Cholera's Climate Sensitivity and Israeli Narratives on Hospital Attacks
March 15, 2024
Editors' Note
This week's edition starts in Zambia, where a recent cholera outbreak is one of the many indicators of the rapid emergence of climate sensitive diseases. Vanessa Kerry and Bassim Birkland of Seed Global Health reveal why countries should prioritize crisis prevention for those growing disasters, rather than wait to react to them in real time.
Next, journalist Carrie Arnold unpacks the latest update to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The study has rebounded from a pandemic hiatus and plans to release a series of reports over the coming weeks. The leadoff found "a 1.6 year drop in life expectancy between 2019 and 2021," marking the first global decline in life expectancy in decades.
Vidhi Wadhwani and Siddhesh Zadey of the Association for Socially Applicable Research outline the barriers to pediatric surgery in India—including medical education and access to care. Overcoming those hurdles could save thousands of lives each year and keep India on track to reach its development goals.
We wrap the week with a deeper look at the Israeli forces' recent raid of the Nasser Medical Complex. That assault is just one example of the destruction of Gaza's health system, according to Leonard Rubenstein of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Stephen Morrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. They argue that regardless of how ceasefire negotiations end, the Joe Biden administration should hold Israel to account for its war conduct and the obstruction of humanitarian aid by reporting on war crimes committed by all parties.
Until next week!—Nsikan Akpan, Managing Editor, and Caroline Kantis, Associate Editor
