Global Health & Human Rights

  • Read more: Is Corruption Partly Responsible for the Ebola Crisis?
    Article

    Is Corruption Partly Responsible for the Ebola Crisis?

    By Matthew Stephenson[Cross-posted from The Global Anticorruption Blog.] There’s been an interesting mini-debate over at the FCPA Blog about whether, or to what extent, corruption is partly responsible for the severity of the Ebola crisis in West Africa. Richard Cassin, the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog, argued that it is. He made this argument initially…

  • Read more: Ebola, Flight Bans, and Politics
    Article

    Ebola, Flight Bans, and Politics

    By Zachary Shapiro It seems like the debate over banning flights from West African Ebola stricken countries has become instantly political, with many Conservatives calling for a flight ban. See here. One author, in response to these calls, points to the history of Liberia’s relationship with the United States as a reason that the US…

  • Read more: Inaugural SG Global Chat: Harvard Effective Altruism Expanding to HSPH
    Article

    Inaugural SG Global Chat: Harvard Effective Altruism Expanding to HSPH

    SG Global Chat Harvard Effective Altruism — Using Evidence and Reason to Maximize the Impact of Efforts to Make the World Better October 8, 2014 12:30-1:20pm, Kresge G-2 Harvard Effective Altruism (HEA) is a student group at Harvard College and Harvard Business School. The group is dedicated to spreading the ideas of effective altruism to…

  • Read more: De-Prioritizing Treatment for Mental Illness May be Due to Flaws in Reasoning
    Article

    De-Prioritizing Treatment for Mental Illness May be Due to Flaws in Reasoning

    By Kelsey Berry In a recent article in Science Translational Medicine, former NIMH Director Steve Hyman explores possible reasons for the policy failure to prioritize treatment of mental disorders worldwide, even when evidence and cost-effective interventions are available and validated. Hyman notes a number of potential factors, loosely falling into four categories. Stigmatization challenges; Fear…

  • Read more: Live Blogging: Post-Trial Responsibilities Conference, Session 1
    Article

    Live Blogging: Post-Trial Responsibilities Conference, Session 1

    By Holly Fernandez Lynch Today, the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center (MRCT) at Harvard University and the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School are co-hosting a daylong conference on “Post-Trial Responsibilities: Ethics and Implementation.”  We’ll be live blogging the conference here at Bill of Health, and video/slides from the conference will be available soon. The conference…

  • Read more: Gilead Announces Access Program for Hepatitis C Drug
    Article

    Gilead Announces Access Program for Hepatitis C Drug

    By Rachel Sachs For all those who are interested in issues of global health, access to medicines, and drug pricing, yesterday Gilead formally announced its access program for enabling many developing countries to purchase its new Hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi, at low prices. This announcement is particularly noteworthy because Sovaldi represents a significant improvement over…

  • Read more: Harvard Effective Altruism: an event today, Michael Kremer on Sept. 10, and a fellowship opportunity
    Article

    Harvard Effective Altruism: an event today, Michael Kremer on Sept. 10, and a fellowship opportunity

    A message from Harvard Effective Altruism: On Saturday, Sept. 6 at 3pm in Sever 111, we are holding a giving game / donation discussion and an information session for Harvard students interested in our organization. We’ll explain what effective altruism is and what HCEA does here on campus. If you’re new to HCEA, you should…

  • Read more: Ebola and the Return of Quarantine
    Article

    Ebola and the Return of Quarantine

    By Wendy Parmet[Ed. Note: Cross-posted from HealthLawProf Blog.] Last month’s riots in an Ebola-infected slum in Monrovia, Liberia demonstrated anew the perils of relying on quarantine, and similar highly coercive public health laws, to contain highly contagious diseases. At first blush, Ebola viral disease (EVD) is exactly the type of disease for which broad quarantines…