Earlier this month, a study published in The Lancet discussed findings that hormonal contraceptives doubled the risk of HIV infection and transmission. The study examined 3,790 sero-discordant heterosexual couples (meaning that one of the two has HIV) in seven African countries. Some of the women were using hormonal contraceptives, mostly injectable (such as Depo-Provera) but […]
I write often about communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, which get a lot of international attention and popular support, spurred on by celebrities, government leaders, and the media. What is ignored, however, is the growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic or “lifestyle” diseases. With the upcoming United Nations High Level Meeting […]
I went to an interesting talk last night by Dr. Anthony Fauci. He is the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The Foreign Policy Association initiated a new series with his talk: the Dame Jillian Sackler Distinguished Lecture. (She was married to Arthur Sackler, the research psychiatrist and art patron.) Dr. […]
In an effort to focus this blog – and provide myself a bit of structure and sanity! – I’m devoting Tuesdays to “systems issues”. For today, let’s start with the basics: what is a health system? I know, this sounds patronizing, but in fact, the goal of defining and strengthening health systems has only recently […]
As the inaugural post to ‘Global Health’, I thought I’d start with a bit of philosophy. A colleague of mine, with a career in the public sector, who at the time was pursuing his MBA, once remarked to me: “I’ve been pursuing equality my entire career; I decided now it was time to take a closer look at efficiency.” As someone with a business […]