International health news

Amnesty International claims that uncertainty over their own fate is causing serious and long-lasting psychological problems to refugees who are waiting to see what’s going to happen to the US-Australia deal. The agreement was supposed to welcome more than a thousand refugees currently in camps in Australia to the USA.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is working to improve cooperation in areas of bio-safety and bio-security. The announcement was made at the ASEAN-Canada Global Partnership Program Forum in Lao.

A study from Simon Fraser University warns of the possible adverse effects on global health from the entry of Asian tobacco companies into the global market. These companies are likely to increase marketing and lower prices of their products in order to attract clients, which can increase the number of smokers worldwide.

Country updates

Health tourism in Turkey continues to grow, with a sector growth of 12% in 2016. After being a popular destination for hair transplants and physiotherapy, the country is now becoming a major destination for eye surgery, attracting patients with low prices and high expertise.

Lancet researchers claim that Syria has become the most dangerous place on earth for health professionals. The study blames the “weaponization” of healthcare, whereby medical facilities and professionals are deliberately targeted as a strategy, for this result.

President Trump’s proposed US federal budget would cut biomedical research by 23%. The budget also proposes to eliminate the NIH’ Fogarty Center, which is dedicated to global health research and funds around 400 research projects in more than 100 universities.

Health advice

A study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Technology shows that eating purple potatoes can help prevent against stroke and heart disease. The research showed that adding 140g of purple potatoes twice a day to the diet of overweight, middle-aged people, reduced their blood pressure by around 5 point.

People who eat a lot of cheese are thinner than those who don’t, a new study from University College Dublin shows. Scientists found a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) and lower cholesterol levels in people who ate more dairy products.

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