Editing 2003 (section)

== Health ==
{{Further|Category:2003 in health}}
The [[World Health Organization]] set "shaping the future" as its health focus for 2003, seeking to improve health systems and [[primary health care]] for the poor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walt |first=G. |date=2004-01-03 |title=WHO's World Health Report 2003 |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=328 |issue=7430 |pages=6 |doi=10.1136/bmj.328.7430.6 |issn=0959-8138 |pmc=313882 |pmid=14703524}}</ref> It adopted its first international agreement, the [[WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control]].<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=493}} Global food production increased from 2002 but fell short of the amount produced in 2001. Much of southern Africa was dependent on [[food aid]] early in the year following drought-related crop failures in 2002.<ref name=":52">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/britannicabookof0000keta/ |title=Britannica Book of the Year 2004 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |year=2004 |isbn=1-59339-100-5 |editor-last=Sparks |editor-first=Karen Jacobs}}</ref>{{Rp|page=146}}

[[SARS]] became a major health concern by April following the spread of [[SARS-CoV-1]].<ref name=":13" /> Fearing a pandemic, the [[World Health Organization]] issued a recommendation to avoid non-essential travel to [[Guangdong]] and [[Hong Kong]].<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=137}} The spread ended with fewer than 800 deaths.<ref name=":13" /> Cases of [[monkeypox]] occurred in the Western Hemisphere for the first time when 28 prairie dogs infected with the [[monkeypox virus]] were imported to Wisconsin.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=140}} [[Avian influenza]] spread to poultry in Europe, and a [[Global spread of H5N1|human case]] was diagnosed in Hong Kong, leading to the patient's death. Two instances of [[bovine spongiform encephalopathy]] was diagnosed in cows in Canada and the United States.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=147}}

Several treatments for cancer were tested or approved in 2003, including [[Avastin]], [[Erbitux]], [[Genasense]], and [[Velcade]], with mixed results. Developments in [[HIV/AIDS]] prevention included the unsuccessful [[AIDSVAX]] vaccine by [[VaxGen]] and the beginning of trials for [[enfuvirtide]].<ref name=":13" /> The [[RTS,S]] malaria vaccine began trials for children in Mozambique after it was shown to be safe for adults in several nations, while human trials began in the United States for an Ebola vaccine.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=480}}

Several studies were published in 2003 warning of health effects for [[hormone replacement therapy]] in [[postmenopausal]] women, causing fear around the procedure. Analysis of retroviral [[gene therapy]] for [[severe combined immunodeficiency]] found that its life-threatening side effects were caused by the retrovirus affecting the [[LMO2]] gene. Study of [[bone marrow]] cells cast doubt on [[cellular differentiation]] in [[stem-cell therapy]], moving focus toward [[cell fusion]].<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |date=2004 |title=2003: The good, the bad and the unexpected |journal=Nature Medicine |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=8 |doi=10.1038/nm0104-8 |issn=1078-8956 |pmc=7095928}}</ref>