As both a doctor and a public health professional, I am transfixed by one compelling question: Why are public health issues and debates so often limited to just doctors and those with abbreviations like MBBS, MD, MS or MPH added to their names? Does the ambit of health not extend to other areas of specialization and expertise?

Premature birth is the biggest cause of infant mortality worldwide, yet most of those deaths could be readily prevented, according to a 2 May report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and child-health advocacy groups. The report summarizes the results of a comprehensive survey of the problem, and says that pre-term births are on the rise —a worrying trend — but that low-income countries could reduce deaths among these infants by introducing a few affordable key health-care practices.

Rather than just a medical issue health status of a population is now considered an important economic indicator of development for any economy. Health services have a major influence on the well-being of individuals and societies, and are an important part of a nation's politics and economy.

Female health workers in India face an increasing workload that affects their performance. The authors did a study in 2 districts of West Bengal, India, to quantify their workload and identify determinants of good performance.

Present trends suggest that many of the poorest countries in the world, including many in sub-Saharan Africa, will not meet the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially MDG 4 (reducing under-five mortality) and MDG 5 (reducing maternal mortality). Even in those countries that are on track to meet health MDGs, striking inequities exist among countries and among socioeconomic groups within them, despite effective and cost-effective interventions being available to improve population health, including that of vulnerable groups.

A draconian new law aims to toughen France's relaxed approach to conflicts of interest for scientists who advise the government on pharmaceuticals.

English libel law was used to threaten me, but I had to speak out, says Peter Wilmshurst, the cardiologist sued for voicing safety concerns.

Over the past 15 years, performance-based financing has been implemented in an increasing number of developing countries,
particularly in Africa, as a means of improving health worker performance. Scaling up to national implementation in Burundi and
Rwanda has encouraged proponents of performance-based financing to view it as more than a financing mechanism, but increasingly
as a strategic tool to reform the health sector. We resist such a notion on the grounds that results-based and economically driven