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Malaria World Day

The Forgotten Epidemic: A Malaria-Free World Starts With Us

“Health is a human right, not a privilege. No one should get sick and die from diseases that are preventable and treatable. All our efforts in the response and green recovery to COVID-19 need to ensure that other diseases, such as malaria, are not neglected. We must continue to invest in youth-led solutions to combat malaria around the world”.  – Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake, United Nations Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth A Human Rights Issue: Malaria Read more…

By Leah Sarah Peer, ago
Solidarity

WHY AREN’T WE SERIOUS ABOUT SOLIDARITY?

To find out whether solidarity could play a role in societal efforts to reduce health inequalities, in this blog I will take you along in my journey across the main drivers of public health actions. We will discover the role public health ethics plays and how it differs from traditional well-known bioethics, only to find out solidarity is one of its main moral values. Finally, literature about solidarity’s potential will bring us back to the Read more…

By Almudena Sanz Gutierrez, ago
Covid and climate change: two crises

A Tale of Two Crises: COVID and climate change

Humankind is facing the overlap of two crises with unprecedented impacts on our society: COVID- 19 and climate change. COVID-19 and the climate crisis have exposed the fact that the poorest and most marginalized people in society are the ones suffering most. In both crises, we must ensure that the most vulnerable ones receive the attention, guidance and assistance they need. Coordinating the responses and decisions being made now creates an opportunity to improve public health systems and create a more sustainable economic future for everyone, reducing the chances of a new pandemic.

By Flávia Monteiro Borges, ago
Tuberculosis World Day

TUBERCULOSIS: THE OTHER PANDEMIC

In 2020, we have all learned what a pandemic is, but we may have failed to recognize the relevance of other ongoing pandemics. On World Tuberculosis Day, we reflect upon this disease and its own pandemic, the factors related to it and the relevance of the fight against it. Why is tuberculosis still an issue? Why mustn’t we forget about it? But, what is more important, what can we learn from our previous mistakes? Tuberculosis Read more…

By Almudena Sanz Gutierrez, ago

The Time to End Racial Discrimination is Now!

“It may always be necessary for us as a society, to pay careful attention to the impact of our laws, policies, and practices on racial and ethnic groups and consciously strive to ensure that biases, stereotypes, and structural arraignments do not cause unnecessary harm or suffering to any individual or any group for reasons related to race.”- Michelle Alexander, a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate, legal scholar and author of The New Jim Crow: Read more…

By Leah Sarah Peer, ago
Equal access COVID 19 vaccine

Tackling unequal access to COVID-19 vaccine: solidarity or common sense?

By February 2021, more than 100 million cases and 2 million deaths from COVID-19 have been confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic. While only about 2% of these cases have been reported in Africa, the Americas are leading the global ranking. With this scene, countries have rushed to contribute in a never-before-seen global effort to develop an effective vaccine. In less than a year, more than 70 vaccines were in clinical trials on humans, Read more…

By Antía Figueroa, ago

Capitalism is bad for women

The fight for the liberation of women has spanned centuries, and in modern times, International Women’s Day serves as a reminder of how much more work remains of the struggle. First formally observed over 100 years ago, the internationally commemorated day recognizes the women of New York City who protested for better working conditions in 1908. While quality of life has improved working class women continue to face precarious jobs with poor working conditions, unpaid Read more…

By Kira Grachev, ago
Patients Voices Matter: HIV infected women

Patients’ Voices Matter: HIV infected women in South Africa

The Option B+ PMTCT programme for HIV infected women at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa Background South Africa’s National Department of Health has adopted World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2013 consolidated guidelines on the use of ARVs for treatment and prevention of HIV infection. The guidelines include changes for prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) through Option B+. Option B+ aims to reduce the HIV prevalence rate amongst these women Read more…

By Melanie Bisnauth, ago

Women scientists, let’s make ourselves heard!

THIS POST WAS ALSO WRITTEN IN SPANISH. THE SPANISH VERSION IS FOUND BELOW. When I was little, my grandmother used to tell me and my sisters, “Do research;be researchers to find out the cure to diseases”. Personally, I never understood this. It seemed too difficult and broad of a sentiment that I never thought I could make it happen. She, as with many other women from her generation, did not have access to a higher Read more…

By Elena Marban Castro, ago

World Leprosy Day

Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) is one of the oldest diseases known to humankind, and the first human bacterial pathogen to ever be discovered. Early records with clinical descriptions of the disease, skeletal remains, and genomic studies have allowed scientists to date what is believed to be leprosy as far back as 1500 BC in Egypt, 600 BC in India and 500 BC in China. Later, following Alexander   the   Great’s   exploration   of   Read more…

By Sarah Williams, ago