National Medical Librarians Month 2014

October is, among many other things, National Medical Librarians Month.  The Medical Library Association has over 3300 members across the United States and Canada.  Once a year we hold a national conference in cities across North America and share our contributions to the field and our collaborations with hospitals, health systems, and health sciences programs …

New Hashtag, Nursing Ethics – Hashtags of the Week (HOTW): (Week of August 25, 2014)

There is never a shortage of great healthcare hashtags, chats, events, etcetera on Twitter, and new ones appear all the time. Nursing Ethics is an emerging hashtag which is a regular Twitter chat, but gained special attention over the past week with the Nursing Ethics Summit. There is a very active and engaged nursing community …

Make Health Fest Coming August 16!

We Make Health Fest Saturday, Aug 16th, 2014 University of Michigan Palmer Commons, Great Lakes Rooms Short Description "A collaborative event for a local and virtual community interested in health, technology, and participatory design. Join us for a full day of health themed design and maker activities!" Longer Description Many types of events are being …

New Online Exhibit: Smallpox Eradication in India, 1972-1977

“The rapid eradication of smallpox from the place that was for many years the world’s principal endemic focus of the disease [i.e., India] has been singled out as one of the great victories in the history of public health: only twelve months separated a peak of more than 8,000 infected villages in May, 1974, and …

World Malaria Day 2014: Vector-borne Disease on the Global Health Agenda

This Friday, April 25 is World Malaria Day, a fitting followup to this year's World Health Day focus on "vector-borne disease". Malaria, as a vector-borne disease, is in a class with: chagas disease, chikungunya, Congo-Crimean haemorragic fever, dengue, dracuncuiasis, human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniaisis, lymphatic filariasis, lyme disease, onchocerciasis, shistosomiasis and yellow fever. Don't feel bad …

Celebrate National Library Week April 13-19!

Please plan to attend the National Library Week Town Hall presentation with Barbara Stripling, President of the American Library Association on "The Declaration to the Right to Libraries!" Monday, April 14th, 10:30 am - 12 noon. University of Michigan, Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, Gallery, Room 100 James Hilton will introduce President Stripling who will share her national and international perspectives on the greatest challenges …

World Water Day 2014: U.N. Focuses Energy on Energy

Today is World Water Day 2014, and the United Nations has chosen to emphasize the link between water and energy. This was surprising to me, because looking at the Millennium Development Goals (developed in 2000), there were no goals specifically related to energy usage or even the mention of global warming. When I think about international development/global health …

Global Health and International Day of Happiness: 3/20 2014

      From my perspective, happiness is undeniably a  global health issue, because of the strong evidence for the connection between mental health and well-being and physical health. As many people know, the effect runs both directions; physical health challenges can be taxing emotionally, and mental health stresses can take a toll on your …

A Global Policy Perspectives Talk by Paul Rusesabagina: March 27th @ 4:30 PM Rackham Auditorium

On Thursday March 27th, Paul Rusesabagina will be giving a Global Policy Perspectives talk commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide.  Mr. Rusesabagina's heroic acts during the genocide were captured in the 2004 film, Hotel Rwanda, with Don Cheadle earning an Academy Award nomination for best actor for his portrayal of Mr. Rusesabagina.  Mr. …

India Celebrates It’s 2nd Polio-Free Year! The Role of Information Tools and Vaccines

  In the world of global health, major victories to intractable problems in challenging conditions don’t happen every day. But one did just happen: on January 13, 2014, India marked its second year with no reported cases of polio, suggesting that India is on track towards sustainably eradicating the disease within its borders. This leaves just three nations,  Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan, where polio is still stubbornly endemic.

Information tools have been vital in the progress towards eradication.

     The development of the polio vaccine by Dr. Jonas Salk in 1952 was a major breakthrough in addressing the dangerous and potentially deadly disease. The subsequent commitment to establishing (local, state, national and global) disease surveillance and monitoring systems, reporting statistics and using data strategize vaccination coverage campaigns constituted the lion’s share of work towards eradication in the U.S. These information systems have been difficult to develop and efficiently utilize in resource-poor settings, which has challenged eradication efforts.

     The need for evidence-based epidemiological information for has led to the development of expansive, epidemiological databases like GIDEON, which covers 340+ infectious disease in 231 countries with information on 500+ drugs and vaccines (available to UM affiliates). One of the major global public health players researching, funding interventions and strategizing for the worldwide fight against polio is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They acknowledge “Surveillance and Monitoring” and “Data-Driven Decision Making” as key components of addressing the challenge of polio, highlighting the importance of reliable data and information sources.

     In addition to information resources geared towards medical, public health and public policy professionals, platforms like HealthMap (geared towards public accessibility and usage) collect and visually map data from reliable sources about health threats in real (reported) time. Epidemic and disease outbreak information tools

Celebrating Vaccine Success?

Although the evidence for protective health benefit of preventative polio vaccination is clear, the celebration of the successes of polio (and other) vaccines globally generates a cognitive dissonance in the face of the villainization of immunizations domestically. News reports of the resurgence of whooping cough and measles are alarming, and this map from the Council on Foreign Relations depicting “Vaccine-Preventable Outbreaks”covering the U.S. is disturbing. As a representative from the India Expert Advisory Group sagely reminded the world in 2012,  “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”

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     In the world of global health, major victories to intractable problems in challenging conditions don’t happen every day. But one did just happen: on January 13, 2014, India marked its second year with no reported cases of polio, suggesting that India is on track towards sustainably eradicating the disease within its borders. This leaves just three nations,  Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan, where polio is still stubbornly endemic.

Information tools have been vital in the progress towards eradication.

     The development of the polio vaccine by Dr. Jonas Salk in 1952 was a major breakthrough in addressing the dangerous and potentially deadly disease. The subsequent commitment to establishing (local, state, national and global) disease surveillance and monitoring systems, reporting statistics and using data strategize vaccination coverage campaigns constituted the lion’s share of work towards eradication in the U.S. These information systems have been difficult to develop…

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