Tag Archives: malaria

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”

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)”

learning by asking: a modest proposal to engage those who did the doing

this post was originally published at innovations for poverty action. it represents an effort to follow-through on some themes i have raised before and hope to continue to raise. most development interventions are carried out and delivered by local research staff and residents. such implementation is rarely a straightforward ‘technical’ operation but, rather, there isContinue reading “learning by asking: a modest proposal to engage those who did the doing”

Mo money, mo problems? AMF does not make Givewell’s top-three for 2013 #giving season

This blog is a cross-post with Suvojit. Update 21 December: the conversation has also continued here. Recently, Givewell has revised its recommendation on one of its previously top-ranked ‘charities,’ the Against Malaria Foundation (AMF), which focuses on well-tracked distributions of bednets.  Givewell “find[s] outstanding giving opportunities and publish the full details of our analysis toContinue reading “Mo money, mo problems? AMF does not make Givewell’s top-three for 2013 #giving season”

dear sir – response to AMFm article in the economist

on 24 november, this article was published in the economist on AMFm and the Global Fund. below is the response i would have liked to have published because a few things in the article were maddening. particularly frustrating are those celebrating the end of AMFm as though ending a subsidy on ACTs in the private sector are theContinue reading “dear sir – response to AMFm article in the economist”

AMFm post over at CGD – a few thoughts on the conversation

here’s the series: http://blogs.cgdev.org/globalhealth/2012/09/what-the-pre-post-evaluation-of-amfm-can-tell-us.php http://blogs.cgdev.org/globalhealth/2012/11/the-future-of-amfm-making-sense-from-all-the-noise.php http://blogs.cgdev.org/globalhealth/2012/11/the-future-of-amfm-realpolitik-and-realistic-options-part-ii.php @altmandaniel pointed out that our position on what the Board should decide in the final post was not entirely clear. this is true – our goal was to lay out the positions and process rather than take a strong stance on the outcome. with regard to outcomes, the matching-basedContinue reading “AMFm post over at CGD – a few thoughts on the conversation”

magic bullets are bad and silver bullets are hard to come by (agenda for approaching resistance to malaria treatments)

i have previously discussed the bizarre origin of ‘magic bullets’ as a phrase used positively and aspirationally in public health – as well as the folly it represents: relying on a single approach to a public health problem rather than doing multiple, hopefully coordinated, activities.* my feeling is that something silver-bullety is going on right now in discussionsContinue reading “magic bullets are bad and silver bullets are hard to come by (agenda for approaching resistance to malaria treatments)”

fresh fruit, folk flu, confessions, cold season, & conclusions

the main gist here is that it is not fun to have an illness with no name, no clear prognosis, and, insofar as someone thinks it is necessary, no clear, commensurate-to-symptoms treatment plan. the need to restate this grew out of recent discussions around malaria diagnosis and treatment of malaria and the broader range of illnessesContinue reading “fresh fruit, folk flu, confessions, cold season, & conclusions”