TIME series examines global health

Jun 14 2010

As part of a special package about global health, TIME magazine visits what is known as "the most malarial town on earth" - Apac, Uganda - and examines global malaria control and efforts to eradicate the disease.

The article notes some of the challenges associated with foreign aid donations, "[t]his, too often, is how aid goes: good intentions sidetracked by ignorance; a promising idea poorly executed; projects that are wasteful, self-regarding and sometimes corrupt."

"Today's funding is unprecedented, exceeding $10 billion. So is the leadership, from the U.S. President to the Sultan of Nigeria ... Their goal is threefold: universal protection by the end of 2010 via the distribution of 350 million insecticide-treated bed nets; no more malaria deaths by the end of 2015; no malaria at all a decade or two after that," the magazine writes before discussing the role of U.N. Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers.

TIME highlights some of the challenges in fighting malaria through its reporting on the situation in Apac (Perry, 6/10). An accompanying photo slideshow is also available (Nahr).

Another article in the series notes some of the latest scientific developments in HIV/AIDS research. The article reports on a recent study explaining how HIV-positive people with a certain genetic trait rarely develop AIDS. It also notes the development of a "small polyethylene pouch, not unlike a ketchup packet" that could be used to give newborn babies antiretroviral treatment after birth and prevent the transmission of HIV (Blue, 6/10).

The series also includes an essay about the growth of noninfectious illnesses in the developing world. "One of the trade-offs of globalization is that as we become more and more connected, countries and cultures inherit one another's baggage," Mehmet Oz, vice chairman and professor of surgery at Columbia University, writes in the piece. Oz also discusses what he calls the "unconscionable increase in the sales and marketing of tobacco products in developing countries" (6/10).