World of Good

My former roomate, Margot Welk, was in the Peace Corps in Thailand and eventually started her own fair trade business in Southeast Asia, Beyond the Banyan Tree. She is now working with the for-profit company, World of Good, which directs 10% of its profits to its sister non-profit, World of Good Development Organization. (Side note: Google, a somewhat larger organization, also has a similar model where they direct profits and equity to their charitable arm, Google.org, more on Google to come in future blogs). World of Good provides a nice example for how business techniques, globalization, and capitalism can be a potentially synergistic and positive effector for the poor, but I suspect some would still disagree on principle.

No Sex for You

The Society of Adolescent Medicine recently published an excellent editorial on abstinence-only programs. I was impressed with their use not only of science to make their case (see accompanying review article), but also calling in ethical and human rights arguments. It reminded me of the Presidental Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief's (PEPFAR) stipulation requiring "66 percent of resources dedicated to prevention of HIV from sexual transmission must be used for activities that promote abstinence before marriage and fidelity."

Public Health: The CDC

The CDC is certainly an interesting organization. I first worked with them several years ago in Nairobi on a study of antiretrovirals in the private sector. It has always been to me a largely admirable and perhaps even semi-legendary organization (particularly when reading such books as Virus Hunter by C.J. Peters or And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts). But, it has experienced it's share of controversy lately as well.

Global Health Corps

This is a very exciting idea that was proposed last year (though it may be dead in the political waters given Katrina and Iraq costs). The report by the IOM, Healers Abroad: Americans Responding to the Human Resource Crisis in HIV/AIDS, outlines a plan to bring US health professionals to resource-limited settings to contribute to major health needs, most specifically, though not exclusively, to the fight against HIV/AIDS. It is somewhat visionary, compensates providers appropriately, is holisitic (plan is not just for recruiting physicians, but inclusive of nurses, pharmacists, IT specialists, etc), and creates an entire new career path for global health enthusiasts. And yes, this was created under W's watch.

Global Health Corps Proposed to Fight AIDS

The End of Poverty

Jeffrey Sachs is a superstar economist (note his daliances with Angelina Jolie and his role as teacher/mentor to my favorite rock star, Bono, aka one of Time's Persons of the Year). Dr. Sachs recent book, The End of Poverty, is a must read in my opinion. It does an excellent job outlining the extent of extreme poverty, its consequences, and then provides measurable solutions. I think his proposals are relatively evidence-based and holistic with appropriate doses of rigor, transparency, and optimism. Note that fighting HIV/AIDS is one of the major interventions he proposes to promote economic development.

Slinging Health?

Living in SF offered many benefits, one of which was being surrounded by creative, entreprenual types. One such person is Jason Krikorian, husband to my wonderful former resident colleague Jennifer Burkham. Jason is Head of Business Development at Sling Media which makes the Slingbox™ (pictured), an innovative device that allows one to "placeshift" and watch/control one's TV/cable/Tivo from any computer (and soon, apparently via any cell phone as well) with broadband. While this appears to have a viable developed world market, I would interested if anyone has any thoughts on how this type of technology could be used in the mid-term to deliver health care (and other services) to the developing world.

Do the Poor Deserve Life Support?

This is such a tragic and rage-inducing story. But, in some ways, it is just a more overt example of the rationing of care we experience daily in less grotesque forms. Doctors make many difficult decisions, and I wonder if the health care providers are being unfairly portrayed here. While I think class (and race) are always part of the background in which many sensitive medical decisions are made, I'd like to believe that we often rise to making such intimate decisions based on the humanity of the situation and not the lucre of it.

Do the Poor Deserve Life Support? - A woman who couldn't pay her bills is unplugged from her ventilator and dies. Is this wrong? By Steven E. Landsburg

Mobile Africa

An interesting organization I have been learning more about recently is Grameen Foundation USA which grew from the legendary tradition of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, a pioneering organization in microfinance. The US-based organization has a strong tech component and has helped bring mobile phones to rural Africa through a public-private partnership with MTN Uganda (phone kit pictured) that promotes and supports village based, entreprenual phone businesses. I am impressed with this nonprofits' strong business sensibilities, efficiency, and organizational prowess. And it has been rewarded and commended for such.