What do these things have in common: War, Natural Disasters, Poverty, Crappy Governments, Lack of Education, and the Suppression of Women

They cause disease.

The current issue of the MMWR (don't look for it online until next week) reports that polio cases are up by 26% in 2008.

When I was in an small alley in the filthiest of all Indian cities, I saw a Rotary International worker providing polio drops to infants held in the arms of their older siblings (by older I mean between 4-7 years old). I was so happy I could have cried.

This disease has got to go. Polio should be part of our past but instead, it is a sad reminder of how we have failed the most vulnerable.

On the same note, I went to a lecture by HUGE UNIVERSITY FIGURE (HUF) yesterday. The talk was focused on postdoctoral scholars responsibility to the global community. HUF laid out the greatest global challenges, which included (among other things) poverty, human health, aging/growing population, environment/sustainability, & clean water. Yay, I actually agree with these things. Unfortunately, the final message of the day was that FANCY UNIVERSITY (FU) was investing heavily in training us, the next great generation of scholars in the U.S. (many of us are not from the U.S.), and expects a return on their investment...in the U.S. HUF presented "amazing achievements" benefiting "the world" from FU's alumni/trainees .... and they were all, each and every one of them, advancements benefiting THE RICH DEVELOPED WORLD TECHNOLOGICAL/MILITARY COMPLEX. When asked what we could do to advance scholarship and training of the booming new generation of scientists from India and China.....HUF told us to stay home in the U.S. and work for Boeing. (I paraphrase.)

American Cancer Society and The Good Fight

Props to the American Cancer Society (ACS) for promising to devote its entire $15 million advertising budget to the consequences of inadequate health insurance. Having adequate health insurance positively influences cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, and survival. Even more significant, health insurance is a cross-cutting issue and has relevance for multiple health conditions. It’s very inspiring that the ACS, a single disease focused organization, would tackle an issue like this. Perhaps the ACS’s newly formed collaborations with diabetes and heart associations are further evidence of a larger trend away from the NIH-driven disease-specific focus in research and prevention.

Either way, I have to admit to some curiosity about the politics and timing behind this move.

Their earlier campaigns for healthier eating and colorectal cancer screening are of questionable efficacy in terms of changing individual health behaviors; let’s see what kind of impact they have on changing political will and the face of policy.