Health and medicine/Diseases and disorders/Tropical diseases
Americans and Cubans learned from success stories and brainstormed how to address shared challenges at a high-level symposium on the future of the United States-Cuba scientific cooperation in Havana from March 20-21, 2023.
AAAS and the Cuban Academy of Sciences signed an updated Memorandum of Understanding that lays out a path for cooperation on scientific issues of mutual interest.
Sheena Cruickshank’s interest in science began with her brother’s fascination with marine life. As children in Scotland, they explored nearby tide pools and collected sea anemone and other creatures. Realizing that many people don’t have experiences that provide this window into the wonder of science and discovery, public engagement has been a way for her to share her appreciation for science.
On October 26th a short symposium was held by Science's office in Cambridge UK, on the theme of disease prevention. The symposium featured some of the speakers who had contributed to Science special feature on this topic on September 21st. Abstracts of the talks are featured below.
Richard Smith (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
Effective prevention of noncommunicable diseases will require changes in how we live, and thereby effect important economic changes across populations, sectors, and countries. What we do not know is which populations, sectors, or countries will be positively or negatively affected by such changes, nor by how much. Without this information we cannot know which policies will produce effects that are beneficial both for economies and for health.
They are next-door neighbors, sharing all the amenities and challenges of the neighborhood—oceans teeming with life, the risk of tropical diseases, a changing climate that may be giving rise to bigger and more frequent hurricanes. And yet, because the neighbors are barely on speaking terms, they cannot share the opportunities and the responsibilities that come with solving the challenges.