Meghan O’Hearn is a rising senior at Georgetown University majoring in Biology of Global Health on the pre-medicine track. Although she was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Meghan lived in Tokyo, Japan for three years and now calls Summit, New Jersey her home. Meghan first became interested in global health while interning and studying in Gaborone, Botswana for a semester. In her free time, Meghan enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee and volunteering as an EMT for Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Services. She looks forward to enjoying summer weekends exploring the many corners of DC. Meghan is excited for her summer internship with the ONE campaign and cannot wait to engaging in global health at the policy and advocacy level.
With famine now declared in three additional districts of southern Somalia and predictions for continued spread throughout southern Somalia in August and September, the famine facing the Horn of Africa has exacerbated already bleak health conditions.
New arrivals wait to get processed. Photo credit: Andy Hall/Oxfam
Red Cross volunteer Regina holds a vial of measles vaccine at a health clinic in the Central African Republic, April 2011. Daniel Cima/American Red Cross
Last week, the Measles Initiative issued a press release with the exciting news that in their first decade of work, they have assisted in vaccinating 1 billion children in more than 60 developing countries. The Measles Initiative was launched in 2001 by the American Red Cross, the United Nations Foundation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and the World Health Organization to provide technical and monetary support of vaccination campaigns by governments and communities in the developing world.
Low vaccine coverage, poor sanitation, overcrowding, extensive population movements, inadequate health care systems, famine and despair…of all these things, malnutrition holds the spotlight as the most pressing health issue surrounding the famine in the Horn of Africa.
According to UN refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards, one in every two children below the age of five arriving at the Dollo Ado refugee camp in Southeast Ethiopia is malnourished. But the refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia may not be able to provide adequate care and treatment for these children. In some cases, the camps may make refugees’ health worse, exposing them to diseases like cholera and measles. Why? Because the degenerating conditions in these congested refugee camps are a recipe for infectious disease disaster.
With a looming famine in the Horn of Africa and skyrocketing global food prices, it’s clear that food is one of the world’s major issues right now. To keep you on top of your game, here’s a great list of books on global hunger, food security and even food issues here at home. While not all of these books are newly released, they all provide relevant and interesting information about food. Whether you are crying by the end of Page 2 of Tony P. Hall’s “Changing the Face of Hunger” or are revolted by “Fast Food Nation’s” graphic portrayal of slaughterhouse conditions, each book is worth checking out.
“The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good” by William Easterly
William Easterly, NYU economic professor, brashly criticizes the West for implementing aid strategies for the world’s poor without understanding the needs of the world’s poorest. This candid and oftentimes cynical book attacks humanitarian aid and calls for indigenous, grassroots level planning over orthodox poverty reduction techniques.
Last Saturday, July 9, the world welcomed its newest country: South Sudan. International leaders applauded the new nation’s birth, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon praised the political courage of the northern government in accepting southern independence, a necessary action in order to achieve peace in the region after more than 50 years of on-and-off conflict.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir was optimistic about creating a unifying peace in the South. In his opening address, Kiir committed to transparency and accountability to serve the public interest and promised amnesty and citizenship to all those who have been involved in the recent conflicts.
Please welcome Meghan O’Hearn to the ONE Blog. She is the global policy’s summer intern and we look forward to reading more posts from her.
Sure, Angry Birds may be the hippest app on your iPhone screen, but who knew that mobile and wireless technologies are revolutionizing health care quality and delivery around the world?
According to a new report from the UN Foundation and mHealth Alliance, there are now more than five billion wireless subscribers in the world. More than 70 percent of them reside in low- and middle- income countries. From using mobile phones to coordinating emergency health relief efforts to reminding patients to take their medicine, mHealth offers some serious potential for creative health care improvements in all corners of the world.
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
New arrivals wait to get processed. Photo credit: Andy Hall/Oxfam![Regina_Central African Republic, Daniel Cima[1]](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6131/6022284347_87c03558ac.jpg)
Red Cross volunteer Regina holds a vial of measles vaccine at a health clinic in the Central African Republic, April 2011. Daniel Cima/American Red Cross
