Photo Essay: Documenting my Culture in its Truest Form
Being one of the very few professional Indigenous photographers in Australia, I find it my responsibility to record and document my culture in its truest form. My social documentary work focuses on health and education, as I believe that if our communities have the necessary levels of health care, only then are we able to concentrate on developing the appropriate educational skills that will allow us to be who we are. Aboriginal Australia is a progressive modern community that continues its link with the Earth and traditional practices whilst evolving and adapting to twenty-first century culture.-- Wayne Quilliam
Climate Change and Malaria - A Complex Relationship
Malaria, the world's most important and deadly tropical mosquito-borne parasitic disease, kills approximately 1 million people and afflicts as many as 1 billion people in 109 countries throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America.Reducing the impact of malaria will significantly enhance the efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, agreed upon by every United Nations Member State. Variation in climatic conditions, such as temperature, rainfall patterns, and humidity, has a profound effect on the longevity of the mosquito and on the development of malaria parasites in the mosquito and, subsequently, on malaria transmission.
Australia's First People - Their Social and Emotional Well-being
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians make up 2.5 per cent of the Australian population and continue to suffer disproportionately from the consequences of European settlement. The life expectancy for Indigenous Australians is 10 years lower than that of other Australians; the death rates for Indigenous people are twice as high across all age groups; and intentional self-harm was the leading cause of death from external causes for Indigenous males between 2001 and 2005. Although definitive national data about the incidence and prevalence of mental health disorders among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians is not available, it is clear there are enormous disparities in mental health outcomes for Indigenous people.
Developing Global Public Health Links
The short twentieth century, as defined by Eric Hobsbawm in 1995, was marked by important economic, social, and technical-scientific advances that improved the quality of life and health for millions of people around the world. However, as an age of extremes -- a phrase also coined by Hobsbawm -- the process of globalization began to create not only large international disparities, but also huge social and health problems, especially in countries excluded from the central axes of the global economy.
Much Cause for Satisfaction
Message on World Malaria Day, 2010
Two years ago, I called for malaria prevention and treatment programmes to be made universally available to at-risk populations by the end of 2010. This World Malaria Day brings much cause for satisfaction. In a very short time, the world has gone from simply trying to hold malaria at bay to the realistic goal of delivering effective and affordable care to all who need it. Furthermore, the scientific community has set a research agenda for developing the tools and strategies that will eventually eradicate malaria for good.
Indigenous Children - Their Human Rights, Mortality, and the Millennium Development Goals
The first effective attempt to promote children's rights was the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, drafted by Eglantyne Jebb in 1923 and adopted by the League of Nations in 1924. On 20 November 1959, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a much expanded version as its own Declaration of the Rights of the Child, with ten principles in place of the original five. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights, describing child-specific needs and rights. These human rights included civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights, as well as aspects of humanitarian law.The UNCRC was signed in 1989, and entered into force in 1990. As of May 2010, it had 193 parties which had ratified, accepted, or acceded with stated reservations or interpretations, including every member of the United Nations except Somalia and the United States, which have only signed.
Policy Trends in Advancing Safe Motherhood
It is a startling and sobering fact that every minute of every day, a woman dies in pregnancy and childbirth somewhere in the world. This equates to more than half a million women dying in pregnancy and childbirth every year, with 99 per cent of these tragedies occurring in developing countries.
Why No One Talks about Non-Communicable Diseases
Infectious disease control was at the top of the agenda during the sixty-third session of the World Health Assembly, which took place in May 2010 in Geneva. With much attention given to progress towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals, polio eradication, the implementation of the International Health Regulations, the regulation of counterfeit drugs, and influenza preparedness, there was little time to discuss one of the largest killers: non-communicable or chronic diseases.
LIFESTYLE DISEASES: Access to Chronic Disease Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Chronic, non-communicable diseases or chronic diseases,* such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, have a considerable impact on human life and the economy.These diseases have become the leading cause of mortality worldwide and were estimated to account for 60 per cent of global deaths -- 35 million -- in 2005.
LIFESTYLE DISEASES: An Economic Burden on the Health Services
Lifestyle diseases share risk factors similar to prolonged exposure to three modifiable lifestyle behaviours -- smoking, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity -- and result in the development of chronic diseases, specifically heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and some types of cancer.
Malaria: Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Photographer Adam Nadel and illustrator Kako collaborated to create a graphic novel depicting the process of malaria transmission. The photo series Malaria: Blood, Sweat and Tears was created by Adam Nadel for the Malaria Consortium. The series won an award of excellence from Pictures of the Year International. An exhibition, sponsored by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, was on view at the United Nations through 26 May 2010. The graphic novel was part of the award winning collection.
Global Health: Then and Now
How the world changes! Nearly a generation ago, in 1994, I served as co-author of a major World Bank study, Better Health in Africa. Now I have the privilege to observe health issues around the world as President and CEO of the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA). These experiences give me perspective on changes in global health institutions, policies, and funding.
Navigating Refugee Life
Those of us concerned with violence against refugee women and girls may agree on two things: the first is that the magnitude of the problem is grave, and the second is that although there have been numerous efforts to address the problem in the past three decades, the effectiveness of the outcomes remains to be debated.
Social Protection for Women
Periods of economic upheaval are always destabilizing and, as such, outcomes are uncertain. We are right now faced with a great danger and a great opportunity. The danger is that recovery efforts will favour those in positions of strength, reinforcing existing inequalities between and within countries. As this occurs, we will see existing disparities deepen, leading to social exclusion with grave social, economic and political repercussions. The opportunity is that leadership and bold policy action could reduce inequalities among countries and across gender lines.
Prevention, Prosection and Protection - Human Trafficking
How much would you pay for a winter coat? How much would you pay for the child that made it? Fifty years ago, the abomination of slavery seemed like a thing of the past. But history has a way of repeating itself. Today, we find that human slavery is once again a sickening reality. At this moment, men, women and children are being trafficked and exploited all over the world: 2.4 million have been trafficked into forced labour worldwide of these, 600,000 to 800,000 are trafficked across borders each year and 12,000 children are working as slaves on cocoa plantations in West Africa.