New Online Course on NCDs Offered by USC and the NYT Knowledge Network

by ihsection, posted in Information and Social Media

A new online course, “Tackling the Global Rise of Non-Communicable Diseases – The UN General Assembly Summit,” will be offered during the third week in September.  The cost of the course is $150.  Please see the text of the notice that was sent to me below.

TACKLING THE GLOBAL RISE OF NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES:
THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUMMIT
The New York Times and The University of Southern California
Present New Online Course

Much of the world faces a rising epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cancer, heart and lung disease, obesity, and diabetes. For those interested in learning more about why this epidemic is taking place and the steps being taken to control it, The New York Times Knowledge Network and The University of Southern California present a new one-week online course, “Tackling the Global Rise of Non-Communicable Diseases – The UN General Assembly Summit.”
 
This course, taught by Heather Wipfli, Ph.D., and Jonathan M. Samet, M.D., M.S., will be timed to correspond with developments that unfold at the UN General Assembly Summit on NCDs to be held in New York, September 19-26. The Summit represents the first time ever that the UN General Assembly will hold a summit involving heads of state to address the threat of NCDs to low- and middle-income countries and only the second time the General Assembly has held a special summit to address a health issue (the other for HIV in 2001, which led to the establishment of the Global Fund for HIV/Aids, TB and Malaria). The UN Summit will highlight the role of global “actors” and actions in addressing global health problems.
 
The course will cover a variety of topics relating to NCDs, including:
The factors driving the NCD epidemic, e.g. the tobacco and food industries
The burden posed by these diseases
The efforts to control the NCD epidemic
 
“Tackling the Global Rise of Non-Communicable Diseases” will run from September 16-23, 2011. To register for this new online course or for more information, please visit:
http://www.nytimesknownow.com/index.php/tackling-the-global-rise-of-non-communicable-diseases/.
 
This course is part of The USC and New York Times Knowledge Network online continuing education program (www.nytimes.com/usc), which offers students tailored, practical programs to enhance their professional paths, and the flexibility of online courses for both working and non-working adults. Courses feature USC faculty, in addition to New York Times journalists.

Global Health News Last Week

by ihsection, posted in News

POLITICS AND POLICY

  • South Africa’s government has set out its plans to introduce a universal health care scheme with a pilot program in 10 areas by 2012 and nationally over the next 14 years.
  • The U.N. must make reducing salt intake a global health priority, sayUK scientists. Writing in the British Medical Journal they say a 15% cut in consumption could save 8.5 million lives around the world over the next decade.
  • IRIN reports on the story of Daniel Ng’etich, a Kenyan man who was arrested and jailed for not continuing his TB treatment.
  • Dr. Jill Biden is leading a high level American delegation toKenya, which includes Raj Shah, to look into the American response to the famine crisis in the Horn of Africa.
  • A report on the state of maternal health in South Africa by Human Rights Watch has uncovered some alarming trends.

PROGRAMS

  • WHO has launched a new website to help those combating malnutrition. eLENA, a new e-library, gathers together evidence-informed guidelines for an expanding list of nutrition interventions. It is a single point of reference for the latest nutrition guidelines, recommendations and related information.

RESEARCH

  • A TB vaccine designed for those with HIV enters phase IIb trials this week in Senegal. The vaccine works by boosting response of T cells already stimulated by the traditional BCG vaccine.
  • Female smokers are more at risk for heart disease than male smokers, finds a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Lancet.  This is a concern, as smoking rates are increasing in young women worldwide.
  • Scientists are in the second phase of research into using microwaves to kill malaria parasites in mice.
  • A USC researcher has developed a lentiviral vector that can track down HIV infected cells which can potentially act as a marker for targeted elimination of infected cells.
  • People living with HIV who receive the proper ARV treatment have no greater risk of death compared to people without HIV, finds Danish researchers.
  • Around 30 genetic risk factors for developing multiple sclerosis have been discovered by a UK-led team.
  • A new study, showing that a simple blood test can accurately determine the sex of a fetus 95 percent of the time, is great news for parents at high risk of having a baby with rare genetic diseases. But it is bad news to those concerned that the tests could be used to abort a fetus based on gender.
  • British researchers have discovered that the introduction of spermless male mosquitoes can lead to fewer malaria carrying females.
  • A device which can test blood for HIV/AIDS in a matter of minutes has been developed by University of Columbia scientists.

DISEASES AND DISASTERS

  • As if it did not have enough problems already, Somalia is now facing cholera epidemic, World Health Organization officials said.
  • In an August 4 article, Trustlaw’s Lisa Anderson exposes the “silent health emergency” faced by child brides around the globe.  Not yet physically mature, they face grave danger in childbirth, due to narrow pelvises. Girls younger than 15 years of age have a five times greater risk of dying during delivery than women over 20; most of these deaths occur in developing countries that lack adequate and accessible pre- and postnatal care.
  • Amid contradictory government statistics, a volunteer group in Japan has recorded 500,000 radiation points across the country.
  • A Mexican teenager is the first officially known person to die from vampire bat induced human rabies infection. The 19-year-old victim was a migrant farm worker in theUnited States.
  • An estimated 500,000 people in West Africaare infected with lassa fever every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, amid calls for more money to be spent on preventing its spread.
  • Over at Global Pulse, Human Rights Watch researcher Katherine Todrys guest blogs on the HIV epidemic in Uganda’s penitentiaries.Uganda, she explains, has often been presented as a success story in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, and has received over $1 billion from the US for AIDS programs. Many HIV-positive Ugandans have been excluded from these efforts, though, including gay men, drug users, sex workers, and prisoners.
  • Sleep apnea, a fairly common and treatable disorder that causes people to stop breathing momentarily while they sleep, may lead to cognitive impairment and even dementia.
  • Although cases of sexual violence have been under-counted during some wars, during others, such as the ongoing unrest in Libya, they have been vastly over-counted.
  • All patients getting cancer treatment should be told to do two and a half hours of physical exercise every week, says a report by Macmillan Cancer Support.

Announcement: World Pneumonia Day 2011 Grants

by ihsection, posted in Information and Social Media

Below is an announcement calling for submissions for a grant from the 2011 Small Grants for World Pneumonia Day Advocacy program:

World Pneumonia Day 2011 is coming on November 12th and applications are being accepted for the 2011 Small Grants for World Pneumonia Day Advocacy program. Starting August 5, 2011, ideas are being sought for World Pneumonia Day events that tackle pneumonia where it has the biggest impact. Winning submissions will be eligible for grants of up to US$10,000 of funding. We are looking for well-thought out, innovative and impactful ideas that will put a spotlight on pneumonia as a problem that can be solved. Ideas will be evaluated on not only how well they promote change but also how well they incorporate this year’s World Pneumonia Day theme: “I am the face of pneumonia.” This theme strives to connect the personal, human stories that illustrate pneumonia’s direct impact. Find out more about the 2011 Small Grants Program and submit your application before the August 18th deadline!  Additional questions can be sent to info@worldpneumoniaday.org.
 
Full article and application at: http://worldpneumoniaday.org/news/2011-small-grants/

Global Health News Last Week

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, News

SECTION NEWS
Attention IH section members! We are still in need of moderators for the scientific sessions at this year’s annual meeting. According to our program committee, the following sessions are still available:

Monday, October 31
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.: International Health Programs & Policy 1

2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: Act Global, Think Local: Domestic applications of international health lessons; Child Survival & Child Health 1

Tuesday, November 1
8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.: Builidng Partnerships and Coalitions for better International Programs; Emerging, Re-emerging & Neglected Tropical Diseases

10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.: International Health Communication/ Behavior Change Communication

12:30 p.m. 2:00 p.m.: HIV/AIDS 2

Wednesday, November 2
8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.: HIV/AIDS 3; Innovations in International Health 2

Please contact Omar Khan (ih.apha@gmail.com) for more information, or to volunteer!

USAID celebrated its 50-year anniversary this week.

The benefits of breastfeeding are being showcased around the world
for Breast Feeding Week.

POLITICS AND POLICY

  • US organizations will find it easier to deliver aid to parts of Somalia controlled by a pro-Al Qaeda group – the threat of prosecution if it ends up in the wrong hands has been reduced  after an announcement by the State Department.
  • Dr. Ariel Pablos-Méndez was sworn in as the new Assistant Administrator for the Global Health Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
  • Although Congress resolved the debt ceiling debate, the way the budget package is being shaped — particularly by combining International Affairs with defense in a single “security” category, global poverty spending is getting severely handicapped.
  • Blood tests for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis may be putting patients’ lives at risk through providing misleading results, and should not be used, according to a WHO policy statement.

PROGRAMS

  • The inaugural charter of the Alliance for Oral Health Across Borders was signed at Temple University yesterday.
  • Tom Paulson of Humanosphere breaks down the 2010 Gates Foundation annual report, with some interesting commentary.
  • Jaclyn Schiff of UN Dispatch says we can look for more global health leadership coming from the city of Houston (my hometown!), as Dr. Peter Hotez, whom Schiff calls “an international health force of nature,” and an arm of the Sabin Vaccine Institute move there.
  • The Measles Initiative today announced it has helped vaccinate one billion children in more than 60 developing countries since 2001, making significant gains in the global effort to stop measles.
  • India’s health minister announced Tuesday a new initiative underway to boost the country’s rate of immunizing newborns by collecting mobile phone numbers of all pregnant mothers to monitor their babies’ vaccinations.

RESEARCH

  • A multi-resistant strain of Salmonella Kentucky could be spreading globally, suggests a study by Institut Pasteur. Case numbers have risen in Europe and the US, and infections have also been acquired in various parts of Africa and the Middle East. The strain has also been found in food animals in Africa.
  • Pharmaceutical manufacturer iBio, Inc announced the successful animal testing of a malaria vaccine candidate in trials sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
  • A new study in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene shows a relationship between a kind of river flow and cholera outbreaks.
  • A new study in the Lancet shows that text messaging can be an effective tool in malaria treatment and prevention.
  • PLoS Medicine published a new study on HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa. Among its key findings was the startling fact that sex between men (MSM) accounts for nearly one quarter of all new HIV infections across the region.
  • According to a new study, children of depressed mothers in developing countries are 40 percent more likely to be underweight or stunted than those with mothers in good mental health.
  • A cheap and portable blood test could provide a breakthrough for diagnosing infections in remote areas of the world, a scientific study says.
  • Using WHO data, researchers found that children who experience abuse and develop mental health disorders are at increased risk for chronic physical problems later in life.
  • A new study in the journal Nature Medicine finds that a credit card shaped device used for testing HIV, known as “Lab-on-a-Chip,” has had a successful trial run in Rwanda.

DISEASES AND DISASTERS

  • Mass treatment of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis with ivermectin has been hampered by severe reactions if the patient also has Loa loa. A new map developed by WHO’s African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control will help communities identify low risk areas for Loa loa and distribute ivermectin for lymphatic filariasis control safely.
  • The CDC reports that the annual number of HIV infections in the USA is holding steady at about 50,000, and that African American MSM are at particular risk.
  • AIDS remains a metaphor for inequality, argues Michel Sidibe in the LA Times. In the world’s wealthier nations, where access to medicine is widespread, AIDS is becoming a chronic disease rather than a death sentence. But in the eveloping world, 1.8 million people die of AIDS each year.
  • Global cholera incidence has increased since 2000, with Haiti’s large outbreak tipping the largest burden away from Africa for the first time since 1995, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Sunday.
  • Tens of thousands of Somalis have died and more than half-a-million children are on the brink of starvation. Western aid isn’t flowing to where the worst of the famine is — partly due to the “war on terror.”
  • The head of World Food Program in Ethiopia says the country’s emergency food stocks are almost gone, the latest trouble caused by the drought in the Horn of Africa.

TOTALLY UNRELATED TO ANYTHING – Apparently Hollywood has discovered its next Greg Mortenson: Sam Childers, the “Machine Gun Preacher,” is the subject of much hubbub and an upcoming movie starring Gerard Butler.  This man claims to have been a gangbanger and drug dealer who found Jesus and then took up arms to rescue child soldiers from the LRA.  Global health blogger Brett Keller offers some commentary into Childers’ outlandish (and, frankly, dubious) story, while anonymous aid blogger “J” at Tales from the Hood has a few choice words.

New Book: Megacities and Global Health

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section

UPDATED: The IH Section’s Dr. Omah Khan, chair of the Program Committee, is the co-editor of a recently published new book, Megacities and Global Health, along with Dr. Greg Pappas.  The press release is below.  The book signing will be from 12-1PM on Monday, October 31 inside of the APHA Press Booth #3051.

New book first to examine Megacities as emerging global health challenge

Washington, D.C., August 3, 2011 — Steady population growth concentrated in urban areas around the world has given rise to a new global health challenge. Megacities, aptly named urban centers with more than 10 million inhabitants, present a new realm of public health challenges for their residents and the world.

Megacities & Global Health, a new book published by APHA Press, examines the unique set of problems that arise when cities reach a certain size: poverty, infectious disease, overcrowding, environmental hazards, among others. These challenges have implications for the rest of the world as well. According to co-editors Omar A. Khan, MD, MHS, FAAFP, and Gregory Pappas, MD, PhD, megacities are strategically important in the global order, and the health challenges of the world’s largest cities will take on global significance.

“What is new is the emergence of the megacity as a unique pattern of urban settlement and as the subject of research,” note the editors in the book’s preface. Currently there are 25 megacities in the world, and that number is increasing. Public health plays an important role in ensuring global stability, say Khan and Pappas.

“This book is the first of surely many that will come as a result of the growth of, concentrated population centers around the globe,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), executive director of the American Public Health Association. “It’s an important contribution to addressing the growing health concerns of megacities.”

The book, broken down into global regions, draws on the expertise of more than a dozen senior authors and thought leaders. It targets a broad audience, including development experts, global & urban health specialists, teachers of global public health, and graduate and undergraduate-level students of public health, especially urban health and international health.

For author interviews with Drs. Khan or Pappas, please contact david.hartogs@apha.org or okhan@medscape.com.

Ordering Information: Published by APHA Press, Megacities & Global Health,978-087553-0031, 350 pages, softbound, $70.00 ($49.00 APHA member price) plus shipping and handling. To order, call toll free 888-320-APHA; fax 888-361-APHA; e-mail apha@pbd.com or visit www.aphabookstore.org.

Please send requests for a review copy on letterhead to David Hartogs, APHA, 800 I Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001-3710; email david.hartogs@apha.org; or fax to 202-777-2531.