Tag: Public health
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 ...
Antimicrobial Resistance Series : Intro to AMR
The term antibiotic was first coined in 1941 by Selman Waksman to describe any small molecule made by a microbe that antagonizes the growth of other microbes. The antibiotic age occurred with the development of other agents such as tetracycline, streptomycin and chloramphenicol from soil bacteria; amongst others. Modern medicine received a lifeline when Sir ...
Learning from Macron : Why simplified and antiquated assumptions about the world are a direct threat to public health
I went back and watched the French president’s full speech at this month’s G20 meeting in Hamburg, in the original language, in an attempt to gain an understanding of the point he was trying to make. Aware that the noise of the ‘soundbite’ media can often drown a well-intentioned message. I also listened to the ...
SERIES: Rising incidence of obesity in the United Kingdom – Introduction
In the past three decades obesity in the United Kingdom has increased three-fold, emerging as one of the UK’s most prominent public health challenges. Obesity is largely a lifestyle and behavior associated condition, although there are also some genetic factors. Obesity is measured by a standard anthropometric measurement of known as Body Mass Index (BMI). ...
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, ...
Global Health Conversations 