2013 has been a year fraught with many challenges for democracy. One could circle the globe and find democratic struggles in every corner of it- from Maldives to Thailand, in Egypt and Iran, Venezuela to Burma, and of course the United States (I still shudder when thinking about the October government shutdown). Many of these […]
Photo Credit: Village Earth Press The world just commemorated World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, 2013: the 26th World AIDS Day. As we observed events unfold, from Kuala Lumpur, to London, Washington, D.C. and Cape Town, one common thread was apparent: partnership. If there is to be a common denominator in each thriving battle against […]
For a large number of refugees fleeing Syria, life in the place they end up is no less a struggle. Many Syrians looking to escape the ravages of war in their home country have made their way to Bulgaria (via Turkey) — the country I now call home. The problem is that the influx has […]
In my update on Thailand and Maldives a few weeks ago, both countries were on the precipice of making decisions that would determine the direction of their democracies, or lack thereof. Let’s see how things turned out. Thailand On Monday, Nov. 11, 2013, Thailand’s senate made a strong statement against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who […]
In 1900 we lived to be only 32 years on average. Today the global average life expectancy is 69 years and in 2050 we will live to be 76 years. For every month you live, you add one week to your life expectancy. In a new TED talk, Dr. Bjorn Lomborg of the Copenhagen Consensus Center […]
Sadly, the adage “the more things change the more they stay the same” is perfectly to describe struggles in keeping strong democracy in Asia. Upon returning from hiatus, I started looking for story ideas and ran across some “updates” to items I had covered earlier this year. But in reality not much is different in […]
Photo Credit: blog.lib.umn.edu The International AIDS Conference- a biennial event that is the largest gathering of HIV professionals across the globe- will be convening again this July, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. The theme to this year’s conference? “Stepping Up the Pace”, which seems to already convey a time appropriate message of non-complacency. Indeed, we are […]
It started with a simple drink, or more accurately, the inability of Senegalese-born Magatte Wade to find it when she returned to Senegal. In searching for a hibiscus drink she remembered fondly from her childhood, it was nowhere to be seen in Dakar. The reason, she discovered, was that as Senegal’s wealth increased so did […]
Elected President of Venezuela following Hugo Chávez’s death from cancer in March, Nicolás Maduro, a former bus driver who was Mr. Chávez’s foreign minister, has had a rocky start leading the country. Allegations of ballot-tampering, appointing corrupt officials to high-level government positions, and foreign policy missteps have created the impression that Mr. Maduro is little more […]
Biopharmaceutical companies have been part of the global public health workforce for decades, tackling infectious diseases and disseminating life-saving drug interventions. In the last several decades, pharmaceutical companies have played an instrumental role in combatting infectious diseases across developing nations, often donating in-kind contributions of vaccinations and treatments to the NGOs and local organizations. Now, […]
It’s a rare occurrence for a nation to act altruistically in its humanitarian engagements, and even rarer when a state does so, knowing all there is in return is potentially heightened security risks in a conflict setting. I want to use this post as a brief pause from my usual focus on chronic disease care […]
The wave of protests sweeping all corners of the world has reached Thailand. What’s more: Thailand appears as the latest disturbing example of leaders imposing their will on countries even when not officially in power. Thaksin Shinawatra served as prime minister of the Asian nation from 2001-06, when he was ousted in a military coup. […]
Recently released guidelines from The World Health Organization recommend starting HIV treatment earlier- even pre-emptively-as a measure to preventing and eradicating AIDS. At the 2013 International AIDS Conference in Malaysia, WHO officials declared that earlier anti-retroviral treatment of HIV will result in retardation of the virus’s mutation, and therefore, longer life-spans. According to the World […]
India is anticipating a massive wave of refugee migration from neighboring Bangladesh. This feared population swell – India already has 1.2 billion people of its own – would come not from anticipated political corruption, but from climate change. India projects that rising sea levels will yield an unprecedented number of Bangladeshi “climate refugees” seeking basic […]
Two weeks after Mohamed Morsi was ousted as the leader of Egypt, chaos still reigns. According to state-run media, seven people died on Monday, July 15, in violent skirmishes between Morsi supporters and opponents. An interim government is trying to instill some sense of ruling stability, but the widely supported Muslim Brotherhood (Morsi’s party) and […]