When I was a child, every year polio paralysed some 350 000 children in more than 100 nations. Today, this deadly, disfiguring virus has been all but defeated. In 2018, less than 30 cases were reported in just two nations: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Our world strains towards the finish line of a monumental public health […]
2018 ends a year of worldwide chaos: earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, forced migrations, political unrest, economic turmoil. Such chaos is most vividly expressed in armed conflict. At this moment, open fighting continues in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, Mexico, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and more. Less overt fighting smolders on throughout
Unprecedented: Life expectancy in the US has declined for the third straight year. Infants born in 2017 are expected to live on average just 78.6 years. That’s down from 78.7 years in 2016/2015 and down from 78.9 years in 2014. An important context is to realize that life expectancy in the USA has not
At this moment, media reports are widely announcing the southern approach of migrants who are ill. Some migrants appear to suffer from chickenpox, tuberculosis, even HIV. Most all of them are afflicted by exhaustion and malnutrition following their weeks-long foot journey of at least 1,200 miles. How shall we respond? One’s reaction to
Infectious diseases – malaria, TB, typhoid, dysentery, measles – have been the leading cause of human morbidity and mortality throughout history. But today, the burden of infectious diseases has greatly diminished in wealthier countries. In developing nations, infectious diseases remain the leading causes of both death and of DALYs lost, especially among children and
Today I write from the 5th China National Congress on General Practice, in Shenyang, China, where I just presented Health is Wealth. Indeed, health is in ongoing crisis throughout the world. In every nation, cost is high and growing. Access is low for those separated by distance or insufficient finances. And, quality care is difficult to
One of the most daunting challenges in low-resource healthcare is the gathering of reliable data with which to guide interventions. Now comes new data from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, a former INMED Training Site, in Malawi, Southern Africa, indicating that the number of newborns dying from sepsis is rapidly accelerating. Sepsis is a bacterial
We are once again on high alert over Ebola. True, this year the disease has killed only a very small number of persons – twenty-seven – but the potential for rapid, worldwide dissemination is a clear and present danger. Remember how in 2014-2016 Ebola Round One killed 11,310? We are better prepared for