This Week’s Highlights – Senator Kennedy, Swine Flu and Organ Harvesting in China

by Lillian Gu · 2009-08-30 03:50:00 UTC
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(photo credit: Muffet)

Basics

This week, your Global Health Guide Alanna Shaikh has a great post on AIDS Advocacy- How to Do It, and How Not To. It includes great writing and videos as well as not-so-great and disturbing print advertisements about HIV.

Did you know that Inequity and Inequality Are Bad for the Health of the Rich Too? Guest blogger Michael Keizer explains that lessening inequalities within countries improves the average health status of the entire population, and posits that this may be true on an international level, too.

Where do you get your global health news? Guest blogger Mara Gordon wonders if Global Health Will Be a Casualty of Mainstream Media's Decline and asks former Washington Post editor Maralee Schwartz for her thoughts.

At this point, swine flu may seem like old news, but Alanna explains why parents with little kids should pay special attention to the swine flu, and take the proper precautions. On the other hand, "doing something" is not always necessary for the body to health. Read about how Alanna experienced a culture gap while trying to dissuade a Tajik mother from giving her child antibiotic shots for a sore throat.

News & Analysis

Senator Ted Kennedy passed away on Tuesday, and many people have spoken of his contribution to US healthcare, but Alanna explains why he was also a great hero in global health. Senator Kennedy was a champion for the Alma-Ata Declaration, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, and the right to health in general.

On Wednesday, China admitted to the link between executed prisoners and organ donations, and Alanna is stunned. She wonders what they're not saying.

While the drug for medical abortions, mifepristone, was expected to bring about widespread abortion access in the US, a recent report says that this isn't true. Alanna speculates this is because the barrier to abortion access was never medical capacity, but the willingness of healthcare providers to provide abortions.

Career Advice

Where are the US Based Global Health Jobs? Alanna's answer: Washington, DC or Seattle, but runner-ups are Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia.

Kudos

Our comment of the week is from Catee Lalonde, who disagrees with Michael Keizer's take on global health equity in the Why We Can't Have It All post and earns a charity gift on Change.org! Check out Catee's comment here.

Lillian Gu
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