Publication of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010) is a landmark event and we hope, for health. The collaboration of 486 scientists from 302 institutions in 50 countries has produced an important contribution to our understanding of present and future health priorities for countries and the global community. What is the GBD 2010? Launched in 2007, it is a consortium of seven partners: Harvard University; the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Seattle; Johns Hopkins University; the University of Queensland; Imperial

Many assume that further health improvements will be difficult for countries that have entered an era of chronic non-communicable diseases and life expectancies that are already above 70 years. If life expectancy is lower, it is possible to make gigantic strides given modest resources. (Correspondence)

Data, transformed through aggregation and analysis into useful information, are key elements for decision making. This notion is true in general and has become a precept for promotion of health and control of disease. Tobacco use globally is the main preventable contributor to poor health and premature death.1 In The Lancet, Gary Giovino and colleagues2 describe the acquisition of high-quality data for tobacco use from 14 countries through the employment of well-designed and well-implemented surveys, the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), with 16 countries studied in total.

Despite the high global burden of diseases caused by tobacco, valid and comparable prevalence data for patterns of adult tobacco use and factors influencing use are absent for many low-income and middle-income countries. We assess these patterns through analysis of data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS).

This meta-analysis included individual participant data from 22 trials of statin versus control (n=134 537; mean LDL cholesterol diff erence 1·08 mmol/L; median follow-up 4·8 years) and fi ve trials of more versus less statin (n=39 612; diff erence 0·51 mmol/L; 5·1 years). Major vascular events were major coronary events (ie, non-fatal myocardial infarction or coronary death), strokes, or coronary revascularisations. Participants were separated into fi ve categories of baseline 5-year major vascular event risk on control therapy (no statin or low-intensity statin) (

Data from different national and regional surveys show that hypertension is common in developing countries, particularly in urban areas, and that rates of awareness, treatment, and control are low. Several hypertension risk factors seem to be more common in developing countries than in developed regions. Findings from serial surveys show an increasing prevalence of hypertension in developing countries, possibly caused by urbanisation, ageing of population, changes to dietary habits, and social stress.

A recent ruling by Germany's Supreme Court has caused a public storm over the ethical conduct of doctors and drug companies in the country. Rob Hyde reports from Hamburg.

The Indian Government is planning to launch a new urban health-care programme in its latest step towards universal health-care coverage in the country. Soumyadeep Bhaumik reports.

WHO and partners hope that they can fi nally rid the world of polio. But insurgency, Taliban-initiated boycotts, and a US$1 billion funding defi cit will not make it an easy task. Dara Mohammadi reports.

Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. We summarise present global efforts to counteract this problem and point the way forward to address the pandemic of physical inactivity.