Global sustainability strategies require assessing whether countries' development trajectories are sustainable over time. However, sustainability assessments are limited because losses of natural capital and its ecosystem services through deforestation have not been comprehensively incorporated into national accounts. We update the national accounts of 80 nations that underwent tropical defores...

Tropical storms, such as cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons, present major threats to coastal communities. Around two million people worldwide have died and millions have been injured over the past two centuries as a result of tropical storms. Bangladesh is especially vulnerable to tropical cyclones, with around 718 000 deaths from them in the past 50 years. However, cyclone-related mortality in...

A serious problem is posed by the inadvertent transport of live mosquitoes aboard aircraft arriving from tropical countries where vector-borne diseases are endemic. Surveys at international airports have found many instances of live insects, particularly mosquitoes, aboard aircraft arriving from countries where malaria and arboviruses are endemic. In some instances mosquito species have been es...

The general strategy used by highincome countries to address global health challenges in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs) relies heavily on shortterm strategies designed to diminish the burden of diseases afflicting the populations of those countries. Thanks to the support and funding of international agencies, in many cases these initiatives have resulted in health improvements. However,...

In recent years, the increasing number of donors from different regions of the world is providing a new challenge for the management and selection of suitable donors. This is a worldwide problem in most countries with transplantation programs, especially due to the increase in immigration and international travel. This paper elaborates recommendations regarding the selection criteria for donors...

MEDICINE plays an increasingly important role in international relations, and particularly in our interdependence with Latin America. For the countries south of the Rio Grande, the practice of tropical medicine is of major significance. Tropical medicine is not only curative medicine, diagnosis and treatment of diseases that tend to occur more frequently in the tropics, but also preventive medi...

Editorials 311 In all countries with temperate climates, a clear seasonal peak in influenza activity occurs during the winter months. 1 In countries with tropical or subtropical climates, however , influenza seasonality is more variable and influenza activity can be observed year-round – although it often is more intense during the rainy seasons. 2 Effective surveillance is essential for unders...

We assessed the impacts of anthropogenic threats on 93 protected areas in 22 tropical countries to test the hypothesis that parks are an effective means to protect tropical biodiversity. We found that the majority of parks are successful at stopping land clearing, and to a lesser degree effective at mitigating logging, hunting, fire, and grazing. Park effectiveness correlates with basic managem...