Pop!Tech post on open hardware in global health
Posted in open hardware on 14. Jul, 2009
I recently wrote an article for Pop!Tech on how we might build better open source hardware projects for global health.
India’s fury of frugal innovation
Posted in global respiratory health on 17. May, 2009
A recent article in the Economist surveys the drive toward frugal innovations in the Indian health care marketplace. This brief, compelling review describes the strategies and entrepreneurial activity being applied to identify and develop affordable approaches to a range of businesses in the health sector – from the delivery of advanced surgical care, to medicines, [...]
Global affordability and availability of asthma medication
Posted in global respiratory health, inhaled drug delivery on 12. May, 2009
In my chapter in Anthropology and Public Health I noted that global respiratory health activities and guidelines tend to assume the affordability of asthma medications. I wrote a bit about the lack of affordable antiasthma medications in India and other low income settings, and how questions of affordability figure into the day-to-day decisions of physicians. [...]
Low-cost, open-source spirometry
Posted in global respiratory health on 01. Feb, 2009
Chronic respiratory disease is a serious and growing threat to global health. The WHO estimates that 300 million people worldwide have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, already one of the top killers.
Having worked in clinical settings in low and lower-middle income countries, I’ve always been struck by the absence of basic equipment like spirometers [...]
Press coverage of the chlorine hospitalizations report
Posted in environmental health on 23. Jan, 2009
Preparing for a Chlorine Gas Disaster
U.S. News & World Report, DC - Jan 8, 2009
Preparing for a Chlorine Gas Disaster
CBC.ca, Canada - Jan 8, 2009
Preparing for a Chlorine Gas Disaster
Washington Post, United States - Jan 7, 2009
Preparing for a Chlorine Gas Disaster
Forbes, NY - Jan 7, 2009
Study looks at major chlorine disaster
United Press International - Jan 6, 2009
Going Back to Graniteville: Studying the 2005 chlorine leak could help prepare the country for terrorism
Augusta Chronicle, GA - Jan 3, 2009
Study uses Graniteville accident as [...]
Chlorine gas hospitalizations article press release
Posted in environmental health on 07. Jan, 2009
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008
Contact:
Jennifer Combs
(240) 221-4256
jcombs@iqsolutions.com
New Study Examines Effects of Graniteville, S.C., Chlorine Gas Disaster: [...]
New edition of Anthropology and Public Health published
Posted in global respiratory health on 10. Dec, 2008
The first edition of Anthropology and Public Health, which was edited by Robert Hahn, is one of my favorite books of medical anthropology – full of great pieces like Dorothy Mull’s report on acute respiratory infections in Pakistan (I’ve written about it here).
Last year, Marcia Inhorn and Robert Hahn asked me to write a chapter [...]
Acute health effects from chlorine gas exposure
Posted in environmental health on 01. Dec, 2008
In January 2005, a train derailment in South Carolina released 42-60 tons of chlorine gas in the middle of a small town. I was part of the CDC team that went to South Carolina to help the Dept of Health and Environmental Control respond to the disaster and investigate the health effects.
One of our papers, [...]
How do physicians in India treat asthma exacerbations?
Posted in global respiratory health on 12. Nov, 2008
Raj B. Singh MD (Apollo Hospital – Chennai) and I recently published a paper in the Clinical Respiratory Journal describing the management of asthma exacerbations by physicians in India. We used a well-known epidemiological instrument, the ISAAC video questionnaire, to simulate five presentations of asthma. For more details, please take a look: [abstract] [pdf]
