The era of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) came to an end on 8 September 2015, and a new era in global milestones have been launched with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In India, most of the MDG targets were not achieved; and this raises the question: what role do such goals play in achieving better […]
Category: Global health
Andy Young and Sarah Collis: The real Ebola heroes will not be getting medals
We are two of many British doctors and nurses chosen to receive a medal for providing medical care as part of the response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa that left thousands dead and already weak health systems in tatters. Recognising actions that are valuable to our society is important, but we shouldn’t lose […]
Richard Smith: How well are countries doing in responding to the NCD pandemic?
A pandemic of NCD (non-communicable disease) is sweeping across the world, particularly in poor countries, causing much suffering and premature death and swamping health systems. NCD (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and common cancers) accounts for 63% of global deaths (37 million annually), with 80% occurring in low and middle income countries. Almost […]
Chris Simms: Global health and altruism—the case of Canada and its treatment of refugees
Last year, government cuts to basic health services for refugees—especially those meant for women and children—outraged Canadian physicians to the point of petitioning the courts to intervene. The Federal Court agreed with the physicians, and in ordering the restoration of these services, it described the conservative government’s policy as “cruel and unusual.” Indeed, the past […]
Uganda’s medical diaspora and their engagement in global health
Background The World Health Organization has previously identified the emigration of healthcare workers as the most critical problem facing health systems in African countries. However, despite this documented negative impact of the brain drain of health professionals from Africa, there is an argument that transnationally oriented medical migrants (or diasporas) can act as development agents […]
Trish Groves: How research data sharing can save lives
Everyone’s been missing a trick. The whole debate on sharing clinical study data has focused on transparency, reproducibility, and completing the evidence base for treatments. Yet public health emergencies such as the Ebola and MERS outbreaks provide a vitally important reason for sharing study data, usually before publication or even before submission to a journal, […]
Georg Röggla: Refugees and civil society
The migration crisis has reached Central Europe. About 10 000 migrants arrived in Vienna within a few hours on Saturday, most of them on their way to Germany. The situation is dramatic: Four children, including a baby girl, were among 71 migrants found suffocated in a truck on a highway just outside Vienna last week. […]
Charles Gore: Making the elimination of viral hepatitis a reality
Currently 400 million people worldwide are living with either hepatitis B or hepatitis C, with no country being left unaffected. For far too long we have allowed 1.4 million people to die every year. For far too long these deaths have been preventable. So for these reasons the World Hepatitis Alliance and the World Health Organization (WHO) […]
Simon Nicholas Williams: Big Food could take the fizz out of Jamie Oliver’s soft drink tax
In his new documentary, Sugar Rush [airing tonight], Jamie Oliver pledges to “be a pain in the arse to the government” on the issue of soft drink taxes. Unfortunately for Oliver, and for the health of those he seeks to help, compared to the enormous political influence the food and beverage industry can and will […]
Anant Bhan: The Call to Action Summit 2015—thoughts on some key areas for discussion and action
India is hosting the Call to Action Summit on the 27-28 August in New Delhi. The summit is focused on ending preventable child and maternal deaths, and will be co-hosted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Government of India, the Ministry of Health Government of Ethiopia, USAID, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates […]