Blogs - Global Health Basics

Press Release: Cancer in the Developing World

INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS CALL FOR CONCERTED ACTION TO COUNTER RAPID GROWTH OF WOMEN’S CANCERS IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES Misinformation and Lack of Diagnosis and Treatment Mark Women’s Experiences; Low-Cost, High-Impact Initiatives Could Save Thousands of Lives (Berlin, 22 September, 2009) – The Cancer Treatment Informal Working Group (CanTreat International), a coalition of international cancer experts, today released The Hidden Epidemic: Women’s Cancers in Low- and Middle-Income Countr… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on October 8, 2009 at 2:06pm — No Comments

World Sight Day is on October 8th 2009 -this year's theme is Gender and Eye Health

Gender and Eye Health - how do we address the inequity? India finds itself in the enviable position of being on track to attain its goals related to the "Vision 2020: The Right to Sight" initiative, a World Health Organisation campaign to eradicate preventable blindness by the year 2020. In 2001, the number of blind people in India was estimated to be 18.7 million. Current estimates suggest that 10 million are blind in India - a prevalence of 1%. India's goal is to reduce the prevalence of blin… Continue

Added by Sophia Pathai on October 7, 2009 at 2:56pm — No Comments

Five Things to Know About Cancer

1. Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, and the total number of cancer cases is on the rise. 2. A few cancers are on the decline, but overall, cancers are increasing. Some of this is due to longer life spans – more people are living long enough to get cancer. Increased use of tobacco an alcohol, especially among women, is another factor. 3. Cancer is not the problem of the develo… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on October 6, 2009 at 6:00am — 2 Comments

Press Release: Mosquito Nets

Decade-long US Project to Fight Malaria Builds Thriving African Mosquito Net Industry Data Shows Combined Approach of Selling Bed Nets and Giving Vouchers for Subsidized and Free Nets Proves Effective, Sustainable, Replicable WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 17, 2009) —In a decade-long initiative to protect millions of families from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, a U.S. government-funded project helped sell 50 million bed nets in seven countries, crafted a voucher system to allow the… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on October 6, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

Diarrhea as an Environmental Issue, Part One

One billion people globally live in an environment without access to clean water. Environmental health is one of the greatest challenges to global health. A huge range of infections spread easily when people can’t easily wash or dispose of waste – cholera, typhoid, and hepatitis, for example. However, environmental health goes beyond water and sanitation. It includes contamination such as a… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on October 5, 2009 at 2:02am — No Comments

Press Release: New Sleeping SIckness Drug

Editor's note: I get a lot - A LOT - of press releases on global health topics. I don't have time to write them all up, so I thought I'd just post them up as entries for those of you not on all the global health mailing lists. If you hate it, let me know in the comments. Otherwise, expect one or two of these a day. I'll always label them as press releases so you know it's not my writing. Geneva/Kampala, September 22nd, 2009 NECT (Nifurtimox-Eflornithine Combination Therapy), the first ne… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on October 5, 2009 at 2:00am — No Comments

People to Learn From - Karen Grepin

Dr. Karen Grepin is an Assistant Professor of Global Health Policy at NYU-Wagner Graduate School of Public Service in New York. That doesn't matter much to you unless you attend Wagner. What matters to us is that she writes a really amazing blog. Dr. Grepin writes about complicated global health topics in a clear and interesting way. You'll need a certain level of global health background to get the most out of her posts, but that's what the internet is for. If you run into something you don't u… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on October 2, 2009 at 8:30am — No Comments

Is DOTS Enough to Fight Tuberculosis?

This wasn’t something anyone liked to talk about, but we always knew that DOTS – the directly observed treatment short-course for TB - was kind of a kludge. It wasn’t actually the best possible way to treat TB. It was the most efficient way. It let countries with high TB prevalence treat lots of people for TB as quickly as possible. Now, though, it looks like the trade-off inherent in provi… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 30, 2009 at 8:23am — No Comments

What if More Global Health Students Are a Bad Thing?

A new study shows a huge increase in global health studies; there are more programs to study global health and more students in those programs. Mark Ennert, president of the University of Washington, is quoted saying say “You cannot overstate the energy and enthusiasm on university campuses today with students… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 15, 2009 at 10:44am — 4 Comments

Job resource - Global Health Career Ladder

I haven't had time to really review this, but I just ran into the Global Health Career Ladder site. Anyone want to take a look and report back? Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 15, 2009 at 12:36am — No Comments

New Global Health Journal

I'm excited about a new journal - International Health. It's from the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and it focuses on international health topics. The current issue includes non-communicable diseases in low and middle income co… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 8, 2009 at 8:06pm — No Comments

Drinking Our Own ORS

In social media, they talk about eating your own dog food. In global health, I think the equivalent would be drinking our own Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS). We need to do a lot of that. It’s important to think about what we ask of people because it gives us a much clearer sense of why we get ignored. Here’s the starter list for how to drink your own ORS: 1. Drink an entire glass of ORS fro… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 8, 2009 at 3:25pm — 6 Comments

Why You Can't Understand Global Health

If you are reading this blog post, you can’t really understand the most important dynamic in global health: poverty and ill-health. They go together in a powerful vicious cycle. When you are poor you lack access to medical care and are you exposed to environmental factors that put you at a hugely increased risk of getting sick. If you can read this, that’s not you. By definition, you speak E… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 7, 2009 at 10:50pm — 4 Comments

Go Read: Topnaman Malaria Blog

I would like to draw your attention to the Topnaman malaria blog. It doesn't update that often, but that's what an RSS reader is for, right? It features incisive, astringent writing, attention-getting pictures, and an obsessive focus on all things malarial. (Obsession is a good thing in my book. Where do you think this blog came from?) One favorite quote, from… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 6, 2009 at 8:42am — No Comments

HealthMap

HealthMap - online resource collects, filters, maps & disseminates information about emerging infectious diseases http://healthmap.org/en Continue

Added by Edward A Snyder on September 5, 2009 at 1:37am — No Comments

Hitler and HIV: Bad Ideas for AIDS Awareness

File this under really awful ideas for AIDS awareness: a new video portrays Adolf Hitler having unprotected sex, to convey the idea that infecting others with AIDS is mass murder. Uh, stigma much? Also, I don’t think this tactic makes any sense. It’s… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 4, 2009 at 10:00pm — 2 Comments

Why US Physicians Should Care About Global Health

The Western Journal of Medicine just published a nice briefer on why physicians in the US should care about global health. They mention the need to care for foreign-born patients, the global travels of infectious disease, cultural competence, and learning new better treatments from foreign counterp… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 4, 2009 at 6:30pm — 1 Comment

Job! Global Health Proposal Writer

This job doesn't sound as flat-out awesome as the last one I listed. In fact, it sounds pretty lame. But the salary range sounds great, and it's not asking for a ton of experience. CyberCoders, a recruiting form, is looking for a proposal writer with USAID and global health experience. They only want 3 years of relevant experience, and it doesn't all have to be in proposal writing - program management would suffice. For someone early in their career, this would be a great way to propel your sal… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 3, 2009 at 9:22pm — No Comments

The WHO on Global Health Risks

I love the bulletin of the WHO. It is consistently well-written and accessible, even when I know very little about the topic. (I can't be an expert on everything, try though I might.) I also love that it's footnoted. Sometimes it feels like every global health briefer regurgitates the same five facts and no one can find the primary source.… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 2, 2009 at 11:00pm — No Comments

Job! Case Writer for the Global Health Delivery Project

This sounds like a really great gig: the Global Health Delivery project is hiring a case writer as it evaluates some Gates Foundation HIV work. You get to travel, conduct field research, and interview high-level and community stakeholders. They're looking for a relevant master's degree and about two years of experience, so this is a great job for people who are sick of poorly-paid internships. Apply at the Harva… Continue

Added by Alanna Shaikh on September 2, 2009 at 9:53pm — No Comments

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