Medical Tourism Why Would 8 million people cross borders for healthcare? Including 1/300 in the U.S.? 20% of Americans struggle to pay medical bills 3 out of 5 bankruptcies are due to medical bills. That’s 1.7 million Americans Or 248,002 in California 113,524 in Illinois and 99,780 in Florida alone. Who could save… India: 65-90% […]
Pakistan’s 2013 MDG Report: A reality check
Last month, the Planning Commission and the United Nations Development Project jointly released Pakistan’s Millennium Development Goals Report. The comprehensive report, fifth in its series was aimed at assessing Pakistan’s progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, documenting successes and challenges towards achieving these goals, galvanize for a final push and finally to help frame […]
Lessons from Sabir’s story: Why we aim for development and humanitarian objectives at Heartfile
Sabir was not on his bed when I entered the ward, which gave me an opportunity to go through the case notes. He suffered from a heart disease called infective (bacterial) endocarditis, a condition in which an infection ‘somewhere’ in the body can spill into the bloodstream and form vegetations or infected lumps on pre-existing […]
Heartfile Health Financing story of Anayat
According to the UNFPA, every day 20,000 girls under the age of 18 give birth in developing countries. There are in effect 20,000 dire untold stories of gender inequity, malnutrition, survival and even abuse. Anayat’s is one such story of survival, selflessness and cultural pressure. It is the story of needless suffering of a woman, […]
Dr. Sania Nishtar’s speech from the International Anti-corruption Day Celebration at the Asian Development Bank
Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning. Let me begin by congratulating the Asian Development Bank for their focus on anticorruption and transparency. You need to be congratulated for observing this week so seriously, for the institutional arrangements and policy frameworks that have been put in place for the work that your missions […]
WHO’s World Malaria Report, 2013: Global progress and call for sustained commitment
A colossal population of approximately 3.3 billion people, nearly half of size of world population, is at risk of malaria is a clear indication of a silent emergency. The recent World Malaria Report, 2013, released by the World Health Organization shows how far we have come in our fight against malaria and it shows that […]
Latest Research on Tobacco Use and Health Care Cost Has Global Implications
This month’s articles on health care costs and tobacco control in the South African Medical Journal (SAMJ) have far reaching implications beyond the shores of South Africa. The latest Global Burden of Disease data (Lancet, 2012) show that two of the top three risk factors that contribute to the highest burden of disease in Western Europe and the U.S. […]
“Islamabad Health Equity Model” by Dr. Orooj Hasan
Genuine, professional and original data base along with an honest and sincere analysis is very rare in the developing world. Road maps for development, based on concocted data, infrequently achieve significant results. The book, “Islamabad Health Equity Model” is the first of its type on this specific theme in the entire region. It provides an […]
Global health infographic by the George Washington University
This innovative infographic is from the online Masters in Public Health program at The George Washington University. By using WHO data, it explores how health care in the U.S. compares to 16 other countries around the world.
Butchers galore
Lying in a surgical unit of the Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar is an elderly woman with half her abdominal wall practically eaten away by infection – the outcome of a surgery carried out in a district hospital, which was mismanaged in the first place and became infected later. She has several gaping openings, through […]