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Global Health

How Women Can 'Lean In' to Solve the World's Social, Economic and Environmental Disparities

Irene Lane | Posted 05.16.2013 | Impact
Irene Lane

My question is why should we strive to make everyone equal? Perhaps, instead, women can apply their talents toward making a bigger impact on humanity by 'leaning in' and solving one complex problem, one community at a time.

The Massive Market Opportunity in Better Health for Africa

Chuck Slaughter | Posted 05.14.2013 | Impact
Chuck Slaughter

Given the billions of aid dollars spent to improve the health systems of Africa, it may surprise you to learn that the majority of Africans still turn to the private sector for their health care. Not because the private sector provides cheaper prices. But rather, for many, it remains the only option.

What Does Science Teach Us About Well-Being?

Richard J. Davidson | Posted 05.15.2013 | Religion
Richard J. Davidson

It is my fervent aspiration that our culture will pay more attention to well-being, will include strategies to promote well-being with our educational curricula and within the healthcare arena, and will include well-being within our definitions of health.

Saving the Lives of Women Worldwide

Susan Blumenthal, M.D. | Posted 05.12.2013 | Healthy Living
Susan Blumenthal, M.D.

Mother's Day is a celebration of life and reflects the importance of women to their families, communities and countries. However, worldwide HIV/AIDS robs women and girls of their potential and health.

Option B+: A Critical Tool Toward Creating an AIDS-free Generation

Ambassador Eric Goosby, MD | Posted 05.11.2013 | Impact
Ambassador Eric Goosby, MD

Whether a woman is a mother today, or a mother to be, her health is paramount -- both for her own productivity and quality of life, and that of the next generation. One way that we can help to support women -- and their children -- is by ensuring that all mothers receive the essential health services they need, including for HIV.

A Fistula-Free Generation Is Achievable in Our Lifetime

Pamela Barnes | Posted 05.13.2013 | Impact
Pamela Barnes

May is the month when we celebrate our mothers. For Fatoumata, a mother in Guinea, she is celebrating a brand new life. Recently, she was lifted from ...

Working in the World's Cholera Hospital

Adam C. Levine | Posted 05.08.2013 | World
Adam C. Levine

Diarrhea is still one of the most serious causes of death and disability worldwide. Despite significant improvements in prevention and treatment efforts over the past few decades, it remains the second biggest killer of children in the world.

International Nurses Day: Celebrating Nurses Around the Globe

Leslie Mancuso, PhD, RN, FAAN | Posted 05.08.2013 | Impact
Leslie Mancuso, PhD, RN, FAAN

While their circumstances are all very different, one theme has been present in every country I've visited -- the undeniable role nurses play in maintaining the health and well-being of their communities.

All Hands on Deck: (Some) Reflections on Ameliorating Global Health Disparities in the 21st Century

Dustin T. Duncan | Posted 05.07.2013 | Impact
Dustin T. Duncan

There are disparities in health within countries, including in the U.S. For instance, there are disparities in obesity within the U.S., whereby black and Hispanic children and adolescents, have a substantially higher prevalence of obesity than their white peers.

When What You Don't Know Can Kill You

David Winder | Posted 04.30.2013 | Impact
David Winder

It may seem hard to imagine, but one out of every three people in the world today does not have access to a decent toilet. Instead, many people in poor countries are left with no choice but to relieve themselves in open spaces, rivers or fields that drain into de facto local water sources.

Eradicating Polio: How a $5.5 Billion Investment Could Pay Huge Dividends

Elijah Wolfson | Posted 04.26.2013 | Healthy Living
Elijah Wolfson

A person could do a lot with $5.5 billion in liquid assets. It's also the amount of money that global health officials want so they can enact a six-year plan to wipe polio off the face of the earth.

Why We Need (And Want) Mothers to Speak Up On Behalf of Newborn Health

Impatient Optimists | Posted 04.25.2013 | Impact
Impatient Optimists

Newborn health was the topic of a global conversation last week, as you no doubt know if you’ve been following along on Impatient Optimists. In ...

Religious Leaders 'Noisy About Malaria' In Mozambique

Christopher LaTondresse | Posted 04.25.2013 | Religion
Christopher LaTondresse

The disease steals 650,000 lives around the world each year, devastating entire communities and undermining opportunities for prosperity and growth -- and disproportionately affecting the African continent.

Rethinking Policing in the Age of AIDS

Aleksandr Zelichenko | Posted 04.25.2013 | Impact
Aleksandr Zelichenko

Good drug policy is good AIDS policy. Drug users and sex workers benefit more from services than from beatings and prison. And as law enforcement officials committed to protecting the public, we can support public health.

Twenty million reasons to keep up momentum on global immunizations

Peter Yeo | Posted 04.24.2013 | World
Peter Yeo

In the past two decades, immunization efforts have averted an estimated 20 million deaths globally. Yet, for all the progress that has been made--than...

Earth Day: How to Spin Toward a Healthier, Greener Planet

Susan Blumenthal, M.D. | Posted 04.22.2013 | Healthy Living
Susan Blumenthal, M.D.

Each one of us has an important role to play in protecting planet Earth and safeguarding human health. Collaboration is urgently needed across governments, NGOs, businesses, communities, and individuals to ensure a healthier planet and a greener, cleaner world.

Empowering Change for Adolescents around the World

Pamela Barnes | Posted 04.18.2013 | Impact
Pamela Barnes

Recently, I toured a health clinic in India and met a girl named Anju. Anju's family is poor. They live far away in a remote village that has no running water or health care. Although Anju is only 14, her parents expect her to marry and start having children soon.

Science Fiction and Social Fiction

Mark Moore | Posted 04.29.2013 | Impact
Mark Moore

"We have science fiction, and science follows it. We imagine it, and it comes true. Yet we don't have social fiction, so nothing changes." When Muhammad Yunus made this statement at the recent Skoll World Forum, there was a sense that this was a quotation we'd see repeated for years.

Cookie Monster: The Ultimate Impatient Optimist

Impatient Optimists | Posted 04.17.2013 | Impact
Impatient Optimists

Today, 2.5 billion people don't have access to toilets. Investing in sanitation leads to healthier people and stronger communities. The Bill & Mel...

Bravery Tapes: Garifuna Courage in the Face of HIV

Jens Erik Gould | Posted 04.15.2013 | Impact
Jens Erik Gould

In the Garifuna communities of Honduras, it's an act of courage to admit to being HIV positive. With a grant from the Pulitzer Center, photographer David Rochkind and I interviewed people who overcame fear and discrimination to go public with their diagnosis and help educate others.

All Humans Deserve the Right to Health and Dignity

Amanda Schwartz | Posted 04.12.2013 | Impact
Amanda Schwartz

One Day Without Shoes is the annual day to encourage the world to go without shoes to bring global awareness to children's health and education. It is about walking with dignity and it is about opportunities to improve children's health.

Connecting the Dots for Basic Health Care: A Skoll World Forum Update

Gopi Gopalakrishnan | Posted 04.12.2013 | Impact
Gopi Gopalakrishnan

When it comes to working in unorganized environments, a flexible framework with a certain amount of latitude is critical. This is how we draw our strategies. We work our way up from the bottom.

Commons Care: How Wrong Was Garrett Hardin?!

Frances Moore Lappe | Posted 04.09.2013 | Green
Frances Moore Lappe

We come to see natural treasures no longer as merely divisible property but as gifts protected by boundaries we create and honor, knowing that all life depends on their integrity. The shift is underway.

World Health Day: A Collaborative Partnership With Civil Society Is Needed

Amb. Ufuk Gokcen | Posted 04.08.2013 | Religion
Amb. Ufuk Gokcen

Singularly combating specific diseases will not lead to widespread access to healthcare or eradication of diseases like polio or tuberculosis. This is particularly true in developing countries due to complexities of the challenges involved.

The Silent Epidemic

James Bernstein, MD | Posted 04.03.2013 | Impact
James Bernstein, MD

Surgery and many other basic health care interventions require sterile medical equipment and trained people to carry it out. Currently, there is no readily available, practical sterilization method in the developing world.