While i intend to write more about Packard’s new book (delightfully if uncomfortably subtitled, interventions into the lives of others) once i am through with it, a paragraph in the opening chapter seemed both so important and accurate as to merit sharing immediately — particularly given the lessons it may hold for the Universal Health CoverageContinue reading “Packard on History of Global Health: devastating first chapter (we need to do better)”
Category Archives: Global health
inverted quarantines, mosquitoes & the common man in delhi
This post has been some time in the making, ever since Raul Pacheco-Vega introduced me to Andrew Szasz’s concept of an ‘inverted quarantine,’ defined further below, and fabulous Manpreet Singh and i started kicking around how the idea applied to our lives in Delhi. This week, a few events, including a desperate effort to stay awakeContinue reading “inverted quarantines, mosquitoes & the common man in delhi”
doctor marketplace & lack of system improvement (delhi summer illness 4)
One of the first things you learn when studying health systems is how imperfect health care markets are — limited time or ability to shop around, massive information asymmetries, etc. It is interesting, then, how very marketplace-like was my experience during my most recent illness episode. It is even more interesting, i think, that thisContinue reading “doctor marketplace & lack of system improvement (delhi summer illness 4)”
going viral in delhi / is diagnosis a luxury (delhi summer illness 2)
In this post, i continue to try to make research and observational hay out of my own illness in Delhi (starting here). As a quick re-cap, there was a week of severe, arthritic joint pain and weakness, which started to let us slightly right when the rash and fever kicked in. Those were mercifully short-livedContinue reading “going viral in delhi / is diagnosis a luxury (delhi summer illness 2)”
my black folder (delhi summer illness 1)
Since i have lost much of the two months to an extended illness — and since my original reason for getting into public health was unsatisfactory doctor-patient relationships and inadequate assistance helping patients navigate hospital and health systems — it seems to make sense to write about observations and frustrations i had seeking treatment inContinue reading “my black folder (delhi summer illness 1)”
i feel like an #oddeven party pooper (reducing and working are not the same)
there are two nice, evidence-informed op-ed pieces out today on delhi’s odd-even scheme to try to reduce air pollution (here and here). the results are heartening because i didn’t have a good sense of whether a two week window of implementing a policy — to which there were many exceptions — was long enough toContinue reading “i feel like an #oddeven party pooper (reducing and working are not the same)”
delhi’s #oddeven plan had a significant effect on pollution
Originally posted on Suvojit Chattopadhyay:
Researchers Michael Greenstone, Santosh Harish and Anant Sudarshan have some news for us. Hard data that shows that the Odd-Even plan reduced pollution by significant levels in Delhi. The headline: this study finds there was an 18% reduction in PM 2.5 due to the pilot during the hours that the rule was…
tentative thoughts on ownership: work-in-progress
i am road-testing a few ideas from the conclusion of my thesis, in which i try to bring out two themes recurring throughout the analyses on adoption and implementation of the phase I pilot of the amfm in ghana, between 2010 and 2012. these themes are ownership and risk-taking. i have already written a bitContinue reading “tentative thoughts on ownership: work-in-progress”
Some Nuggets From the Amber: Keshavjee’s ‘Blind Spot’
Just finished Salmaan‘s Blind Spot: How Neoliberalism Infiltrated Global Health. Below, a few tidbits of his weaving of the local and personal with the global, ideological, and ideal. everything below represents a direct quote and the page numbers are marked in parentheses. This book is intended to add to the conversation about how to moreContinue reading “Some Nuggets From the Amber: Keshavjee’s ‘Blind Spot’”
Thinking About Stakeholder Risk and Accountability in Pilot Experiments
This post is also cross-posted here in slightly modified form. Since I keep circling around issues related to my dissertation in this blog, I decided it was time to start writing about some of that work. As anyone who has stood or sat near to me for more than 5 minutes over the past 4.25Continue reading “Thinking About Stakeholder Risk and Accountability in Pilot Experiments”