Humanosphere

World health report highlights chronic diseases, lack of consensus in global health

Tom Paulson — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:35:26 +0000

Analysis The World Health Organization has published its annual health report for 2012 and this year decided to “put the spotlight on the growing problem of non-communicable diseases.” Here are some of the news stories spawned by the WHO report: Reuters/MSNBC Heart disease, diabetes spreading to poor regions AP/Washington Post Diseases of affluence are spreading … Continue reading →

Op-ed: Tolerance for Arab autocrats fuels terrorism

Tom Paulson — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:43:21 +0000

I think the thesis here could be broadened a bit. Tolerance for inequity and political repression, anywhere, tends to foster reactionary movements and instability. The old American political strategy described by the cliche: “He (insert dictator’s name here) may be a bastard but at least he’s our bastard” may be a good sound-bite but recent … Continue reading →

Maternal deaths decline sharply worldwide

Tom Paulson — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:42:56 +0000

This isn’t really news, since this trend has been well-reported – especially following an earlier dispute over the trend between some Seattle researchers and the WHO. But it’s stunning progress and worth highlighting. Source: Nytimes The number of women dying from pregnancy and childbirth has dropped sharply in the last two decades, according to a … Continue reading →

Global government debt on the rise again

Tom Paulson — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:39:35 +0000

The Guardian, using data from the World Bank to create an illustrative map of global debt, says the amount of debt developing nations owe to rich governments, international financial institutions, banks or other lenders is on the increase. The story reports: Years after debt campaigners succeeded in persuading the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank … Continue reading →

A Twitter rebuttal to the NYTimes “Rebranding Africa”

Tom Paulson — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:26:00 +0000

This story done by a NYTimes’ fashion writer is about “the emergence of Africa as a source of fashion creativity.” And it’s interesting as a reminder that Africa is a big country, with a lot of bright spots. But blogger Elliot Ross at Africa is a Country (the site’s name is a joke, by the … Continue reading →

US funding to fight AIDS overseas has positive ripple effect

Tom Paulson — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:25:07 +0000

The U.S. government’s support for fighting HIV-AIDS in poor countries, an effort largely pushed by President George W. Bush, has helped to improve health overseas on many fronts. Here’s a related story about Pepfar, the anti-AIDS program often called Bush’s best legacy, by Reuters. Source: Npr U.S. government spending to fight HIV/AIDS in developing countries … Continue reading →

Lack of clarity on ‘safe’ water

Tom Paulson — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:24:28 +0000

Apparently, it’s not at all clear how many people on the planet actually have access to safe, clean water. Source: Trust By Emma Batha The United Nations recently declared the world had met an ambitious target for halving the number of people without safe drinking water well ahead of a 2015 deadline. It’s an impressive … Continue reading →

News Rounds: Congo warlord (not Kony) enlists child soldiers for rebellion, Africa’s next famine, agro-ecology offers Salvadoran farmers independence and profit and more

Tom Paulson — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:23:39 +0000

Congo Warlord Using Child Soldiers (VOA)– Human Rights Watch says a renegade general, Bosco Ntaganda, is forcibly recruiting child soldiers to support his mutiny in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Africa’s Sahel Region in Urgent Need of Aid (VOA) — Will the international community again allow Africans to starve? Time is running out to … Continue reading →

Doctors Without Borders criticizes Gates-backed global vaccine strategy

Tom Paulson — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:18:04 +0000

The global health strategy to expand childhood immunizations, largely backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is too focused on new vaccines and neglects the fundamental need to improve basic public health and immunization programs in poor countries. So says Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), aka Doctors Without Borders, in a new report issued today … Continue reading →

Fear of global malaria surge

Tom Paulson — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:31:58 +0000

There’s been a lot of progress made worldwide in reducing malaria’s death toll over the past decade, due to a massive roll-out of a number of prevention methods (insecticide-treated bed nets, pesticide spraying of households and expanded malaria treatments). But drug-resistant and insecticide-resistant mosquitoes appear to be on the rise. Source: Nature The war to … Continue reading →