Two years ago, I called a Christian friend and asked: Would the members of your church like to receive free flu shots? Thrilled with the offer, as I am an infectious disease expert, she confirmed with her pastor and invited me to the church. But something happened when the pastor saw me.
With such complexity, are all partners equally influential in public-private partnerships? And who holds the private sector accountable?
What could other nontraditional approaches do for our ability to fight AIDS? What will the next great leap forward be, and how can we make sure it gets tested ASAP?
A recent WHO assessment of Rwanda's capacity to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs) found that country failed on every measure.
The egg-based manufacturing process has been working for us to date; however, there is a new process that raises the bar in influenza vaccine manufacturing, is less time-consuming and brings the manufacturing process into the digital age.
On the surface, the flu vaccine seems like a no-brainer. History has shown us influenza can be a devastating and lethal disease worth attempting to control if not eradicate. However, looking more closely, we find that these apparent no-brainers do, in fact, present complicated policy questions.
In the year-end issue of Impact, we announce the top 10 global health milestones of 2012. We asked some of the world's most renowned leaders in global health to comment on why these moments made the list. What we heard was insightful and, in many cases, encouraging.
In the western world, the cervical cancer threat has been dramatically reduced thanks to widely available screening tests and vaccines. In developing countries, however, it is still a leading killer of women, often affecting many women in the prime of their lives.
I stand by my support for the flu vaccine. Reasonable people might disagree -- and when they do, I will listen to them and encourage others to do likewise. Not so those who renounce reason altogether, and in its place offer only vitriol.
Familiarity breeds contempt, or at least complacency, and perhaps the annual return of influenza has induced that response. Perhaps that's why we seem to be dismissive of this germ, and overlook what a serious illness it can be. But that tendency is at our peril.
You probably didn't know it, but Congress recently held a major hearing on the government's response to autism, grilling two key federal officials on everything from prevalence studies to services for adults with the disorder.
For those of us who survived those pre-cocktail years, we were so AIDS-weary that we couldn't wait to put the nightmare behind us. In the process we neglected to pass along our history to the next generation. Their future may depend on learning from our past.
Myanmar has shown that even nations facing significant challenges can build a more secure and stable future by investing in vaccines and immunization.
Clinical experience indicates that homeopathic medicine is a viable option for pertussis. However, mainstream medicine's general unwillingness to consider any therapy that is not manufactured by PhRMA tends to blind it to potentially new and/or unexplored treatments.
Although the human papillomavirus (HPV) has been recognized as a transmissible pathogen for the past several decades, the controversial use of HPV vaccines has vaulted the pesky bug into eyes of the mainstream media and scientific communities alike.
A free website and mobile app -- called Flu Near You -- helps people find nearby places to get a flu shot, enrolls people to act as flu watchdogs, and allows them to track flu activity in their neighborhood so they can protect their loved ones.
