Imagine this: You’re taken seriously ill, have no idea what’s wrong with you, and there isn’t a doctor for 75 miles. Imagine this: You’re pregnant, are having severe headaches and blurred vision, and no one in your village knows what’s wrong with you.
All of us at WiRED International would like to wish happy holidays to the many people who have become part of our family since we began our work 22 years ago: doctors and nurses, community health workers and people in low-resource areas who have used our training materials to advance their knowledge of medicine and community health.
The holiday season is here — but so are the germs that bring colds, coughs and flu.
The American Public Health Association (APHA) created National Public Health Week to promote important public health ideas, contributions and issues. This year, APHA will focus on six public health topics: (1) healthy communities, (2) violence prevention, (3) rural health, (4) technology and public health, (5) climate change, and (6) global health. Four of these themes touch on WiRED International’s mission to bring free health learning education to underserved communities worldwide.
On January 21, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a list of ten threats (see sidebar) impacting global health, which WHO and its partners will focus on in 2019. According to WHO, “The world is facing multiple health challenges. These range from outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and diphtheria, increasing reports of drug-resistant pathogens, growing rates of obesity and physical inactivity to the health impacts of environmental pollution and climate change and multiple humanitarian crises.”
Many of WiRED’s board members, staff and volunteers live in California, and, as I write this essay, we are holed up in our homes, able to venture outside only for chores and obligations we cannot avoid. When I worked in Iraq and stayed in safe-houses, it was sometimes the same.
November 3, 2018, is One Health Day. One Health Day reminds us of the critical link among humans, animals and the environment we all share. It further reminds us that to address the health of human populations, we must also address the health of animals and of the planet that hosts all living things.
Making Charitable Gifts from IRA Accounts Gives Tax Advantage BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW; EDITED BY BERNICE BORN Did you know that if you are over age 70½ years you can reduce your taxes by making a gift directly from your IRA to WiRED International? You can lower your income and taxes for this year while helping WiRED […]
Do animals have the power to benefit human health? For the past 10 years the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded an ongoing range of studies focused on humans’ relationships with animals.
Spring is here. The flowers are blooming, the birds are singing — and the insects are spreading infections at an alarming pace. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that infectious diseases from mosquito, tick and flea bites more than tripled in the United States from 2004 to 2016.