SciDev.Net

China must confront changing diets, more sedentary lives, and a 'plump is prosperous' culture to halt obesity, say Rachel Huxley and Yangfeng Wu.

A meeting of African scientists and ministers on the environment's impact on health is welcome, if long overdue, says an editorial in The Lancet.

The common image of China as a big carbon polluter belies the clean energy miracle currently underway in the country, says Wu Changhua.

African countries must set money aside for malaria vaccines now, and hire business leaders to run control programmes, says Tom Egwang.

Biotechnology is only one of a set of approaches needed to solve the world's problems, says an editorial in Nature Biotechnology.

Improved forecasting and mitigation strategies are essential to limiting the damage caused by tropical cyclones, says Peter J. Webster.

A Peruvian clinic's treatment of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis is an example to the developing world, says Mario C. Raviglione.

Climate-change reporting is woefully inadequate because too often editors lack interest and assign writers without expertise, says James Fahn.

Malaria control efforts should be joined with those of neglected tropical diseases to achieve eradication, say Peter J. Hotez and David H. Molyneux.

Neglect of science and technology in African universities has been compounded by a failure to focus research on the continent's needs, says Mammo Muchie.

Measures should be put in place to ensure that innovative scientific information is available to Chinese researchers, says Lan Xue.

One of the most serious problems faced by Guatemala is its increasing brain drain, says a leading scientist.

Scientists, not government, should lead efforts to explain the benefits and risks of modern technology, says Li Daguang.

Cancer care in Africa faces the same challenges as general healthcare, but also needs local data and targeted solutions, says Twalib Ngoma.

To stem the spread of obesity, we must study the web of commercial interests and strategies driving it, says Jonathan Wells.

We need better global monitoring for chronic diseases before we can really tackle the risks factors and prevent illness, says Colin Mathers.

Developing nations must stop aping the North's mental health services and use strategies tailored to their own needs, says Vikram Patel.

Training tree fellers in forest management can cut tree damage and carbon emissions from degradation, argue Francis E. Putz and colleagues.

Researchers' preference for publishing in globally recognised journals is skewing the direction of scientific inquiry away from local research, writes Priya Shetty.

Multidrug-resistant TB needs more research to equip healthcare workers with the right tools, write Frank G. J. Cobelens and colleagues.