Money, Money Everywhere . . .

We are in a remarkable new era of philanthropy, especially for the global health community. Unprecedented resources (think Bill Gates) are now combined with a more rigorous, businesslike methodology to giving. But could we actually have too much money going into Global Health? As one works in the HIV clinics in Uganda (average yearly income ~$300 per person) and have the resource-limitations omnipresent in clinical decision-making, the obvious answer is an emphatic, No. Money alone, of course, is only part of picture; the human resource shortage is real. Certain organizations (some previously noted on this blog) help fill this gap, and others exist such as GeekCorps.org and medically-oriented volunteer opportunities. Still, a more holistic, large-scale approach to paying for and promoting global health careers would be ideal.
Photo: A Ugandan HIV clinic on wheels that visits rural communities once every two weeks.