Top docs Dr. Orin Levine and Dr. Ciro de Quadros share some unfortunate news: dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease, is making a reemergence in the United States.
If someone told you that they’d survived “break bone fever” would you know the disease they’re talking about? If they told you that the first outbreak of this disease in the United States was recorded in Philadelphia in 1870, would that help? If they revealed that mosquitoes that spread the disease are found in many parts of the United States today, would that shed any light?
Twelve years ago, I was a small-town Chinese girl who had just moved to Shanghai –- as bewildered and overwhelmed as any cliché would predict. While toying with the idea of a career in modeling, I stumbled upon a haunting memoir -– “Desert Flower” –- that shook me to my core. It is the powerful and unflinching story of Waris Dirie who started her life as an impoverished girl in the Somali desert and ultimately becomes a successful supermodel -– even a “Bond girl” no less.
It’s time to announce our second finalist in the 2011 ONE Africa Award.
After our piece on a project in Togo, we went on to Accra, Ghana to meet the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR). The alliance was established by a group of NGOs in 2004 and evolved from a defunct Save the Children program on sexual and reproductive health. ARHR Executive Director, Ms. Vicky Okine, is the former Save the Children program manager, and recognized the importance of the continuation of this program. It builds on the potential of community health organizations to empower their communities and drive the demand for better access to sexual and reproductive health care.
More common than deafness or Down’s syndrome, hydrocephalus, or “water on the brain,” is a completely treatable condition diagnosed in 400,000 babies worldwide each year, including 250,000 in sub-Saharan Africa. Usually caused by complications from an infection at birth or in infancy, babies provided with proper medical assistance are expected to make full recoveries and to go on to lead perfectly normal, healthy lives. But, like many preventable diseases and disabilities prevalent in the developing world, almost 90 percent of hydrocephalus cases found in African children turn out to be fatal.
With the UN Summit just around the corner, Nalini Saligram of Arogya World urges people to take action on preventable diseases like cancer, diabetes and chronic lung diseases.
In the context of fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, which are at the core of ONE’s mission, I want to discuss here the global crisis of chronic non-communicable diseases, or NCDs — a set of largely preventable diseases that are intricately linked with poverty.
NCDs, which include cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung diseases, are one of the greatest health and development challenges of the century. These diseases are the world’s leading killers, collectively causing two out of every three deaths. Approximately 36 million people die from NCDs each year — that is nearly 100,000 people every day. And while these chronic diseases are often seen as the burden of the rich, what is frightening is that 80 percent of NCD deaths actually occur in developing countries.
Recognizing the enormous global impact of NCDs, the United Nations is holding a High Level Meeting on NCDs on Sep 19 to 20, and the focus will be the effect of NCDs on low- and middle-income countries. We believe that the UN High Level Meeting represents an unprecedented opportunity to mobilize the world to take action against NCDs. Many organizations big and small are working hard to make this meeting a transformative moment in global health.
Melinda Moree from BIO Ventures for Global Health urges innovators and decision-makers to develop ways to take the guesswork out of diagnosing the sick in developing countries.
When I visit health centers in developing countries, too often I see diagnostic laboratories that are almost completely empty. Many times there is no equipment, bare counters, empty drawers, no electricity or running water. All told, this means there is no way to accurately diagnose the many sick people lined up around the clinic grounds seeking care.
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.
