Global health policy’s carbon footprint

Sep 02 2010

Let’s be honest, global health has its fair share of jet-setters (i.e. academics, policy makers, representatives of international organisations who spend a significant proportion of their time traveling, typically by air). As the United Nations’ gears up for its COP-16 Climate Change conference this November, is there anything our fly-happy travelers can do to help? Continue Reading »

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Malnutrition in India: Social Change>Handouts

Sep 01 2010

This week’s Foreign Policy featured an excellent article by Dr. Purnima Menon on malnutrition in India. Given my frustrations, voiced in an earlier blog about the usual finger-pointing at cultural practices, I was heartened to see that Dr. Menon’s analysis took a more structural approach and argued for real social change over ‘more blind handouts’. What does Dr. Menon think is the way forward? Continue Reading »

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Should China Continue to Receive Aid?

Aug 26 2010

Back in July I blogged about ‘China, Brazil and India’s Billion-Dollar Aid Appetite’ which discussed Professor Jack Chow’s Foreign Policy article. Chow questioned why China, despite considerable wealth, continued to be a major recipient of Global Fund monies. A rebuttal of Ambassador Chow’s article was published yesterday with the authors arguing that the Global Fund should continue to support China. What is their rationale? Continue Reading »

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Key Messages: Sec. Clinton on Global Health

Aug 18 2010

This past Monday, Secretary Clinton gave a speech on the U.S. Global Health Initiative at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins. I was very excited for this event hoping there would finally be details on what exactly the GHI is and how it will work. Despite the lack of specifics, what were the important messages? Continue Reading »

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Mutual accountability – an idea on the brink

Aug 17 2010

I recently had the opportunity to review a paper on mutual accountability for a special edition of a well-known global health journal. It was a difficult paper to review and I’ve been reflecting on why I found it difficult. Part of the problem (all of the problem some might say!) is my own ignorance: I’ve never really stopped to think about what ‘accountability’ means, what ‘mutual’ means, or what it means to juxtapose ‘mutual’ and ‘accountability’ to form such a heart warming new phrase. Well, why would you? For those of you who don’t have their Bluffers Guide to Mutual Accountability to hand, I summarise a few of the key points and flag a worrying trend emerging from new results on the extent of partner buy-in to this core tenet of aid effectiveness. Continue Reading »

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Wanted: Marketing Partner for Lonely, Neglected Problem: Road Traffic Injuries

Aug 15 2010

At least once a week I almost get hit on my bike, usually in unique and creative ways- a tourist crossing the street looking the wrong way, the crazy Oxford bus drivers (no further details needed), passengers opening the car door into the bike lane without looking, another bike overtaking me. Today was no exception which renewed my frustration with this issue. We all know that road traffic accidents are a problem especially in emerging and developing countries. So why don’t we do more about it?

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A UN Agency for Women? Lessons from History

Aug 11 2010

On June 2, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution establishing a new UN Agency for Women. As the Lancet reported last week, experts have welcomed this move with enthusiasm. But are there lessons to learn from history about starting a new UN body focused on advocacy and coordination within the UN? Continue Reading »

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‘Culture’ as an Excuse in Nutrition Policy

Aug 09 2010

The funny thing about the concept of ‘culture’ is the degree to which anthropologists (experts on culture) detest the term. From my years studying medical anthropology I also cringe whenever I see a report blaming culture for lack of progress in health. This occurs in all areas of global health, including nutrition. What role does ‘culture’ play in over and under nutrition? Continue Reading »

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Will Global Health Break the Back of the G20?

Aug 05 2010

Back in November (see below), I blogged about what the G20 might mean for health, and argued that drawing any substantive conclusions then was premature. The issue of the G20 in health was taken up in a big way by the new Global Health Security Centre at Chatham House which organized a one day conference on ‘What’s next for the G20? Investing in health and development’. Continue Reading »

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Just give the poor cash

Aug 05 2010

An article in last week’s Economist made a strong case for conditional cash transfer schemes, which give stipends to the poor based on them meeting certain criteria such as school attendance for children and regular prenatal and antenatal health visits. Is it really that simple? Should we just give cash to the poor? Continue Reading »

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