Mideast fertility rates plunge

By Alanna Shaikh | 30 January, 200810 November, 2011 | 0 Comments |

EDITORIAL: Mideast fertility rates plunge – METimes.com

So, lower fertility rates in the Middle East are a good thing. I think. This is embarrassing for a public health person to admit, but I’ve never really understood optimal fertility rates. It seems very strange to me that human society is a giant pyramid scheme, dependent on constant expansion, but that’s what most demographers seem to be implying when they talk about Russia or Japan. It seems to me that this Middle East decrease is a good thing, that it will help scarce resources go farther, but what do I know?

By Alanna Shaikh | 23 January, 200810 November, 2011 | 0 Comments |

‘Exclusive breast-feeding will reduce infant mortality’ – Newindpress.com. This really should not be news. Everyone in the entire world should know it by now. Babies who are breastfed are less likely to die. In its own way, though, it is good news that the media is willing to keep on writing the same story.

By Alanna Shaikh | 15 January, 200810 November, 2011 | 0 Comments |

The LA Times is on a roll lately with the excellent global health reporting. This piece is about dengue fever. It posits, and I agree, that we’re going to see more and more “foreign” diseases on American soil. This is a result of climate change, and of increased international travel. We are also, of course, woefully unprepared to cope with the impact of these illnesses. Plenty of knowledgeable people agree.

The influenza blogs make it very, very clear that bird flu is on the rise and getting very little media attention. I make a point of staying on top of global health news and I had no idea we’d seen so many cases of avian influenza in Asia.

Link I like

By Alanna Shaikh | 13 January, 200810 November, 2011 | 0 Comments |

A truly amazing blog on global health: http://blogs.cgdev.org/globalhealth. It’s a group blog, with many contributors, and they are able to really get into the details on global health topics without being so obscure that only a health professional can understand. I learn something every time I read. At present they’ve got a nice post leading on using checklists to improve the quality of health care.

By Alanna Shaikh | 10 January, 200810 November, 2011 | 0 Comments |

A nice analysis of the recent CIGNA liver transplant case: http://www.healthbeatblog.org/2008/01/bad-cases-make.html.

By Alanna Shaikh | 5 January, 200810 November, 2011 | 0 Comments |

Score one for IMCI! BU study touts home treatment for pneumonia.