The Daily Reviewer | Change.org's Global Health Blog

Humanitarians: Staying Strong in the Face of Constant Threat

Mar 13, 2010 6:09am

When you decide to dedicate your life to humanitarian work in the field, remember this: Not everyone wants you to succeed. As an affiliate of the United Nations or a non-governmental organization, many people won't think of your work as simply providing security, distributing food or teaching children. Though most of the communities served are extraordinarily grateful...

Beer Makes People More Attractive...

Mar 12, 2010 1:41pm

...to mosquitoes. That's the finding of a new study that helps explain why mosquitoes seem more attracted to some people than others. Researchers -- who focused on a malaria-endemic area of Burkina Faso -- found that volunteers who drank the local brew were more attractive to mosquitoes than volunteers who only...

Where There Are No Doctors

Mar 12, 2010 8:47am

In western Uganda's Kyaka II refugee camp, as Laura wrote earlier this week, women are fashioning a living out of sanitary pads composed of waste paper and papyrus. It's a terrific exercise in ingenuity, if not necessarily one that begins to grapple with the bigger issues facing the camp --...

Giving Congress the Good Global Health Stories

Mar 11, 2010 12:02pm

I wonder whether Bill Gates, burdened by global cares, counts statistics at night rather than sheep as he tries to fall asleep. He certainly has a talismanic series of them to offer -- some of his "favorites" which he rattled off before the Senate Foreign Relations committee yesterday in an effort to...

The Ground View: Why Social Justice in Global Health Matters

Mar 11, 2010 9:31am

Recently, Victor argued here that talk of social justice should be more prominent in global health debates. I agree -- though I don't think a rhetoric of social justice is a universal panacea. Using social justice as a frame, though, does help enrich my personal relationships and get me through the...

Better News on Africa Than You Thought

Mar 11, 2010 6:59am

As often as Sub-Saharan Africa makes headlines, it's rarely for good news. Reports of genocide, hunger, poverty and war generally dominate coverage of the continent. Recently, however, news about the continent's growing economy has been making the rounds. IMF predictions show that economies in Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to grow at...

U.S. Vs. Canadian Food Aid: Which Does Better?

Mar 10, 2010 2:18pm

When it comes to foreign aid, the U.S. and Canada have long indulged in a degree of neighborly competition over who's more generous. It all depends on what you measure, of course, but at least on one metric -- flexibility of aid -- Canucks are racing determinedly ahead. To me, it's always been...

3 Lessons For Future Global Health Leaders

Mar 10, 2010 8:06am

As student interest in global health skyrockets, what's the best advice experts have to offer future leaders in the field? This past weekend, I had an opportunity to find out at GlobeMed's fourth annual Global Health Summit, an event headlined by Partners in Health founder Dr. Paul Farmer. Listening to the conversations that...

Inside India's Sagging Health System, One State Shines

Mar 10, 2010 7:20am

All is not right with India's health care system. Across the country, infant mortality and communicable disease rates are alarmingly high, and malnutrition stunts the growth of almost 40% of children under age three. For all of India's booming technology and growing pharmaceutical industry, on average, the health of the general population...

In Kenya, Anti-Abortion Laws Kill Schoolgirls

Mar 9, 2010 4:04pm

In Kenya, nearly half of all women give birth before age 20. Between low access to contraception, sex education and past surges in rates of sexual violence, that figure's not at all surprising. Not to mention the fact that for many, the alternative -- abortion -- can be close to a death sentence. Over...

What Haiti's President Will Tell Obama

Mar 9, 2010 9:15am

When Haiti's president arrives at the White House tomorrow to speak with Obama, will he come with a supplicant's "hat in hand," as Agence France-Presse puts it? Not quite. In his meeting with Obama, President Rene Preval says he plans to make a different (and counterintuitive) request: Please stop sending Haiti...

Refugee Women Turn Papyrus and Sun Into Sanitary Pads

Mar 9, 2010 7:34am

On the heels of Eric's discussion of sanitary pads and schoolchildren last week, thought I'd follow up with a story about where sanitary pads are genuinely benefiting women: in refugee camps. For women living in refugee camps, an item as basic as a sanitary pad can be a luxury. Women often...

The Great Aid Debate: Does Aid Work?

Mar 9, 2010 6:47am

Every once in a while, someone gets to feel very smart by smugly announcing that international aid doesn't work and it in fact just makes things worse. There is indeed a reason why anti-aid arguments are popular and keep on re-surfacing. There are just way too many examples that illustrate...

The Search for Women-Driven Solutions to HIV/AIDS

Mar 8, 2010 9:28am

Congratulations to the city of DC, which recently became the first in the nation to distribute free female condoms -- a move that, whether intentional or not, closely coincides with today's celebration of International Women's Day. It's a development that comes as an "official acknowledgment of the futility of relying solely...

No Health Care for Domestic Trafficking Survivors

Mar 8, 2010 7:43am

Much has been written over at our human trafficking blog about the lack of services offered to children and adults who are victims of trafficking and sexual abuse. But while we often think of trafficked persons as foreign nationals -- brought to the United States from other countries and forced to...

Turning Toilets Into Trees

Mar 6, 2010 10:48am

What if you could turn your feces into food? The idea may seem crass and unsanitary, but that concept is actually becoming the basis of sanitation projects across the developing world. Composting toilets -- known as ecological sanitation (or eco-san for short) -- offer sustainable solutions to hygiene and sanitation problems. Not...

Not-So-Useful Advice for Haiti Donors

Mar 5, 2010 2:00pm

Pulitzer Prize-winner and former NYT foreign correspondent Joel Brinkley has some advice for governments planning to attend a donor's conference for Haiti this month: don't bother. But hey -- Brinkley, why such a gloomy Gus? It's true that over the past two decades, donors have spent nearly $5 billion -- and yet as he's...

Denying Pain Medication: An International Law Violation?

Mar 5, 2010 11:42am

It wasn't an ad you'd expect to see in the classified section, but there it was, nonetheless: Cancer is killing us. Pain is killing me because for several days I have been unable to find injectable morphine in any place. Please Mr. Secretary of Health, do not make us suffer...

U.S. Moves Toward a National AIDS Strategy...Finally

Mar 5, 2010 7:04am

It's open season on the Obama administration, as the president gets pummeled for everything from mishandling health care to perceived wimpiness. But the White House deserves kudos for its reasoned, rational approach to developing a national HIV/AIDS strategy. Though the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has long required recipient countries to...

U.S. Aid Efforts Discourage Haitian Entrepreneurs

Mar 4, 2010 12:58pm

Since Haiti's Jan. 12 quake, the U.S. has spent an average of $33.3 million a day to assist in relief and recovery efforts. The funds have helped flood the country with U.S. personnel and equipment, not to mention much-needed bottled water, rice rations, etc. Is there anything wrong with that picture? Not if...