Rx for Survival

PBS did a good series on global health challenges called "Rx for Survival." This week in the SEGH Film Club we'll be watching portions of the film "Disease Warriors," which looks at the smallpox eradication campaign in the 60s and 70s (pretty much the most famous global public health effort ever) and a similar recent campaign to eradicate polio.

Stop by to watch these videos about the past and present (and future if we have time!) of global eradication programs.

If you can't make it, you can see these and other videos in the "Rx for Survival" series here:

Sick Around the World

This week we'll be watching excerpts from the PBS Frontline documentary, "Sick Around the World." Which looks at the health systems in 5 countries: The UK, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland. As the Frontline website says, "each has a health care system that delivers health care for everyone -- but with remarkable differences."

You can access the videos here:

Survival - The Deadly Combination

This week we'll be screening an episode of the BBC's very cool Survival documentary series. "The Deadly Combination" examines the impact that extremely drug resistant (XDR) TB is having on people and societies. It deals with some controversial approaches, such as quarantine, to dealing with the illness.

Hope to see you there! If you can't make it, you can view the documentary here:

TAC: the first 5 years

This week in the SEGH film club we'll be watching a short film called "Treatment Action Campaign: the first 5 years." TAC is an organization in South Africa that was pivotal in expanding access to ARV treatment for HIV+ people there. Find out more about TAC here, and view the video (in 3 parts) below:

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Today SEGH Brown Bag Film Club is screening a short film about TCM. Here it is in 3 parts:

Kiva.org

Do you wish you could give more this time of year but, being a student, you don't have very much to give! Well, have you considered lending?

As the website says, “Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world – empowering them to life themselves out of poverty.”

It's fun! I contributed $25 to a loan for a woman in Nigeria who wanted to open a small pharmacy. They do gift cards, and I just found out that there's a UM-SPH lending team on Kiva that you can join!

Check it out at Kiva.org

Chinese Public Health Posters

Images are an important tool in the promotion of public health around the world. The National Library of Medicine (part of NIH) has recently created an online exhibition of around 7,000 images titled "Public Health and Chinese Society from 1930s to SARS."

"The collection has a wide range of media presentations: posters, health newsletters, health newspapers, paintings, pharmaceutical advertisements, calendars, children's chess games, jigsaw puzzles on health topics, playing cards on SARS, lantern slides, negatives, photographs, and health award certificates, as well as books and journals. These materials present rich visual representations of public health concerns which were closely tied to the political, social, economic, and even military engagements of China during different time periods."

Here are a few of the images:

"Go to have smallpox vaccination, ca. 1956."

" How baby hookworms get into human bodies (1), 1957."

"Properly cover yourself with bedding during sleep, ca. 1935."

Check out the rest of it at: Chinese Public Health Posters