December 17th, 2011 by AliKhanMD in Announcements
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Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease that is completely preventable. Since 1988, members of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), including CDC, the World Health Organization (WHO), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary, and UNICEF, have teamed up to eradicate polio world-wide through large scale vaccination efforts. Global polio cases are down more than 99% since GPEI began. We were able to completely eradicate the disease in the Americas by 1994 and protect our children. By 2006, polio was endemic in only four countries: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Public Health Matters Blog*
September 7th, 2011 by AliKhanMD in Health Policy
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The events of 9/11 will forever be engrained in our memories. The attacks on the twin towers, Pentagon, and the anthrax attacks which followed were unimaginable at the time. Ten years after these tragic events, what’s changed?
We now know that terrorist threats are ever present and that our nation must be in a constant state of vigilance in order to protect our communities. We’ve come a long way since 2001 in bolstering our nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to catastrophic events whether natural, accidental, or intentional. We are also learning more and more every day that the resources we need for the big disasters are much the same as the ones we use for everyday public health activities.
Check out my list of top 5 accomplishments in the years after the 2001 attacks: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Public Health Matters Blog*
July 11th, 2011 by AliKhanMD in Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion
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Borders, Budgets, and the Rising Risk of Disease
Is there a perfect storm brewing along our nation’s southern border? Let’s take a look at the numbers in El Paso, Texas where I recently visited:
- There are 27 million crossings per year alone at the El Paso Point of Entry (POE)
- Cuts to federal funding including a 50% reduction in the Early Warning Infectious Disease Program as well as 12.5% cuts to critical preparedness and response funding;
- Texas is second in the nation for number of tuberculosis cases, the majority of which are found near the border and many of the cases involve tuberculosis strains that are drug resistant
- The bordering country, Mexico, was the source of the last global influenza pandemic
So is this a bad situation getting worse or a ticking bomb? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Public Health Matters Blog*
