If you had asked any of us about our plans for November 2014, it probably would not have included a tour to Sierra Leone to treat patients with Ebola. But here we are: eight British army and navy doctors, sweating in the heat and the humidity of a west African afternoon, waiting for the President […]
Category: Global health
Colin Brown: In the field in Sierra Leone
Welcome to the first blog about my return to Sierra Leone. This week a few reflections on the organisation I am here with, the country, and the Ebola epidemic as it unfolds. KSLP For the past two years, King’s Sierra Leone Partnership has worked with our partners—Connaught Hospital (the only adult referral hospital in the country), […]
Rupert Whitaker: A pill for risky sex—another step on the road to a pill for bad housing
PrEP—or chemoprophylaxis against HIV infection, as the less sexy phrase goes—is about using chemicals to prevent yourself from contracting HIV during sex or the sharing of injection equipment, the acronym standing for “pre-exposure prophylaxis.” It has gradually emerged as a possibility as a public health intervention after six years of clinical trials. It looks very promising, […]
Anne Muendi Musuva: Why global health needs a health systems social movement
This blog reflects discussions I had with fellow young people who attended the Third Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, which was held in Cape Town from 29 September to 3 October 2014. We attended the symposium as part of the Emerging Voices for Global Health, an initiative of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, […]
Developing evidence based health policy in resource limited settings—lessons from Nepal
Few would argue against the benefits of evidence informed public health and health policies. However, efforts to inform health policy in resource limited settings face particularly daunting challenges—often specific to the political complexity and resource limitations experienced uniquely in low and middle income countries (LMICs). The Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), a Government of Nepal […]
David McCoy: The social, political, and ecological pathologies of the Ebola crisis cannot be ignored
The Ebola virus is finally receiving attention after years of being ignored as just another deadly disease in Africa. Yet it was only when the current outbreak got out of control and threatened commercial and western interests that the story became news. I am hopeful that the epidemic will eventually come under control. While Ebola […]
Richard Smith: Leapfrogging to universal health coverage
Low and middle income countries have the chance to create health systems that will perform much better than those in high income countries. Copying health systems that look increasingly unsustainable would not be wise. Instead, low and middle income countries can “leapfrog” to something better, and the World Economic Forum has a project to make […]
Abdullah Aljoudi: An epidemic free Hajj
“Complete the pilgrimages … for the sake of God” Quran 2:196 The 2014 Hajj was epidemic-free, according to Saudi Arabia’s acting health minister. In addition to the regular Hajj health regulations, this year the Saudi government decided to ban pilgrims from Mano river Union countries (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) because of the Ebola threat. The World […]
Sian Falder: Burns care overseas—the forgotten health crisis
The role of UK medical professionals overseas often captivates the public, especially when there are dramatic scenes and mass suffering. There is something about war zones and huge natural disasters which especially capture the imagination and interest. But why? Is it the indiscriminate destruction of innocent life, the number of casualties, or the danger to […]
The price of joining the middle income country club: reduced access to medical innovation
When people think about medical humanitarian aid, the usual association is with war zones and natural disasters, and the assumption is that the most critical medical needs are concentrated in the world’s poorest countries. That’s mostly right, but not entirely. While the needs of low income countries remain huge, there are large—and growing—populations excluded from […]