September 3, 2010 | 9:00 AM | By Tom Paulson

PATH co-founder Gordon Perkin honored

by Tom Paulson

PATH co-founder Dr. Gordon Perkin

Dr. Gordon Perkin, one of the co-founders of PATH and the Gates Foundation’s first director of global health, receives Canada’s highest honor today.

Perkin, who is Canadian but still allowed to reside in Seattle, is being awarded the Order of Canada for his many contributions to advancing global health.

He, Gordon Duncan and Richard Mahoney created PATH in 1977 (it was actually called something else before being renamed the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) primarily to improve maternal and reproductive health in poor countries.

Back then, Perkin said, he and his colleagues felt there was a great need to build a bridge between the scientific research community, private industry and the public health community to collaborate on creating inexpensive, simple technologies aimed at improving lives in the developing world.

PATH became that bridge and created some simple but powerful life-saving technologies such as the heat-sensitive vaccine vial monitor (now in use for assuring the effectiveness of millions of vaccines), single-use hypodermics (to reduce risk of infections from re-use) as well as a number of strategies for assuring safe births.

In the mid-to-late 1990s, when the still-nascent Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was looking for someplace to spend all that money, Bill Gates Sr. stumbled upon PATH. Bill Sr. said he was “just blown away” (I have him on tape saying that) by their innovative approach to solving global health problems.

Certainly, the word “technology” in their organizational name was also a selling point when it came to Bill Gates the younger.

“Yes, I think there was a lot of serendipity involved,” Perkin said.

Perkin was recruited by the Gates family to help launch the main mission for what would soon become the world’s biggest philanthropy. The rest, as they say, is history. Seattle is now an epicenter for global health on par with Geneva.

And Gordon Perkin played a critical role in making that happen. Congratulations on the award!

Wikipedia

Order of Canada

FILED UNDER: Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gordon Perkin, PATH
September 3, 2010 | 7:00 AM | By Tom Paulson

News Rounds: Pakistanis frustrated with aid delivery, microfinance for America, new TB test and how bad governments sicken

Red Cross aid workers face anger in Pakistan (Reuters) Millions of people are still not getting what they need and the situation is tense.

Could Microfinance Work in America? (humanrights.change.org) Even in America, poor people have trouble getting loans. Micro-credit guru Muhammad Yunus says Americans can benefit from importing this scheme invented for the poor in Bangladesh.

New test can diagnose tuberculosis in under 2 hours (Reuters) One of the big problems with TB is lack of quick and simple diagnosis, and recognition of the disease. Scientists have invented a quick test but some like the Gates Foundation’s Peter Small think it may still be too expensive and not robust enough for poor-resource settings.

Governance and neglected diseases (endtheneglect.org) Alanna Shaikh is one of the most insightful global health & development bloggers out there. Here she connects how bad governments make people sick.

FILED UNDER: Basics, Health, Justice, Science
September 2, 2010 | 9:32 AM | By Tom Paulson

Two Notable Articles on Gates Fdn, Local and Not

Writer Sally James, who has done an extensive article for Seattle magazine about the reverberating impact of the Gates Foundation, has pointed out an op-ed from the Times of India in which the author chastises critics of the philanthropy.

Thanks Sally.

FILED UNDER: Basics, Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
September 2, 2010 | 9:31 AM | By Tom Paulson

News Rounds: Superbug doesn’t scare, peanut paste poverty proposition, Melinda Gates blogs on vaccines and more

India’s medical tourists not scared of superbug (globalpost.com) People seeking cheaper health care are not put off by spread of drug-resistant bacteria linked to India.

Kenyan Writer: Less Charity, Mr Microsoft (ratio-magazine.com) A Kenyan writer complains that the Gates Foundation is too political, too powerful, but also not political or powerful enough to really help. I think that’s the point anyway.

Could a Peanut Paste Called Plumpy’nut End Malnutrition? (The New York Times) This is a good overview of an ongoing, critical debate among those trying to end hunger — or make a buck off  the “poverty business.” It depends upon your view.  

Some donated malaria drugs being stolen in Africa (google.com) I wrote yesterday about criminals making and selling fake malaria drugs. I guess it’s simpler to just steal them.

Melinda Gates blogs about immunizations (gatesfoundation.org) The Gates Foundation is a big proponent of vaccines. Here, Melinda Gates says why.

FILED UNDER: Basics, Health, Justice
September 1, 2010 | 11:14 AM | By Tom Paulson

Fighting Fake Drugs

Flickr, by Rodrigo Senna

Pills

One of the international community’s top priorities (Millennium Development Goal number 8) is to make sure people in developing countries have access to essential drugs and treatments.

Criminals have decided to help out.

Last week, Interpol coordinated police raids throughout East Africa — in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda — seizing 10 tons of counterfeit drugs and arresting some 80 people. The operation, dubbed Mamba III (in case it’s ever made into a movie, I guess), was done in cooperation with the World Health Organization’s International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT). Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Health, Justice, Africa, Andy Stergachis, counterfeit drugs, Ghana
September 1, 2010 | 7:00 AM | By Tom Paulson

News Rounds: Kristof chides Obama on Sudan, blogger wants billionaires to pay taxes not donate, fair trade in Ghana and more

Obama and the mess in Sudan – NYTimes.com (kristof.blogs.nytimes.com) This column continues to bounce around the blogosphere. The ubiquitous Nick Kristof calls out the Obama Administration for its lack of action on Sudan.

A blogger’s critical look down the gift horse’s gullet – aka the Giving Pledge (nonprofiteer.net) One observer says maybe it would be better to have the super-rich pay more in taxes as opposed to having billionaires decide, through philanthropy, what we need to make our lives better.

Fair trade hopes for Cadbury cocoa farmers in Ghana (bbc.co.uk) The world’s second-largest confectioner is working with African farmers to make the chocolate trade less exploitative.

Microfinance guru proposes ‘social business fund’ for Haiti (Miami Herald) Muhammad Yunus says its time to shift from charity and NGO-run projects in Haiti to building up businesses that will lead to a sustainable recovery from the earthquake.

‘UNAIDS chief says “Investments in AIDS must be maintained” (unaids.org) Ten million people with HIV are at risk if donors do not maintain their commitment of $10 billion to ensure access to AIDS treatments.

FILED UNDER: Basics, Health, Justice, Science
August 31, 2010 | 10:00 AM | By Tom Paulson

Obama Policy Will Take Lives, Spread AIDS, Says African

Zambian Michael Gwaba, who is HIV-positive and alive today because of access to anti-retroviral drugs, is in Seattle this week to ask that Americans pressure the Obama Administration to keep our nation’s promise to help more Africans gain access to life-saving AIDS drugs.

Despite some creative accounting that allows administration officials to keep claiming they are increasing funding for AIDS drugs in Africa, it’s, uh, well, actually not true. More on that in a bit.

by Tom Paulson

Michael Gwaba with John Fawcett and Bob Dickerson of RESULTS, in Belltown

“I’ve come to appeal to the grassroots,” said Gwaba, who lost his brother, wife and infant son to AIDS-related illnesses. He’s in Seattle thanks to the local branch of RESULTS, a nationwide anti-poverty organization.

Gwaba was not always an activist. He says he once thought HIV/AIDS was not his problem, perhaps like some of us who tend to view Africa’s struggle against the pandemic as not our problem. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Health, Justice, Politics, Africa, Global Health Initiative, HIV/AIDS, Obama Administration, RESULTS
August 31, 2010 | 7:00 AM | By Tom Paulson

News Rounds: GM mosquitoes in Malaysia, Monkeypox in Africa, an invention to save premie babies and more

AFP: Malaysia mulls landmark trial of GM anti-dengue mosquitoes (google.com) Environmentalists are trying to stop plans by the Malaysian government to test a male mosquito that has been genetically altered by British scientists to produce baby skeeters that die quickly.

Op-Ed: African attempt to control science funding could backfire (Science and Development Network) Many African nations say they plan to boost investments in scientific research and take ownership of this activity often carried out by foreign organizations. One observer advises taking baby steps to avoid disruption.

Health needs of flood-hit communities in Pakistan remain high (United Nations) Flood waters are receding in parts of Pakistan but UN officials say the threat of disease is on the rise.

Seattle Children’s CEO, working with PATH, invents low-cost ventilator to save babies worldwide (Xconomy) Hospital CEO Tom Hansen has developed a cheap prototype ventilator (coincidentally called the Hansen Ventilator) that he believes could be applied to save thousands of premature babies in poor countries.

The Great Beyond: Monkeypox emerges in Africa in the wake of smallpox (blogs.nature.com) Smallpox vaccinations succeeded in ridding the world of smallpox, but the end of the immunizations have allowed a similar virus to spread in Africa.

FILED UNDER: Basics, Health, Science