed to reduce child mortality by two-thirds between 1991 and 2015.

In many isolated communities around the world, basic cellphones serve as medics and smartphones as diagnostic clinics. Mobile devices, particularly inexpensive basic cellphones, expand the reach and effectiveness of health care in the developing world as health workers send text-based medical advice, keep patients’ records, monitor for epidemic outbreaks and keep account of medical supplies. 

The administration further relaxed economic restrictions on Cuba Friday, allowing more collaboration on medical research, the approval of Cuban drugs for import and the lifting of monetary limits on cigars and rum imports.The moves make the U.S. openings to Cuba "irreversible," President Barack Obama said in a statement.

The progress made towards reducing poverty and improving global health over the last 15 years surpasses that made in the whole history of mankind, explains Joe Cerrell. He outlines the story so far, what drove some of the main achievements, and stresses the importance of Britain’s commitment to overseas development aid.

Fifteen PharmD students from the Keck School of Pharmacy embarked on an outreach trip to rural Romania to deliver much-needed medical care to citizens, according to USC News. Dr. Naomi Florea, an associate professor of clinical pharmacy, organized the two-week trip in July as part of the school’s Global Health Initiative. Three physicians and several Romanian translators accompanied the students.