UW Global Health reporting student Allison Barrett found that Bhutan, rated top on the worl'd happiness index, is not such a happy place for ethnic Nepali citizens. She writes an interesting insight into deaf Bhutanese refugees now living in Kent.
An International Clinical Research Center-led study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases showed a troubling link between hormonal contraception and HIV. The study received widespread press coverage because of the popularity of injectable birth control like Depo-Provera in parts of Africa hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic. The observational study of nearly 3,800 couples in Africa found that women using hormonal contraception --such as Depo-Provera – are at double the risk of acquiring HIV.
Research by Connie Celum and Jared Baeten is included in TIME’s new book 100 New Scientific Discoveries: Fascinating, Unbelievable and Mind Expanding Stories. Celum and Baeten are, respectively, director and medical director of the UW International Clinical Research Center, which coordinates multi-center infectious disease prevention trials.
On Sept. 19-20, the United Nations held a big meeting that could affect the future of global health. We have several related news items:
* Two UW physicians -- David Watkins and Jim Logerfo wrote an opinion piece in the Seattle Times on the rise of NCDs. "The chronic-disease pandemic will be the "face" of global health in the coming decades...Seattle can play a leading role in the fight against premature death and disability from chronic diseases."
Seattle, one of the world leaders in hepatitis C research and treatment, will be hosting HCV2011, the 18th International Symposium on Hepatitis C and Related Viruses at the Seattle Sheraton. This conference is being held in Seattle for the first time and will attract around 800 people worldwide, including Michael Houghton from the University of Alberta who discovered Hepatitis C in 1989, Steve Wiersma (WHO), Michael Gale (UW), Barbara Rehermann (NIH), Ray Chung (Harvard), Andrea Cox (Johns Hopkins), Hugo Rosen (University of Colorado), and Charlie Rice (Rockefeller University).
In recognition of her contributions to science, Dr. Connie Celum, UW professor of global health and medicine and adjunct professor of epidemiology, was selected for the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association (ASTDA) Achievement Award. The award was given July 13 at the 19th International Society for STD Research conference in Quebec City, Canada.
UW releases official news of I-TECH's five-year cooperative agreement of up to $300 million for health training in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
Bill Foege has a new book out, "House on Fire," and Humanosphere's Tom Paulson has a photo of Melinda Gates holding the book at a reception for the Gates' new headquarters building.
KPLU-Humanosphere’s event April 26 at Seattle Town Hall was clearly a huge hit, drawing in an estimated 700 people. Humanosphere blogger Tom Paulson summarized some of the more memorable comments from the four panelists: We all “tolerate poverty” — because our lives are subsidized by the suffering of others, said Bill Foege (Gates Foundation) (paraphrasing MLK).
A new student-run organization at UW called the Critical Development Forum, held a packed forum May 23 with more than 250 attendees to debate the question -- an acknowledged riff on an earlier event KPLU Humanosphere held with more than 700 people sponsored at Seattle Town Hall called “Can Seattle Save the World?” What did the decide?