In Nigeria, anti-gay laws can lead to punishments including 14 years in prison or even death by stoning. Gay men and women are banned from holding meetings or organizing in groups, and anyone who supports the union of a gay couple could spend a decade behind bars.
By Clare McGrane
Viruses and parasites are constantly changing. That’s the reason last year’s flu shot isn’t as effective against this year’s flu — the virus has evolved to resist it.
The same is true for malaria, but unlike the flu, malaria is one of the most deadly parasites in the world, and it’s becoming resistant to the lifesaving drugs that can cure it.
By Robert McSweeney
Up to three quarters of the world’s population could be at risk from deadly heat extremes by the end of the century, a new study suggests.
The research finds that just under a third of the global population is currently exposed to heat extremes that have resulted in deaths in the past. This will increase as global temperatures rise.
Keeping global warming to less than 2C above pre-industrial levels would limit the number at risk from potentially lethal heatwaves to around half of the global population.
Seattle, WA – Alison Drake is one of 28 Grand Challenges Explorations grant winners, announced today by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The funding will allow Drake, an Assistant Professor of Global Health at the University of Washington, to launch an innovative family planning and technology research project.
On Wednesday, June 9, 2017, the Department of Global Health celebrated our tenth graduation since our founding in 2007. Over 150 students received degrees and certificates, including five graduates of the PhD programs, 43 graduates of the MPH program, 53 undergraduates with a Minor in Global Health, 32 graduates of the medical school on the Global Health Pathway, 11 Post-Bachelor Fellows, and 18 students that received a graduate certificate in Global Health.
By Leslie Young
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 12 per cent of the world’s adult population is obese and that number has been growing steadily over the last 35 years.
Not a single country has ever successfully reduced its obesity rate, according to the researchers, aside from a handful of places like Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo where years of war have led to famine or widespread malnourishment.
What if we had a systematic approach to bringing research findings to on-the-ground settings around the world? What if we could ensure that research findings did more than just populate academic journals, and in fact, improved health for millions of people?
By Gregory Scruggs
In schools across India this week, schoolchildren are eating pasta disguised as rice kernels and boosted with extra nutrients. At a health clinic in Honduras, a nurse is sterilizing medical instruments with chlorine made from an easy-to-use portable kit. In Kenya, thirsty workers will come home from long days on the job and drink water from reliable, low-cost filters.
By Bobbi Nodell
A collaboration involving UW Medicine researchers reached a major milestone toward helping investigators create drug therapies and vaccines for some of the world’s major infectious diseases.
The group solved 1,000 protein structures from more than 70 infectious disease organisms.
Understanding protein structures -- the basis of drug therapy and vaccines -- is key to understanding how infectious diseases are different from us, said Dr. Wesley Van Voorhis, head of the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the UW School of Medicine.
By Tulip Mazumdar
The number of children dying worldwide of diarrhoea fell by a third between 2005 and 2015, researchers have found.
The study says better access to clean water and sanitation is key, with fewer weak and malnourished children becoming infected.
New vaccines have also had a positive impact.
However, diarrhoea is still the fourth-biggest killer of children globally, with almost 500,000 a year dying before their fifth birthday.