Global Health Solutions Begins with Health Workers
06/15/2010
IntraHealth President and CEO Pape Gaye blogs from the Global Health Council conference
I am surrounded by the buzz of the 37th Annual International Conference on Global Health, which kicked off in Washington, DC, yesterday. Here in the Omni Shoreham Hotel, we are far from the realities of so many people's lives all over the globe...
...Today, there is a shortage of more than four million health workers. The effect of these missing workers is exponential, when you consider how many lives a health worker touches every day. As I walk around the conference this week, listening and participating in presentations and discussions and meeting with other global health leaders from around the world, in the back of my mind I am thinking of the ‘how' in all of this.
AIDS funding ahead? Africans deeply worried
06/15/2010
John Donnelly blogs from the Global Health Council's International Conference June 14 on the discussion about Universal Access
The world last year spent about $13 billion to fight AIDS, and there are warnings from many quarters that the funding is entering a period of stagnation. But in a presentation today at the Global Health Council's annual conference in Washington, D.C., an economist predicted that spending in 20 years could rise well above current levels, ranging from $19 billion to $35 billion a year.
Still, two African leaders in the AIDS field — David Apuuli, director general of the Uganda AIDS Commission,and Benson Chirwa, director general of the National AIDS Council in Zambia – expressed concern about whether the international funding would last, leaving them vulnerable with a growing number of people on AIDS treatment and little resources to pay for them.
Building a Movement for Global Health Equity - Defining Our Generational Duties
06/13/2010
GlobeMed's Ashley Hagaman charts her course for the conference.
In 2006 a small group of university students began organizing around issues of poverty, social injustice, and health inequity. This small group of students began to mobilize, grow, and catalyze a shift in discourse and action surrounding student engagement in global health. Back then, about 100 students strong, we began to define what our role was in global health. After several lessons learned, we've simply deferred to the experts - brilliant community leaders that are already performing incredible, innovative, and highly effective global health work.
NIGH Perspective: A Student’s View of the Conference
06/16/2010
Takudzwa Shumba, a Stanford medical student from Zimbabwe, blogs from the conference
...I also went to a book talk by Dr. Susan Raymond, who spoke about what steps were needed to make financing for non-profits possible given the global recession. The theme of making resources available has been a recurrent one throughout the conference. I also went to a book talk by Dr. Susan Raymond, who spoke about what steps were needed to make financing for non-profits possible given the global recession. The theme of making resources available has been a recurrent one throughout the conference. ...
A Radical Proposal: Fighting for Women and Girls
06/13/2010
Observations of grassroots activist Jane Roberts, co-founder of 34 Million Friends of the UNFPA
In much of the world, if you are born a girl, there is often commiseration instead of celebration at your birth. Or earlier you may have been aborted for your gender or your life may be purposefully snuffed out in your first days of life. In your first five years, you may die of simple neglect. There are between 60 and 100 million of you missing in the world today simply because of your gender. Sheesh!
An Inexpensive and Important Step to Improve Global Health: Pay Heed to Henry the Hand
06/12/2010
PRB senior policy adviser Karin Ringheim lauds a simple way to prevent disease.
I first met Henry the Hand at the 2003 Global Health Conference. Dressed as a giant plush yellow hand with a permanently happy face, Henry, alias Will Saywer, MD, attended the annual conference to promote his handwashing message among global health professionals. Will was an amiable presence, but as he attempted to cordially insert himself into conversations, some, no doubt, found his persistence about handwashing annoying. Weren’t there bigger fish to fry? AIDS, TB, malaria, reproductive health? Henry appeared to be better suited to a children’s fair.
