The Global Pulse Blog!

An explosive news story indeed:

Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.

The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.

The figure emphatically contradicts the US government’s claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil.

With rising food prices pushing more than 100 million people worldwide below the poverty line, and with food riots breaking all over the world, the leaders of the G8 industrialised countries better realize the gravity of the situation, and work towards real solutions.

(Cartoon from the Chattanooga Times Free Press)

According to Desmond Tutu, from CNN:

The situation in Zimbabwe is “degenerating into one of the worst nightmares you could imagine,” he said. “I said, almost a year ago, I said, it looked like this man is bonkers. And that we need to intervene.”

Tutu was asked what he would say to Mugabe if given the opportunity.

“I would say to him, look, man, you had a reputation that many people respected as a liberation fighter; you liberated your people from the shackles of colonial rule, and there was a chance of your being able to salvage a great deal of that legacy,” he said.

“Please, please, for your own sake, for the sake of Zimbabwe, for the sake of Africa, step down.”

From a couple of days ago, though definitely worth it. From the Guardian:

One in four British homes could be fitted with solar heating equipment and 3,500 wind turbines could be erected across Britain within 12 years as part of a green energy revolution to be proposed by the government next week.

The long-awaited renewable energy strategy, a copy of which has been seen by the Guardian, will say Britain needs to make a £100bn dash to build up its clean power supply if it is to reach its EU-imposed target of producing 15% of the country’s energy from renewable sources by 2020.

The UK could cut its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 20% and reduce its dependency on oil by 7% within 12 years if it conducts the massive overhaul of energy production and consumption outlined in the strategy document, according to the government.

So far, so good. The E.U. has taken the lead on responding to climate change - what will it take for other countries to do the same?

The proposals include:

- New powers to force people to improve the energy efficiency of their homes when they renovate them;
- A 30-fold increase in offshore wind power generation;
- New loans, grants and incentives for businesses and households;
- An area the size of Essex to be planted with trees and other crops to produce biomass energy;
- Forcing people to replace inefficient appliances such as oil-fired boilers.

[…] In what would be the most ambitious change of energy policy in 50 years, the government says 30-35% of all electricity generated in the UK will have to come from renewable sources to meet the 15% renewable energy target set by Europe to try to stem the effects of climate change.

While this blog is in is early stages, it is my pleasure to report that GP has been featured on The Lancet Student - so welcome new readers! Be sure to bookmark us. GP Blog readers would do wise to catch up with all that is featured on The Lancet Student as well.

Today is World Refugee Day - but I’ll bet anything that it was barely, if at all, announced in the mainstream media. Many countries have had their own “Refugee Days”, and one of the most widespread is Africa Refugee Day, celebrated on June 20 on most countries:

As an expression of solidarity with Africa, which hosts the most refugees, and which traditionally has shown them great generosity, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 55/76 on 4 December 2000. In this resolution, the General Assembly noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on 20 June. The Assembly therefore decided that, from 2001, 20 June would be celebrated as World Refugee Day.

Indeed, though celebrated worldwide there is one country that needs obvious mention, and that is Iraq. The Iraqi refugee crisis is untenable, with an increasing number of young refugees left without a future, and adding insult to injury, oftentimes thrust into the world of child trafficking and prostitution.

According to Human Rights First, almost five million Iraqis have been displaced by war - more than 2 million refugees have fled the country, and 2.77 million are internally displaced inside Iraq. There are more than 750,000 fleeing towards Jordan, and more than 2 million settled in Syria. Want to guess how many of those Iraqi refugees were accepted by the United States in 2007? 190 people. Unbe-freaking-lieveable.

There are fantastic organizations working with refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in Iraq, like the Iraqi Red Crescent, but with a global food crisis, and the rising price of oil, the cost of a meal has doubled in Syria and Jordan, pushing Iraqi refugees even further into poverty.

The U.S. has a particular moral obligation to help the most vulnerable Iraqi refugees, and given that this is Refugee Day, the least we can do is urge the current administration to substantially increase the number of Iraqi refugees into the U.S. Visit the “Lifeline for Iraqi Refugees” of Human Rights Watch and send a message to president Bush to increase the number of Iraqi refugees to safety in the U.S.

Now, about that war…

I am extremely honored to announce the “Spring 2008″ issue of Global Pulse (GP), AMSA’s International Health Journal, is now online!

http://www.globalpulsejournal.com

All of us at GP are excited with this issue. We received incredible submissions from medical students, literally around the world, and from other disciplines as well.

Here is just a sample of what we feature in this issue:

- An exclusive, in-depth interview with Dr. Joxel Garcia, the Assistant Secretary for Health of the U.S., the Medical Director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service, and official U.S. representative to the World Health Organization (WHO)!

- WHO’s Global Initiative for Emergency and Surgical Care

- Telemedicine in Bhutan

- Accounts from Kenya, South Africa, and the Amazon Jungle

- A fantastic photo essay from Guatemala

There is more, and it is available at Global Pulse!

We will update the blog, and the website, in the next couple of days. The blog has many goals, among them:
1) To further discuss and follow up topics that have been covered in Global Pulse.
2) To discuss topics that are timely and important, but have not been discussed in Global Pulse for one reason or the other. For example, it is difficult obtaining an article from a medical student in the middle of a war or conflict.
3) To provide student leaders in global health a forum in which to communicate directly to medical students. For example, writing about a relevant and timely topic regarding their area of expertise, or the organization they represent, or
of a project they have done.

GP is completely funded by AMSA (means not sponsored by Big Pharma or other third parties), entirely run by medical students (that have to study for boards and work the wards!), and like every AMSA project, we are passionate about what we do! Please forward our journal widely, and help make this exciting AMSA project even better!

This is done for YOU, the reader, and as such we would be delighted to read your comments and suggestions on our blog. Feel free to comment away!

The last keynote of the convention was delivered by none other than former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders. A passionate speaker, all of us were inspired - and laughing our white coat’s off - with her message.

As I listened to her, I could not help wonder: how different would the U.S. “sick” healthcare system be if we had followed Dr. Elders’ advice? Her warnings on comprehensive sex education and health disparities, to name just a few, have turned out to be correct all along. Of course, many progressive health advocates, including us at AMSA, knew this from the beginning.

Favorite quote of keynote: “Condoms will break, but I can assure you that vows of abstinence will break more easily than condoms.”

Read the rest of this entry »

On Friday, March 14, Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, a nurse, pediatrician, and the first woman to be selected editor-in-chief of JAMA, gave an amazing keynote speech regarding evidence based prescribing and the pharmaceutical industry. From the influence of pharm reps on physicians, the ethical responsibilities of physicians towards their patients, and her own experiences as editor-in-chief of JAMA with not-so-honest studies by the drug companies, Dr. DeAngelis literally brought the house down.

The best part: she gave the keynote wearing an AMSA PharmFree t-shirt. Note the PharmFree sticker on her lapel as well. The video is a bit dark because the lights were dimmed, however the audio alone is worth it.

Dr. DeAngelis granted us an interview for the next issue of GP. How was the interview? You will need to read it in the next issue of GP!

Following Bill White’s welcome. Dr. David E. Persse spoke to AMSA about his experiences coordinating disaster relief for Hurricane Rita.

Unfortunately, the lights were dimmed for his presentation, so the video we have is on the dark side. Don’t worry, the audio is good.

We could have stayed 2 hours listening to Dr. Persse and all of his anecdotes - some harrowing, some with happy endings - and we would have not noticed the time at all.

On Thursday, March 13, Bill White, the mayor of Houston, Texas, gave AMSA a warm welcome during Thursday’s keynote address. Besides encouraging us to explore Houston, he talked about the public health challenges his city faced during Hurricane Katrina. Bill White is an amazing, commanding speaker and gave us some heartfelt advice based on his experiences.

Here are two short clips of Bill White’s keynote address to AMSA. Our apologies if the videos are a bit grainy, as the lights were dimmed during his speech:

Part #1

Part #2: