The World Health Organization is a key part of the international system for assessing and responding to emerging threats from infectious and other diseases, but there has been widespread criticism of the body following its role in the disappointing and dysfunctional response to the 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Margaret Chan, who has led the agency for the past decade, steps down in 2017 and the search for her successor is underway. In an Editorial, the PLOS Medicine Editors discuss some of the challenges facing the organization and priorities for its reform, and reflect on the qualities which will be required in the next Director-General.
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Editorial
A Global Champion for Health—WHO’s Next?
PLOS Medicine: published June 28, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002059
Essays
Delinking Investment in Antibiotic Research and Development from Sales Revenues: The Challenges of Transforming a Promising Idea into Reality
PLOS Medicine: published June 14, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002043
Why Most Clinical Research Is Not Useful
PLOS Medicine: published June 21, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002049
Perspectives
Malaria Epidemiology in Kilifi, Kenya during the 21st Century: What Next?
PLOS Medicine: published June 28, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002048
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Weighing Evidence from Mendelian Randomization—Early-Life Obesity as a Causal Factor in Multiple Sclerosis?
PLOS Medicine: published June 28, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002054
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Policy Forum
Direct-to-consumer Marketing to People with Hemophilia
PLOS Medicine: published June 14, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001996
Guidelines and Guidance
Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology—Nutritional Epidemiology (STROBE-nut): An Extension of the STROBE Statement
PLOS Medicine: published June 7, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002036
Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting: the GATHER statement
PLOS Medicine: published June 28, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002056
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Research Articles
Inter-pregnancy Weight Change and Risks of Severe Birth-Asphyxia-Related Outcomes in Singleton Infants Born at Term: A Nationwide Swedish Cohort Study
PLOS Medicine: published June 7, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002033
Early Childhood Developmental Status in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: National, Regional, and Global Prevalence Estimates Using Predictive Modeling
PLOS Medicine: published June 7, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002034
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Impact Evaluation of a System-Wide Chronic Disease Management Program on Health Service Utilisation: A Propensity-Matched Cohort Study
PLOS Medicine: published June 7, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002035
Phosphodiesterase Type 5 Inhibitors and Risk of Malignant Melanoma: Matched Cohort Study Using Primary Care Data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink
PLOS Medicine: published June 14, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002037
Plant-Based Dietary Patterns and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in US Men and Women: Results from Three Prospective Cohort Studies
PLOS Medicine: published June 14, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002039
Novel Three-Day, Community-Based, Nonpharmacological Group Intervention for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain (COPERS): A Randomised Clinical Trial
PLOS Medicine: published June 14, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002040
Geographical Inequalities and Social and Environmental Risk Factors for Under-Five Mortality in Ghana in 2000 and 2010: Bayesian Spatial Analysis of Census Data
PLOS Medicine: published June 21, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002038
Prediction of Bladder Outcomes after Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
PLOS Medicine: published June 21, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002041
Investigating the Causal Relationship of C-Reactive Protein with 32 Complex Somatic and Psychiatric Outcomes: A Large-Scale Cross-Consortium Mendelian Randomization Study
PLOS Medicine: published June 21, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001976
Exclusive Breastfeeding and Cognition, Executive Function, and Behavioural Disorders in Primary School-Aged Children in Rural South Africa: A Cohort Analysis
PLOS Medicine: published June 21, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002044
Agreements between Industry and Academia on Publication Rights: A Retrospective Study of Protocols and Publications of Randomized Clinical Trials
PLOS Medicine: published June 28, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002046
Age, Spatial, and Temporal Variations in Hospital Admissions with Malaria in Kilifi County, Kenya: A 25-Year Longitudinal Observational Study
PLOS Medicine: published June 28, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002047
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The Effect of Sitagliptin on Carotid Artery Atherosclerosis in Type 2 Diabetes: The PROLOGUE Randomized Controlled Trial
PLOS Medicine: published June 28, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002051
Obesity and Multiple Sclerosis: A Mendelian Randomization Study
PLOS Medicine: published June 28, 2016 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002053