Council News: Global Health Council News
HealthLink: Issue 118 | 1 December 2002
contributed by: HealthLink Editor
region: Global
 Global Health Council News
Board Members Elected to Institute of Medicine
Three members of the Global Health Council's Board of Directors have been elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM). Robert E. Black, Afaf I. Meleis and Council president and CEO, Nils Daulaire joined Gro Brundtland, director general of WHO, and Richard Feacham, executive director of the Global Fund, on this year's list of 65 new members and five foreign associates. New members are elected annually by the IOM's current membership from among candidates chosen for their major contributions to health and medicine or to related fields such as social and behavioral sciences, law, administration and economics. The total active membership now stands at 1,358 plus 66 foreign associates. IOM's mission is to advance and disseminate scientific knowledge to improve human health. It accomplishes this by providing objective, timely, authoritative information and advice concerning health and science policy. Established in 1970, the Institute of Medicine is one of the four National Academies; the others are the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council.
Global Health Matters Locally
More than 150 concerned people gathered at the Montshire Museum in Norwich, VT, on Sept. 16, for a symposium sponsored by the Global Health Council with the support of its neighbors, the Dartmouth Medical School and the Montshire Museum. The program, "Global Health Matters Locally," featured Dr. Nils Daulaire, president and CEO of the Council; Sophia Mukasa Monico, the Council's senior AIDS program officer, and Dr. James Strickler, dean emeritus of the Dartmouth Medical School. Daulaire brought his personal experiences while serving as a health care provider in Asia, Africa and Latin America to bear on his discussion of the terrible toll being inflicted by poverty and preventable diseases on vulnerable populations throughout the world. Mukasa Monico focused on the undiminished threat of AIDS, with particular reference to her native country, Uganda. The plight of refugees and the health issues that affect them was the subject of Dr. Strickler's presentation. All three speakers emphasized global interconnectedness and the need for action and involvement on the local level if gains are to be made in the world arena.
Briefing on Effectiveness of Antimicrobial Drugs
On Oct. 16, the Global Health Council, in collaboration with Management Sciences for Health (MSH) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), held a congressional briefing entitled, "The Diminishing Effectiveness of Drugs to Treat Infectious Diseases." Each year, approximately 14 million deaths are attributable to infectious diseases, accounting for about one quarter of all deaths worldwide. The inappropriate use of antimicrobial drugs to treat these diseases, compounded with poor drug quality have led to the emergence of drug-resistant microbes that are increasingly difficult and expensive to address. This is of particular concern for developing countries where resources are limited and where rates of infection are high. The World Health Organization (WHO) released a report in 2001, "WHO Global Strategy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance," detailing this problem and providing focused recommendations for the implementation of a global strategy.
The speakers at the briefing, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, were Dr. David Bell, assistant director for antimicrobial resistance at the National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Philip Jenkins, Ph.D., scientist for antimicrobial resistance at the Department of Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response at WHO; Dr. John Chalker, technical coordinator for the Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus Program at MSH; and Dr. Andrew Clements, technical advisor at USAID. The slides from the presentations can be found on http://www.globalhealth.org
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