Zimbabwe Health Emergency

Hi all,

Zimbabwe is in the midst of a devastating health emergency, and PHR needs your help to urge the US and the international community to take action.

Public health workers in Harare report that due to lack of medicine, equipment, services, and staff, public hospitals and clinics are essentially closed, resulting in preventable deaths and the destruction of families and communities. A cholera epidemic is spreading throughout the country and daily death tolls are on the rise. Fresh water is no longer pumped into urban areas, which will only exacerbate the spread of this infectious disease caused by contaminated water. A doctor at Harare hospital described the situation as a "disaster of unimaginable proportions".

Your colleagues—doctors, nurses, public health leaders, medical students, and human rights activists in Zimbabwe—are fighting for their patients. Hundreds held a protest this week to call for more medicine and supplies for their patients, but were violently dispersed by riot police. Also this week, the government closed the medical school in Harare indefinitely, leaving hundreds of students on the street—and millions of Zimbabweans without the next generation of health leadership.

Please consider signing a petition to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to take decisive action today by following the below link:

Sign Petition

The Epidemiological Transition from Infectious Disease to Chronic Disease -- Part 2

Epidemiological Transition from Infectious Disease to Chronic Disease.

The second event of the module will be on WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19 from 12-1 PM in HAMMER 304.   We will examine the evidence in current literature and try to highlight some of the potential issues with the delivery of actual mental health services in the developing world.

See attached article, which will be discussed during the session.

 Dementia in Developing Countries

Light refreshments will be served.

We hope to see you there!

 

Forum on Global Health and Human Rights

THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL TRANSITION : DEMENTIA IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD

 

November 19th 2008

12pm- 1pm

Hammer Health Sciences Building HSC 304

701 W 168th St

New York, NY 10032

Obesity, Diabetes and Dementia: Implications for the Developing World

Please join us on Friday, November 14th, World Diabetes Day, to hear Dr. Luchsinger speak about issues of chronic disease in the developing world.  See the links and video below for a preview of the topics he will touch on.

"Obesity,Diabetes and Dementia: Implications for the Developing World."

Jose A. Luchsinger MD

Associate Professor of Medicine &Associate Professor of Epidemiology

Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute

New York Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center

November 14th 2008

12pm- 1pm

Hammer Health Sciences Building HSC 308

701 W 168th St

New York, NY 10032

Food will be served.

Dementia Underestimated in Developing Countries

Obesity May Contribute to Dementia Risk

ICAP Symposium on HIV at CUMC

For those interested in how HIV funding may be used to better healthcare systems as a whole, this is very relevant to the HIV topic we discussed last year:

Country directors for the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Program (ICAP) of the Mailman School of Public Health will be meeting on the CUMC campus next week. In conjunction with their visit, ICAP is hosting a symposium,"Expansion of HIV Care in Africa: A Path for Better Health Services for All?" The goal of the symposium is to examine how the scale-up of HIV services has the potential to spur a transformation of healthcare systems with benefits for all patients, not only those who are HIV positive.

 

Linda Fried, MD, MPH, dean of the Mailman School, will make opening remarks.

The program will include presentations by Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, ICAP director, and the following country directors:

 

- Raphael Ntumy, ICAP-Lesotho country director

"Moving from MTCT-Plus toHealth Systems Strengthening in Lesotho"

 

- Amy Cunningham, ICAP-Tanzania country director

 "Bolstering Health Systems through HIV-related Laboratory and Infrastructure Improvements in Tanzania"

 

 

- Zenebe Melaku, ICAP-Ethiopia country director 

"HIV/AIDS: A Catalyst for Establishing New Cadres of Health Workers in Ethiopia"

 

A panel discussion will be moderated by ICAP's David Hoos and Pamela

Collins, assistant professor of clinical epidemiology and clinical psychiatry at the Mailman School.

 

 

When:  Tuesday, November 11

       3 to 5 p.m.

Where: Alumni Auditorium

       630 W. 168th St.

 

All faculty, staff, and students are invited.

Reception will follow.