Global Warming and Public Health

When I was in Niger this summer, I saw the effects of global warming firsthand. This is a picture of a place where Lake Chad used to be. The people who lived in the town where this picture was taken described their memories of the days when they would sell truckloads of fish from the Lake. Global warming is threatening both the economy and the health status of people living in Eastern Niger.

When I thought about how my flight to and from Niger was contributing to this, I felt guilty.

I think that one of the moral dilemmas we face as "global health" people is the fact that we regularly contribute to global warming. I was really pleased to find out about TerraPass. Every time you fly, you can donate money to fight global warming:

http://www.terrapass.com/

The Fall Welcome Picnic

Many thanks to Stephen Bezruchka and Mary Anne Mercer for hosting the annual Fall Wlecome Picnic for current and former students, staff and faculty of the International Health MPH program, and staff and directors of Health Alliance International and the PLP. Wlecome everyone!

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to say hello to all the new IHPers...welcome to the program!! I just returned from Niger, where I was doing research for my thesis and practicum. I did an internship with Helen Keller International (HKI). The purpose of our research was to evaluate HKI's rehabilitation program for acutely malnourished children.

Unlike most non-profit organizations in Niger, HKI works with the Ministry of Health. Other NGOs prefer to set up private clinics that operate independently of the government health system. After having HSERV 531 and hearing Prof. Gloyd stress the importance of building the capacity within government health centers, it was great to work with a NGO who actually does this. Although working within health systems may be more challenging, the resulting capacity building is arguably more valuable in the long run.

Also, if any of you speak French and are interested in doing research in Niger, please let me know and I can connect you with NGOs in the country.

Looking forward to meeting you all on Saturday!

Katie

Happy 60th Birthday Steve!

Lyrics by Sarah Frey with help from all IHP Coordinators from the last 20 years: Linda Lovick, Liz Mogford, Julie Beschta and Julie Brunett. James Pfeiffer on guitar. Sung to tune of "O-Bla-Di" by the Beatles.

O-Bla-Steve

Some-times he’s ex-e-cu-tive of HAI

Some-times he directs the IHP

Some-times he’s the go-to-guy for PLP

And soon he’ll be one of the Chairs of GHD

IHP, PLP, Fa-mi-ly, Bra!

How does Steve Gloyd do it all?

HAI, GHD, and Marim-ba!

Watchin’ all that basket-ball.

Rain or shine he always rides his bike to work

Birkenstocks and shirts from A-fri-ca

Home-made sandwich bread and pocket ca-len-dar

Evenings home with Salim, Mussa, and Ahou-a

O-bla-Steve, O-bla-da, life goes on, Bra!

How does Steve Gloyd do it all?

All those jobs, two huge boys, super wife, Ah!

Green hel-met in case he falls.

And in his of-fice you’ll find a few key things

(doo-doo, do…)

Big jar of mayo, some pisco sours

A suit and tie for high meetings

(ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)

Happy ever after spreading global health

Structural adjustment is the key

Turn the system round so folks can help them-selves

And put the money back into the Mi-ni-stry.

Obla-di, obla-da, life goes on, Bra!

How does Steve Gloyd do it all?

Mozambique, Cote d’Ivoire, and Sudan, ah!

Traveling from Fall to Fall.

And now he’s six-ty with de-cades left a-head.

(doo-doo, do, doo-doo…)

Because he bikes and runs up the stairs,

And hits the gym each nite, ‘fore bed

(ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)

Often he’ll hang out to chat and socialize,

(Email, cell phone, calendar in hand….)

Fam’ly man, a good friend, and musician too,

And always working hard to stick it to the man!

IHP, PLP, Fa-mi-ly, Bra!

How does Steve Gloyd do it all?

HAI, GHD, and Marim-ba!

Watchin’ all that basket-ball.

And if you want some fun…

(ha ha ha ha)

Sing O-Bla-Steve-Bla-Da!

UW MPH Student Reporting from Ramallah

Just wanted to share with you Cindy's first report on the new Palestine Health Journal Blog. To view Cindy's report, please click here. Cindy is an MPH student in the CO-PHP track.

Nairobi Photos

A friend forwarded me this link and I thought I would share with all of you. They are beautiful pictures.

http://www.nairalan d.com/nigeria/ topic-51356. 0.html

If you happen to be in kenya, feel free to email me (lmasese@yahoo.com) and we can meet.

Positioning to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment - A strategy to gaining relative health equity

The continued increasing allocation of financial resources to HIV and AIDS globally not only demands maximizing response to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment but also redirecting the unprecedented resources towards Strengthening Health Systems....

The response to public health .... Mozambique, Ethiopia.... more to come .... and many to follow, the leadership model based on values by the people and for the people!

New York Times
June 18, 2007
Editorial

Two Cheers on Global AIDS
Now that the Group of 8 industrialized nations has pledged to commit $60 billion to combat AIDS and other diseases around the world in coming years — a substantial sum by any reckoning — Congress and other national legislatures ought to look hard for additional funds to close a looming gap between the funds committed and the needs of desperate patients.
The advanced nations — both the G-8 countries and other donor nations — have greatly increased their funding for AIDS programs in recent years in belated recognition that the epidemic threatens to destroy not just its victims, but also the social and economic fabric of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We are pleased that President Bush has proposed spending some $30 billion to combat AIDS abroad over a five-year period, from 2009 to 2013, but in truth that represents only a modest increase from the spending trajectory we were already on. At its recent summit meeting, the Group of 8 pledged to commit $60 billion to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria “over the coming years,” including the American contribution.
Yet even these pledges will not be enough to keep up with the devastating epidemics. Tens of billions of dollars more will be needed to provide treatment, care and preventive services for AIDS alone over the next five years.
Although the Group of 8 pledges are welcome, they actually represent a retreat from previous goals. In 2005, at its meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, the group pledged to provide “as close as possible to universal access to treatment” for all people suffering from AIDS by 2010. That should mean at least 10 million people in treatment by then, judging from estimates by United Nations AIDS experts. Yet at the recent meeting, the G-8 said it was aiming to treat only some five million patients in Africa by an unspecified date. That sounds like consigning millions of untreated people to death and disability.
To its credit, the United States has been by far the largest AIDS donor in recent years, providing almost half of the funding commitments made by donor governments. But when measured against the size of the national economy, the American donations rank only fifth. There is room to do more.
As Congress wrestles with the fiscal 2008 appropriations bills this year, it ought to provide the full $1.3 billion being sought by Congressional health advocates as the American contribution to a global fund to combat the three diseases — not just $300 million as proposed by the administration or the $850 million approved by the House Appropriations Committee. Congress should also set the nation — and by its example, the world — on course toward universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010.

Link modification

If the earlier link does not work, please try this for sure! Apologies for inconvenience.

I yet have to learn my tubing and afraid you guys have to register facebook to access this link, however it is a simple process. Enjoy

http://washington.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2403598419&saved

We were born to make a difference! Graduation Ceremony

Dear friends, colleagues and faculty members,

Here is the link to Professor Steve Gloyd address on the eve of graduation ceremony at South Campus. Among many other things, Steve admired the passion and the public health activism we all carry very close to our hearts for health and social equity!

http://www.facebook.com/video/editvideo.php?v=2403598419

Congratulations to all graduates in advancing their careers towards making a difference in the Global Health!!

Thanks to all of our loving faculty members. Peace

PLP Celebration Pics & Video

I remember PLP's first year clearly. My housemate, Nandini Johri, was one of PLP's 2001 fellows. Through her I became acquainted with Aaron Katz and the PLP program. It is quite impressive remembering the achievements of the program and its fellows.

Here is a link to pics Zied and I shot at the event and a video/slideshow as well. Hope you enjoy the live performance of the graduates. It was quite touching and a must-see.





I also learned a lot at the ceremony about the IHP/HAI story/team. Wow, what a fun team. There is a thread that connects most of them: MUSIC. Yes, they all play an instrument of some sort, dance or sing. I hope to make a short video about the IHP/HAI story and post it on our blog. Hope Steve Gloyd, yes, Liz and the rest of the team would hold a live performance for us sometime in the coming year.

Here is a pic of the IHP program coordinators from 1992-2007. Liz Mogford was the first coordinator and Sarah Frey is the current coordinator (she sings too and performed at Folklife with her band).

Julie, Liz, Sarah, Julie

Tariq will be posting footage he shot soon. Stay tuned.

More IHP/PLP/HAI Annual Celebration Pix

Here is a link to a few more pix from IHP graduation party.


Thanks to Ahoua and Steve for the festivities and hosting a wonderful gathering.

Congratulations to all the graduates.

Public health nurses - greater role in working with others to make child and family poverty history

Article title: Development of the role of public health nurses in addressing child and family poverty: a framework for action
Authors: Benita E. Cohen & Linda Reutter
OnlineEarly Articles
Journal Name: Journal of Advanced Nursing
Click here to go to the abstract of this article in Blackwell Synergy:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.04154.x

The Global Health - Social and Health Equity Around the Globe

To all IHP, PLP graduates:

Let’s keep the IHP/PLP promise for keeping the public health activism alive where ever we intend to make a difference; Transnational or Transatlantic, Africa, Asia, Australia or America; whether it is environment driven or WE have to drive the environment!

Good luck to everyone around the globe for making the difference in the Global Health!

Zeid and Amineh, I am trying to put the graduation movie on the blog, however unable to do so, please tell me the secret.

Wendy is in the PI !

IHP is everywhere from the NYT to the PI. Here you can read wendy's article !

Our own Steve Gloyd in today's paper!

Health
New AIDS Cases in Africa Outpace Gains
By SHARON LaFRANIERE
Published: June 6, 2007
For each sub-Saharan African who was placed on anti-AIDS drugs last year, experts say, five more were newly infected.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/06/health/06aids.html?ex=1338868800&en=da5a069eedec75f1&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Receive IHP Diaries Posts in your Inbox

Dear IHPers.

Since most of this year's cohort will be out of the country the next 3-6 months, we decided to make it easier for you to view our blog's entries. You can receive blog's entries via email by subscribing to IHP Diaries Group. You need to visit the blog to post and comment though. We'd love to hear about your work abroad, so please let us read you soon.

dr. bz' talk

hello all,

yesterday amineh & i attended stevie beez' 2 hour symposium about the social determinants of health at the school of social work. the majority of the people in the audience were social work students or social workers themselves.

dr. b went through spoke about his history & his metamorphosis from initially believing that individual actions begat specific health outcomes 2 later believing that socio-political & or socio-economic factors may be even more important factors. he stated that he came to that conclusion in 1993 but he did not go public with his beliefs until 1995. he told the story of how he harangued patients who were smokers when he saw them in the emergency room until he saw statistics from japan (the industrialized nation with the worlds' highest life expectancy) apparently the japanese have a much higher rate of both alcohol use & smoking yet..........there is a higher life expectancy. why??????? dr. b thinks that it has to do with" wa" a japanese idea of group harmony thus a built in social support network. he asked the audience members if they had ever seen japanese tourists taking pictures et al... by themselves.

1 of the audience members stated that the japanese idea of "wa" worked because japan is a homogenous society but............ the author interjected that it's just not true.

japan has always been multi-ethnic from ancient times there have been interactions with indo-malays, chinese, koreans indians etc... few people outside of japan or more precisely the japanese korean community are aware of the fact that that 25% of the people killed during the bombings of hiroshima & nagasaki were of korean descent. iinyhowz.......the author stated (when he was so mercilessly put on the spot by dr. b) that what is going on in japan is the belief that everyone can achieve (to a certain extent) whether they are multi-ethnic or not.
another audience member asked if there were similar examples of "wa" in the u.s. & dr. b told the story about an italian american settlement in rosetta , pennsylvania whose impoverished & oppressed inhabitants had higher health indicators than the general population while living in their isolated community but... upon moving out to the general populace their health declined.

he also talked about early childhood & even prenatal influences on lifelong health via biological embedding, secure attachments & even what our grandmothers stressors were when they were pregnant.

i'll wrap this up by saying that he emphasized that we must treat populations, not individuals. the countries with the best health outcomes are the 1z with the least amount of income disparities & with good social gvt. networks a.e. sweden, & that the 3 main factors that got japan to where it is today are democratisation, decentralization & demilitarization.

there was of course a lot more but....... if you want to learn about it go to the source.


a dyos
Santiago
p:s,

i don't know where dr. b findz the time 2 amass all of the in4m8shun that he duz...itz soooooo inspiring :)

Agathe' s talk this morning

This morning Agathe Jean Baptiste spoke about the Cuban and Haitian Health Systems including her training under the Cuban system and her introduction back in Haiti's health system. It was a fascinating talk and we all appreciate Agathe's insight, charisma, and experiences. If you missed the lecure, here's a picture of Agathe in action, and you are invited to post any questions for Agathe or the broader IHP community about this topic!

To view presentation, please click.

Irreverent words on Don’t Listen to This Show

There is a weekly show here of "Progressive Activism and Politics at UW" hosted by Matt Dundas that finished up its first year today. I was fortunate to be the last guest. Go the website:
http://dontlookatthiswebsite.org
for this outrageous hour.

Stephen

IBRD revisited or renewed

Has the World Bank become an anachronism? Is it out dated, out of touch or out of synch with "world" norms?

Originally the Internatational Bank for Reconstruction and Development arose from the cinders of WWII and an intention to recapitalize Europe's industrialied capacity. For almost 40 years this work has all but been completed leaving an increasing concentration of capital in its reserves to be leveraged at the whims of its governors.

A few structural problems accompanied this legacy that do not necessarily indict the utility
of such an organization, but nevertheless place it in a critical if not precarious position to influence global welfare. The first involves the changing nature of the "world" as bankers perceive it. The birth of a "public " bank that is dedicated to collecting, managing and redistributing the green power of public assets through leveraged lending is a new concept.

Banks have predominantly been privately held for profit businesses over the ages. Apart from credit unions and lending societies forund in smaller communities, banks remain a core tool of private capital dedicated to self-preservation and increased control. The World Bank has been an attempt at serving the economic development of nations rather than individuals or corporations. Has it succeeded? The answer is yes and no. As the soverignty of nations receeds into the hands of super elites, and as corporations in republics are afforded similar if not superior legal rights to individuals, the consequence of the Bank's policies and actions have trickled down to serve public welfare less well. In fact an identity crisis seems to have emerged as Bank officials scramble to redefine their mission and focus to truly assist populations rather than the infrastructure that serves them.

The second involves increased communication and subsequent awareness of eachother thanks to the development and application of new technologies. The World Bank is indeed a lush place from which to conspire for the benefit of global economic prosperity and it has access to the latest and greatest of these tools. As public health is seen more clearly as a concept through which individual and collective wellbeing/welfare can be improved, the link to better productivity for all expressions of human endeavor will follow. We must continue to work dilligently to demonstrate to our colleagues within the Bank how to leverage their assets to enhance health on the planet. Apart from those political appointees at the top, they are among the best educated and potentially thoughtful global public servants. They have the means to concentrate and invest resources where they can make a huge contribution to stability among the least secure regions of the earth. Let us conspire to influence their policies and actions by clarifying values that that bring people together and demonstrate that healing and empowering human beings is more profitable than fueling the conflict making machinery of the status quo.