The BWH-led Operation Walk Boston team is on its seventh annual mission to the Dominican Republic, performing joint replacements on those in need. This year, the team set its sights on providing joint replacements for 43 patients, with the goal of performing 43 total knee replacements and 18 total hip replacements. Check out photos and blog posts from the team throughout its trip at operationwalkboston.blogspot.com
Researchers from BWH and Harvard Medical School have estimated that around one million children suffer from tuberculosis (TB) annually— twice the number previously thought to have tuberculosis and three times the number that are diagnosed every year.
The researchers also estimated that around 32,000 children suffer from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) annually. These findings were published in The Lancet on March 23, 2014.
“Despite children comprising approximately one quarter of the world’s population, there have been no previous estimates of how many suffer from MDR-TB disease,” explained Ted Cohen, MD, DrPH, HMS associate professor of Medicine in BWH’s Division of Global Health Equity and co-senior author of this study. “Our estimate of the total number of new cases of childhood TB is twice that estimated by the WHO in 2011 and three times the number of child TB cases notified globally each year.”
These findings underscore the urgent need for expanded investment in the global response to TB and MDR-TB in children.
“Our findings demonstrate that there is a need for improved methods for collecting data on childhood TB. A good starting place would be improved diagnostic methods for children and more systematic collection of information on how many children are suffering with this disease,” explained Helen Jenkins, PhD, HMS instructor in BWH’s Division of Global Health Equity and lead statistician on the project.
Read more about the study in this article by Fox News.
Researchers from BWH and Harvard Medical School have estimated that around one million children suffer from tuberculosis (TB) annually— twice the number previously thought to have tuberculosis and three times the number that are diagnosed every year.
The researchers also estimated that around 32,000 children suffer from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) annually. These findings were published in The Lancet on March 23, 2014.
“Despite children comprising approximately one quarter of the world’s population, there have been no previous estimates of how many suffer from MDR-TB disease,” explained Ted Cohen, MD, DrPH, HMS associate professor of Medicine in BWH’s Division of Global Health Equity and co-senior author of this study. “Our estimate of the total number of new cases of childhood TB is twice that estimated by the WHO in 2011 and three times the number of child TB cases notified globally each year.”
These findings underscore the urgent need for expanded investment in the global response to TB and MDR-TB in children.
“Our findings demonstrate that there is a need for improved methods for collecting data on childhood TB. A good starting place would be improved diagnostic methods for children and more systematic collection of information on how many children are suffering with this disease,” explained Helen Jenkins, PhD, HMS instructor in BWH’s Division of Global Health Equity and lead statistician on the project.
Read more about the study in this article by Fox News.
By Tiffany Alongi, RN, PCCN
Trauma, Burn and Surgical Critical Care Units
Audrey Hepburn once said, “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands- one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
As a young, fresh faced graduate I was thrilled to be starting my career in one of the most prominent and cutting edge hospitals in the country. The idea of nursing was something I had always dreamed of doing. However, the complexity of a true nursing position quickly became evident to me. Nursing is an action packed, fast paced, ‘roll with the punches’ type of position that many are ill-equipped for, but I loved everything about it. I was one of those rare people that when asked could honestly say, “I love my job.”
Nonetheless, I had begun to feel a growing dissatisfaction. I acknowledged all that I had done here in the states and the impact I had made on some of my patients, but I began to wonder what else I could be doing. I longed to spread my love for nursing beyond the walls of BWH. Rather than patients coming to me, I wanted to travel to them. I sought to employ my passion, empathy and knowledge on a more international scale in order to help treat patients around the world.
In November 2013, I embarked on a medical mission to Cajamarca, Peru, with an organization known as Medical Mission for Children. MMFC is a nonprofit volunteer based organization which travels to remote geographical locations in order to help children and young adults with the surgical repair of cleft lip and palate deformities, burn injuries, microtia and head or neck tumors. The focus of my mission was to repair cleft lips and palates and dental extractions. Continue reading “Nurse Shares “Eye-Opening” Experience in Cajamarca, Peru”
By Tiffany Alongi, RN, PCCN
Trauma, Burn and Surgical Critical Care Units
Audrey Hepburn once said, “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands- one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
As a young, fresh faced graduate I was thrilled to be starting my career in one of the most prominent and cutting edge hospitals in the country. The idea of nursing was something I had always dreamed of doing. However, the complexity of a true nursing position quickly became evident to me. Nursing is an action packed, fast paced, ‘roll with the punches’ type of position that many are ill-equipped for, but I loved everything about it. I was one of those rare people that when asked could honestly say, “I love my job.”
Nonetheless, I had begun to feel a growing dissatisfaction. I acknowledged all that I had done here in the states and the impact I had made on some of my patients, but I began to wonder what else I could be doing. I longed to spread my love for nursing beyond the walls of BWH. Rather than patients coming to me, I wanted to travel to them. I sought to employ my passion, empathy and knowledge on a more international scale in order to help treat patients around the world.
In November 2013, I embarked on a medical mission to Cajamarca, Peru, with an organization known as Medical Mission for Children. MMFC is a nonprofit volunteer based organization which travels to remote geographical locations in order to help children and young adults with the surgical repair of cleft lip and palate deformities, burn injuries, microtia and head or neck tumors. The focus of my mission was to repair cleft lips and palates and dental extractions. Continue reading “Nurse Shares “Eye-Opening” Experience in Cajamarca, Peru”
Medications—along with diet, exercise, and smoking cessation—are a cornerstone of cardiovascular risk reduction. The use of statins, which are the medication of choice for prevention, has increased substantially in North America and Europe over the past three decades, and as a result, cholesterol levels and cardiovascular mortality have decreased.
But little is known about statin use in lower-income countries. BWH researchers recently conducted an observational study of statin use in India, which has the highest burden of cardiovascular disease among less-developed nations.
The researchers found that only a fraction of those eligible for a statin actually received the therapy, despite the wide variety of statins that are available to Indian consumers.
“Low rates of statin use in India may reflect problems with access to health care, affordability, under-diagnosis, and cultural beliefs,” said Niteesh Choudhry, MD, PhD, of the BWH Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, and lead author of the paper. “Because of the growing burden of cardiovascular disease in lower-income countries such as India, there is an urgent need to increase statin use and ensure access to safe products whose use is based on evidence.” Continue reading “Researchers Study Statin Use in India”
On Jan. 13, 2010, just one day after a devastating earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti, a group of BWH physicians huddled in the Department of Medicine’s Eppinger Conference Room to ask: What can we do to help?
One of them, Michelle Morse, MD, MPH, went to Haiti during her residency in Global Health Equity at BWH. After the earthquake, she met Zadok Sacks, MD, a resident at BWH and Boston Children’s Hospital.
“There was just an incredible energy among people here about doing something and making a contribution together,” said Sacks, who now runs the young adult consult service at Children’s.
Together, Sacks and Morse founded an organization called Physicians for Haiti, which supports the work being done around medical education in Haiti.
“Haiti is full of amazing health care professionals, and they deliver care without access to any of the resources that we have here-the network of colleagues, technology and equipment,” Sacks said. Continue reading “Supporting Medical Education in Haiti”
On Jan. 13, 2010, just one day after a devastating earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti, a group of BWH physicians huddled in the Department of Medicine’s Eppinger Conference Room to ask: What can we do to help?
One of them, Michelle Morse, MD, MPH, went to Haiti during her residency in Global Health Equity at BWH. After the earthquake, she met Zadok Sacks, MD, a resident at BWH and Boston Children’s Hospital.
“There was just an incredible energy among people here about doing something and making a contribution together,” said Sacks, who now runs the young adult consult service at Children’s.
Together, Sacks and Morse founded an organization called Physicians for Haiti, which supports the work being done around medical education in Haiti.
“Haiti is full of amazing health care professionals, and they deliver care without access to any of the resources that we have here-the network of colleagues, technology and equipment,” Sacks said. Continue reading “Supporting Medical Education in Haiti”
In the video below, Emily Wroe, MD, resident physician in the BWH Department of Global Health Equity, shares stories from her global health trips to Malawi. Watch how creative communication and community ties play a role in the patient care she has witnessed first-hand.
In the video below, Emily Wroe, MD, resident physician in the BWH Department of Global Health Equity, shares stories from her global health trips to Malawi. Watch how creative communication and community ties play a role in the patient care she has witnessed first-hand.