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A diverse look at global health issues.

April 30, 2013 10:05

Panel discusses the fight against malaria

A panel at the Harvard School of Public Health looked at why malaria is so hard to fight and the latest tools available to do so.
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An Anopheles funestus mosquito. (James Gathany and Frank Collins, University of Notre Dame/ CDC/Courtesy)

The Forum at the Harvard School of Public Health hosted a panel discussion about the fight against malaria and other mosquito-borne illnesses on Wednesday. 

Titled “Thwarting killer mosquitoes: The state-of the-art fight against malaria and west Nile virus,” the panel focused on why malaria is so hard to fight, challenges posed by resistance to anti-malarial drugs, the latest tools in mosquito control, and why it is important to sustain efforts to fight the disease even after malaria cases decrease.

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April 29, 2013 16:08

Q&A: Haiti readies rotavirus vaccine rollout

GAVI Deputy CEO Helen Evans spoke with GlobalPost about the rotavirus vaccine in Haiti.
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Bill Gates gives a child a rotavirus vaccine against diarrhea at the Ahentia Health Centre, in Awutu Senya district, in the Central Region of Ghana, on March 26, 2013. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports the GAVI Alliance, which increases access to vaccines around the world. With GAVI support, Haiti anticipates that it will roll out the rotavirus vaccine this summer. AFP PHOTO/PUIS UTOMI EKPEI (Puis Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images)

On Saturday, Haiti raised awareness about its plan to roll out the rotavirus vaccine, which prevents the most severe form of diarrheal infection among children.

Diarrhea is a top cause of death for children under five, killing an estimated 700,000 children each year. The infectious disease is the second leading cause of death among children in Haiti, according to UNICEF.

The GAVI Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing vaccines to poor countries around the world, was instrumental in facilitating Haiti’s rotavirus campaign.

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April 26, 2013 16:02

New study finds anti-HIV treatment may protect children’s hearts

Due to the use of new combination anti-HIV treatment therapy, children living with HIV today face fewer heart problems than in the past, a new NIH study finds.
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Children who now receive antiretroviral therapy have been shown to have about 40 percent less heart damage than children who received single drug or no treatment in the 1990s. (Paula Bronstein/Staff/AFP/Getty Images)

The combination drug therapy now used to treat children born with HIV-1 appears to protect against previously common heart damage, according to a new study published earlier this week.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that fewer HIV-positive children on today’s combination drug treatment had heart damage than those who participated in a study in the 1990s. 

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April 24, 2013 20:18

USAID Administrator testifies on Capitol Hill

Rajiv Shah addresses the budget for 2014, including global health, before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
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US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah. (Chris Kleponis/AFP/Getty Images)

Global health was one of the budget lines discussed on Capitol Hill today in a congressional testimony from Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Shah appeared before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to address the agency’s priorities in the 2014 fiscal year.

In his opening remarks, he emphasized the importance of child health.

“We believe we can end preventable child deaths within two decades and are committed to that model,” Shah said, after explaining that USAID has had to make some “tough decisions” to cut 22 country programs in global health in order to prioritize those countries where the burden of disease is greatest. Shah added that USAID’s efforts have contributed to a reduction of under-five child deaths around the world, from 7.6 million to 6.9 million today.

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April 24, 2013 09:56

Tracking global health funding on Capitol Hill

GlobalPost walks the halls of Congress in search of answers.
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Secretary of State John Kerry testifies during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, April 17, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Stale, cool air pushed through 2172, the Foreign Affairs Committee room in the Rayburn building of the House of Representatives. Suited congressional leaders trickled into the cavernous room from separate doors on either side of the elevated dais, Republicans on the left and Democrats on the right, and ambled to their assigned, ranked seats. Dozens of attendees sat hushed in the back, waiting for the latest hearing to begin.

Titled “Securing US Interests Abroad: The FY 2014 Foreign Affairs Budget,” the April 17 hearing was one of the first to be held on President Obama’s budget for the next fiscal year. The hearing also marked the first time Secretary of State John Kerry testified before Congress in his new position.

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April 16, 2013 10:15

Panel examines cost of not investing in global child health

The Forum at the Harvard School of Public Health hosted a discussion of the consequences of failing to help the world's poorest children.
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BOSTON — A panel discussion titled “The Cost of Inaction: The Consequences of Failing the World’s Children,” was presented Tuesday by The Forum at Harvard School of Public Health in collaboration with GlobalPost. 

The panel focused on the Cost of Inaction (COI) approach to evaluating interventions, especially for children affected by poverty or HIV/AIDS. The COI approach focuses on the social and economic cost of not doing something, as opposed to evaluating the costs and benefits of doing something.

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April 15, 2013 10:38

Q&A: Africa’s high blood pressure problem

Cardiologist and Harvard professor Dr. Thomas Gaziano speaks with GlobalPost about the high prevalence of hypertension in Africa and what needs to be done to address it.
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Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, having her blood pressure taken. (Courtesy)

An estimated one billion people around the world have high blood pressure, which is a leading risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as stroke and heart disease. Nowhere is the problem more prevalent than in Africa, where 46 percent of adults have the condition, according to WHO.

Thomas Gaziano is a trained cardiologist and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. Thirteen years ago, Gaziano said serendipity or providence brought him and his wife, also a physician, to South Africa, where he saw first-hand the high burden of non-communicable diseases. Gaziano has focused on cardiovascular disease in resource-poor settings ever since.

Below, Gaziano talks with GlobalPost about Africa’s blood pressure problem and the major challenges to addressing it.

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April 8, 2013 13:49

Twitter gears up for Millennium Development Goal countdown

The UN marked the 1,000-day countdown until the Millennium Development Goals deadline with a "digital rally" to galvanize action.

From April 5-12, the UN is marking the 1,000-day countdown until the Millennium Development Goals deadline. Here is a sampling of reactions on Twitter.

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April 7, 2013 10:05

WHO campaign revisits high blood pressure

On this World Health Day, the World Health Organization’s campaign aims to raise awareness about the same issue it focused on 35 years ago.
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A doctor (R) examines a patient in Godewaersvelde, northern France, during a medical check-up. (Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images)

To celebrate the anniversary of its founding, every year on World Health Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) draws attention to a specific public health issue.

This year’s theme, “Control Your Blood Pressure,” reflects the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like heart disease and stroke and follows up on a 2011 UN commitment to tackle them.

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April 2, 2013 17:13

Five interesting ways people are fighting HIV around the world

HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns are using new techniques to reach wider audiences.
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An activist waves a rainbow flag in support of HIV/AIDS awareness on the 2012 World Aids Day in Manila. (Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images)

In an attempt to reach a wider audience, many HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns are using creative techniques to send a positive message about HIV prevention and treatment. Here are five interesting ways people are fighting the disease around the world:

1) In the village of Corozal in Honduras, members of the local Garifuna tribe use musical performance and theater to promote HIV awareness. According to NPR, the Garifuna have an HIV rate that is five times higher than the national rate. In order to combat the rampant spread of the disease, members of the community have formed a theater troupe that puts HIV on mock trial in community shows. Health ministry officials in the capital of Tegulcigalpa are conducting research with the CDC to determine the program's effectiveness.

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