Global Health Posts
Writing for the Web in Ethiopia
Over the past two years, we have had the honor of working with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health’s Public Relations and Communication Directorate (PRCD). One project we worked on together, after redesigning their website—was a workshop on writing effectively for the web.
A Wake-Up Call to Invest in Global Health R&D
The sudden outbreak of Ebola in West Africa last summer was widely and rightly perceived as awakening the rest of the world to a reality many health experts have long understood: infectious diseases that prey disproportionately on the poor are not just a problem for low-income countries. They are a threat to us all. And the world needs to be much better prepared for future challenges, which could involve Ebola or any of a number of other diseases.
Developing New TB Drugs Shouldn’t Be a Moonshot
Tuberculosis kills 1.5 million people every year. It is such a lethal disease that it requires patients to take a combination of four strong antibiotics for six months—18 months or more if the infection comes from a drug-resistant strain. The drugs involved in TB treatment are old, developed when Kennedy was president of the U.S.
Conversations in Development: Vaccines–A Matter of Justice
For me, Dr. Marc LaForce is a hero. The founder and former director of the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), a partnership between PATH and the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. LaForce is the mastermind behind developing the world’s first vaccine especially for Africa, one that comes in at a price of around 50 cents a dose.
The “Less Happy” Story: Malaria Increases in Uganda
While malaria cases are declining globally, they remain high and on the increase in rural Uganda, suggesting that more aggressive methods of controlling the disease in high-transmission areas of sub-Saharan Africa are urgently needed.
Expanding Farmlands Create Perfect Storm for Plague in East Africa
A new study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene found the push to boost food production that is accelerating the conversion of natural lands into croplands in Tanzania may be significantly increasing the risk of plague. Researchers discovered that where maize production has been introduced, the number of rodents infested with plague-carrying fleas that can cause human infections nearly doubled compared to numbers in neighboring forest areas.
Opening the Door to Cheaper HIV Drugs for Children
The UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) announced today they’ve struck a licensing agreement with Merck—a first-time partner for MPP—for use of their pediatric HIV drug in the low- and middle-income countries with the highest burden of disease. Ninety-eight percent of children with HIV in the developing world live in these countries, which include India, South Africa and Nigeria.
Food Safety in Africa’s ‘Wet’ Markets
If you’ve been to any part of sub-Saharan Africa, you know that the large majority of food consumed (about 85 to 95 percent) passes through informal channels: vegetable, milk and meat stalls and outdoor markets cater to customers across urban centers and rural landscapes alike. And while the food sold there is often safe, sometimes it’s not. And when it’s not, people get sick. Some people die.
Ebola Insights
The 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH, a Burness Client), featured informative, gripping, tragic, and inspirational testimony from people working on the front lines of the Ebola epidemic and now racing to develop, test, and approve life-saving drugs and vaccines.
Conversations in Development: Improving Health in Kenya’s Urban Slums
Poverty, poor health and overcrowding are some of the many challenges facing communities in Kenya's urban slums, or informal settlements.
