Last week I had a bit of a rant about equitable distribution of care. Later, in a debate with a colleague, I was urged to consider solutions rather than just reiterate well-known problems. Ok, point well taken, my friend. Let’s start with the bottom line – if we’re going to provide quality care, we’re going […]
Since the the unrest and protests in Moldova and Iran in 2009, everyone’s been talking about a “Twitter Revolution.” Breathless media reports have cited Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms as the great democratizers of the 21st Century. After the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, the Red Cross raised $24 million in five […]
First, I want to welcome Julia Robinson to Global Health. Julia joins us with a diverse background in health advocacy and development work – most recently in South Africa working at mothers2mothers and previously in Sierra Leone at the West Africa Fistula Foundation. As a passionate advocate for women’s health rights and with a lens of […]
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948, is the foundational document of modern human rights. In Article 25, the UDHR lays out the right to health: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and […]
If I had to pick a phrase to describe the Global Health arena in 2010, I would choose “2 steps forward, 1 step back”. With tightened purse strings, public health programs had hands tied in many ways; but on the research front, some of the breakthroughs were mind-blowing. All in all, it was a year […]
This just in from my colleague at PRI’s The World – a series called “Rationing Health: Who Lives? Who Decides?”, airing on public radio and online starting tomorrow. The series takes a look at four countries where different approaches to the distribution of healthcare have led to ethical dilemmas, including: South Africa – Rationing by Committee […]
I’ve just returned from a drumming ceremony commemorating World AIDS Day 2010. In my more jaded moments, it’s easy to dismiss these sorts of days as attempts by silos of the public health community to get their share of the limelight. But for those living with HIV and on the front lines of the fight, […]
INSEAD recently hosted a conference in Paris on the future of the healthcare industry. They had a number of interesting speakers, including Harpal Singh of Fortis Healthcare. Fortis is a leading provider of hospitals in India, and currently the fastest growing. Their investor presentation provides a look into the future of the business of healthcare […]
What does the status of women have to do with health outcomes? Karen Grepin posted an interesting set of statistics a few days ago in her article, Men are Dogs. Aren’t they? Most people intuitively believe that serodiscordancy (when one partner in a steady relationship is HIV-positive and the other is not) is a result of the […]
I recently finished reading The Spirit Level, a book which presents statistical evidence that more equal societies nearly always do better in every measure of social cohesion and human well-being. Check out this table on infant mortality. The vertical axis represents the level of infant mortality in developed countries; the horizontal axis represents levels of […]
A quick post to highlight an event coming up in New York from the FPA: Infectious Diseases and Global Health: Challenges and Priorities The Foreign Policy Association cordially invites you to attend the inaugural Dame Jillian Sackler Distinguished Lecture with Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who will […]
Today, the New York Times launched an excellent series called Fixes, co-written by veteran storyteller of social entrepreneurs, David Bornstein. (A thank you to my colleague, Carey, for referring me here.) The inaugural article highlights the use of motorcycles by healthcare workers to reach people in rural areas, a significant challenge in some of the […]
An article in the Economist last week profiled the progress that has been made on the Millennium Development Goals since 1990. The chart below shows selected targets and global progress: I was interested (though not surprised) to learn that China and India are responsible for the bulk of the progress that has been made. The article states: Take […]
Dr. Mitch Besser’s inspiring TED talk from Oxford has recently been posted on the TED website. “In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV infections are more prevalent and doctors scarcer than anywhere else in the world. With a lack of medical professionals, Mitchell Besser enlisted the help of his patients to create mothers2mothers — an extraordinary network of HIV-positive […]
As MDG summiters head home this weekend, they would be advised to read this excellent article by Nandini Oomman. This week’s summit on the Millennium Development Goals, which concluded Wednesday, culminated in the Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s announcement of a 5-year, $40 billion initiative for maternal and child health. While the initiative is certainly a welcome one, […]