US Opinion and Commentary

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This Is how the U.S. Must Lead the Fight Against Zika

Posted July 19th, 2016 at 12:18 pm (UTC-4)
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The world is not mounting a sufficient operational response to Zika in the South and Central American countries that are at risk. Brazil, Colombia and other nations are not applying the scale of resources required to rapidly reduce transmission. Within a year, Puerto Rico could have hundreds of cases of microcephaly, leading to disastrous consequences…

The Politics of Polio Eradication

Posted March 15th, 2016 at 1:44 pm (UTC-4)
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During the past five years, polio cases have occurred almost exclusively in five conflict-affected countries: Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Syria. Because immunization programs are led by national governments and the WHO…it can be difficult to carry out vaccinations in areas where militants wage war against the state.

Odds Are you Won’t get Zika. But It’s only Human to Worry that You Might

Posted March 7th, 2016 at 8:21 am (UTC-4)
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You wouldn’t know it from the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global public health emergency, or all the dramatic news coverage, but while the microcephaly risk from Zika is real, at this point it’s lower than you might expect, given the alarms.

Nearing Triumph Over Ebola

Posted December 30th, 2015 at 9:27 am (UTC-4)
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Stopping the Ebola virus, despite the late start and the huge challenge of working in countries with woefully poor health systems, was an example of what the world can do once it acknowledges an emergency and provides the resources needed to save lives.