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Global health today is characterized by a mix of promising developments and troubling trends. Life expectancy is on the rise, and maternal and child mortality rates are falling. But millions lack basic nutrition, primary health care, and access to vaccinations; we are ill-prepared for the next global pandemic; tobacco use kills six million people annually; and noncommunica...
Although new technologies and public and private financial commitments have powered tremendous advances in global health in recent years, insufficient human capital and the lack of strong institutional systems limit progress. Countries that have done the most to improve the health of their people have benefited from determined political leaders who set aspirational goals,...
From the skewed impact of climate change on the nations that have contributed least to the problem to financing mechanisms that allow primary care services to languish in the poorest countries, inequitable patterns in global health and development are all too evident. To radically reimagine healthcare systems, we need to acknowledge lingering colonialism and commit to exti...
Leveraging global health resources requires on-the-ground knowledge and deep understanding of what motivates the public, business, and philanthropic sectors. Impact bonds, entrepreneurial approaches to philanthropy, and other novel financing strategies are ways to attract new pools of money while generating rewards for achieving positive health outcomes. NGOs can seed inno...
By 2030, the world will face a shortage of almost 14 million health care workers. In the United States alone, we’ll need as many as 35,000 more primary care doctors over the next decade. Without adequately trained health professionals, universal access to health care will remain out of reach and preventable illnesses and deaths will rise. That’s a threat not only to indivi...
Community health workers, social media networks, and local residents serve as the first line of defense against global health risks, especially infectious diseases and bioterrorism. While top-down initiatives provide essential resources to detect looming threats, including sophisticated surveillance and diagnostic tools, outbreaks are most likely to be detected first at th...
A giant in global public health who dedicated his life to championing equity, Paul Farmer’s death in Rwanda this year at the age of 62 is a heartbreaking loss. Passionate, blunt, and inspirational, he was a physician, an activist, an anthropologist, a mentor, a father, and a husband who rooted his work on the unshakeable principle that all people should be valued equally....
Leadership, gender equity, youth engagement, strong communities, and actionable research to inform health services are among the core elements of building global health systems that work better for all populations. While it is impossible to ignore alarming trends in reproductive health, the impact of conflicts, and the rise of noncommunicable diseases, a look to the future...
With the end of polio realistically on the horizon, it’s not naive to ask what other “finish lines” might we dare to reach in the next few decades? Global health and development often feels like a game of two steps forward, three steps back – but on the ground there is real progress. Join the Aspen New Voices Fellows, some of the world’s most effective grassroots leaders,...
Once considered a boutique enterprise, design thinking is no longer a luxury available only to a select few in the developed world. This novel approach to decision making is going democratic, with well-funded efforts to share it more widely, and apply it more equitably. Design thinking offers a package of tools to promote human-centered, financially viable solutions, openi...
The health of women and girls is closely tied to their right to make informed decisions about sexuality, marriage, and child-bearing, but the US is stepping back from leadership in this area. For the first time, the State Department has eliminated detailed information about contraception and maternal health care in its annual country reports on human rights. And the curren...
Jeffrey Sachs, named by The Economist as one of the world’s “three most influential living economists” is the author of End of Poverty, Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, and The Age of Sustainable Development. Turning his bold and optimistic eye toward global health, he presents a compelling framework that integrates health with the environment, the economy, t...
How can we unlock the power of entrepreneurship to widen access to health care, close gender disparity, and increase prosperity in the global South? Hear from expert voices and innovators on tools to address social, economic, and environmental challenges in developing economies.
The pandemic has reached all corners of the globe, magnifying and exacerbating existing inequities and disproportionately affecting communities with fragile health and economic systems. This prolonged crisis has only underscored the need for coordinated action — from the community health worker level to the global policy level — to advance better health outcomes for all. I...
Inequitable and untimely responses to COVID-19 and other pandemics. Disproportionate health impacts of climate change in Africa. Unequal financing mechanisms. Lack of reliable data and information. A dearth of leadership guided by human-centered values. These are a few of the many challenges that stand in the way of global health and development systems that work for all....
Can we end the HIV epidemic in the next five years? President Trump pledged in February to do just that, but it will take vigorous research, aggressive outreach, new global commitments, better access to evidence-based treatment, attitude changes — and resources. Although the viral infection has drawn less attention in recent years, some 37 million people still live with HI...
The climate crisis is a health crisis. But even as climate change contributes to the global burden of disease, killing roughly 4 million people globally since the turn of the century, the health care sector is responsible for 8.5% of US greenhouse gas emissions. With healing as their mission, health professionals and organizations can use their ethical, economic, and poli...
A healthy community is characterized not only by the absence of illness but by attributes that promote well-being and enable a high quality of life. While social policy and public and private investments are important contributors, the broad-based engagement of local people is also key. Across the US and globally, people are taking community-building into their own hands,...
In every leader's journey, there is a moment, or a series of moments, that stand out — a miserable failure, a grand success, a total surprise. The magic in that experience is rarely just the moment itself, but most often the way in which each leader responded to it. It is that response that shapes a person’s approach to challenge and change forever after. Come hear ten of...
The upcoming US presidential election is likely to have significant implications for health and health care. On the domestic front, the choice could influence efforts to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, reform Medicare, prepare for natural and manmade emergencies, and support cutting-edge research at the National Institutes of Health. Globally, funding for pandemic respon...