Category: Events and Updates
My first internship at the World Health Organisation – A formative experience and an education in the value of community-based medicine
In the most remote regions of the African continent, where healthcare centers and clinics are few and far between; where a journey on foot or on a bicycle to the nearest healthcare facility can easily last an entire day in the merciless, blistering heat of the sub-Saharan sun; too many children below the age of ...
Today’s Agenda: World Health Assembly General Elections
Today I report to you from the Palais du Nations in Geneva where a secret ballot is currently being held for the new Director General of the World Health Organisation. Margaret Chan’s decade tenure has drawn to an end. Dr Chan will leave a strong legacy without a doubt, as did many before her. And today’s ...
Seven lessons I learned from Professor Hans Rosling: A Tribute
Last week we lost one of the greatest statisticians of our time. A clinician who informed scholars and audiences world over; and a researcher whose work on economic development and global health changed the way we view our world. Personally, too, I have lost a role model, Dr Hans Rosling of the Karolinska Institute. Nonetheless, ...
Hans Rosling: A Tribute
He was a clinician and statistician whose research and accessible insights changed the way we view the world, and our understandings of the complex relationships between development and health.
Rethinking Rabies: A Breakthrough in Management? – My comments on the literature
Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic disease of global concern, resulting in over 55 000 deaths annually. Whilst standard post-exposure treatments are estimated to prevent hundreds of thousands of fatalities, these are not without shortcomings. Recent immunological research into novel treatments has revealed promising results. Published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the research paper this article comments on has been described as groundbreaking. (I dare say, most notably by those enchanted by the spell of the [magical] monoclonal antibody: still one of the coolest cocktail party topics in immunology.)
Coming soon: Rethinking Rabies. A Breakthrough in Management?
Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic disease of global concern, resulting in over 55 000 deaths annually. Whilst standard post-exposure treatments are estimated to prevent hundreds of thousands of fatalities, these are not without shortcomings. Recent immunological research into novel treatments has revealed promising results. More on this later this week. For now, have a stellar ...
This week: On the Age of Gender Equality
SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls “We need to empower women. Give women a voice in the decision-making process. Give women a political voice where they can champion, for their own welfare. And, of course, for us. United Nations – organizations, agencies – we need to do our part.” – ...
Tomorrow on the blog: Causes of Death
“He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything.” – Arabic Proverb Find the article here. 🙂
Reflection: On Sitting, Standing and Sedentary behavior
(a.k.a. Thoughts on my personal apathy and our collective ‘laziness’) This is a reflective piece. And as such, it will be more personal than most of my writing. But true to form, it’s based on some pretty solid (albeit somewhat terrifying) science. You have been warned. I’ll be honest. I’ve read the studies. There is ...
Médecins Sans Frontières Scientific Days 2016
Today I attended the second day of the annual Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders Scientific Day. I have been thoroughly impressed not only by the entire program this year but also with the dedication to broadening access to healthcare, improving diagnostic systems and achieving the objective of the democratisation of health through the ...
Global Health Conversations 