Washington Global Health Alliance

Changemakers: Enlisting spiders to fight malaria

By Cyan James, special correspondent

A fresh crop of Changemakers has been identified by the Washington Global Health Alliance’s Be the Change student competition. Among the three first place winners was a group of UW students who want to enlist a spider to fight malaria:

Some 250 teams from the region’s high schools, community colleges and undergraduate universities submitted proposals aimed at suggesting solutions to problems in global health. Students came up with solutions to dealing with a number of problems such as the need for safe drinking water, obstetric fistula and HIV diagnosis.

Semi-finalists were treated to an Argosy cruise of Puget Sound Thursday to celebrate their works and recognize the winners

The “UW Spider Trio” said they put in a lot of work on their winning submission, as well as a lot of laughter and camaraderie. Spider Trio’s members Adam Tanaka, Christine Scullywest, and Roshan Mahoney learned of their first place award in the undergraduate category on the Argosy — and are among those who will be feted during a VIP reception at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in July.

The other two first place winners were High Five from Glacier Peak High School for their educational program designed to impart health and hygiene information in low-resource communities and Educational Advocates from Seattle Central Community College for their community awareness initiative on deafness. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Basics, Changemakers, Changemakers, Washington Global Health Alliance

March 7, 2012 | 1:20 PM | By KPLU

Seattle global health experts put talents to use in south King County

Crosscut

Physician examines child, south King County

By Collin Tong for Crosscut

Seattle’s global health powerhouses turn their attention to south King County

A coalition of local and global health groups have banded together to bring the lessons they’ve learned in developing countries to south King County, where the health index is as bad as Nairobi.

The project is called Global-to-Local and is a partnership between Public Health – Seattle & King County, Swedish Health Services, HealthPoint and the Washington Global Health Alliance.

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Morocco was the last place that Asma Bulale expected to spend her summer vacation when she started medical school. But several years ago, the 31-year-old former Somali medical student at the University of Washington decided to switch from cardiology to public health and become an AmeriCorps volunteer.

Last summer, Bulale began working with rural community-based health organizations in Morocco. A native of Mogadishu in northern Somalia, she visited health clinics in villages in dire need of basic health education. Eventually Bulale and her fellow volunteers set up clinics to do screenings for general health. That experience proved to be life changing.

Now Bulale is a community health promoter in another marginalized, low-income community where access to affordable health care is problematic: south King County.

At first glance, applying the lessons learned from developing nations in North Africa, Asia, or Central America to residents in Tukwila and SeaTac might seem a stretch. But Bulale has learned otherwise. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Health, Global-to-Local, HealthPoint, Public Health - Seattle & King County, Swedish Medical Center, Washington Global Health Alliance

January 31, 2012 | 10:47 AM | By Tom Paulson

Seattle’s Party with a Purpose is on again, as ‘Agency’

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Global health is sexy.

At least in Seattle. The best evidence of this perhaps has been the annual Party with a Purpose, a celebration sponsored by the Washington Global Health Alliance and lavishly funded by donors like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Boeing and others. This year, the party’s name is changing to Agency.

Why? Here’s what the artists formerly known as Partying Purposefully say:

“Agency means taking action on behalf of others. Agency is founded in the belief that focusing the power of young adults for the betterment of a single global health cause, even just for one night, can lead to world-changing progress.”

Aimed primarily at the younger set, the idea behind this event is to combine a spectacular, posh night out with educational and fund-raising activities devoted to a particular issue in global health. Organizers bravely launched the event with a focus on diarrhea and last year took up tuberculosis.

This year, the party is July 14 and they will focus on a University of Washington organization, Health Alliance International, working with mobile phones to improve maternal and child health.

Here’s a video pitch from lead organizer Kristen Eddings:

Announcing Agency from WGHA on Vimeo.

Note: Some have raised questions about the actual impact of these celebrations, if not the conflicting message they send — as I noted to much consternation last year. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger!

What I can say in defense of the idea of partying about diseases of poverty is it’s a heck of a lot better than ignoring these issues.

So party on!

A word to the wise: These events have sold out both times so if you want to go, better get your tickets as soon as they go on sale. I’m told it will be sometime in April.

FILED UNDER: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Boeing, diarrhea, maternal health, Party with a Purpose, tuberculosis, Washington Global Health Alliance

October 3, 2011 | 8:00 AM | By Tom Paulson

How the ‘Battle in Seattle’ led to a global health epicenter

Tom Paulson

Global health geographer Matt Sparke

How did Seattle get to be a world epicenter for global health?

Most people would say that it’s due to the simple fact that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s biggest philanthropy with an endowment the size of a middle-income country, happens to be located here and has made fighting diseases of poverty its primary mission.

True, but Matt Sparke would say it’s a bit more complicated than that. To some extent, he says it’s also a reaction to some violent street protests the world knew as the Battle in Seattle.

Sparke is a geographer and professor of international studies at the University of Washington and also director of the new UW global health undergraduate minor.

As a co-author of a fascinating new book called Seattle Geographies, he’s been studying how Seattle has been altered by assuming a leadership role in global health — and, in turn, how this has worked to put a happy face on a word that once sparked (sorry Matt) world-class rioting in the streets here.

Globalization.

Flickr, djbones

WTO Seattle protests

In 1999, Seattle gained worldwide attention when the World Trade Organization (WTO) came to town. Protesters converged on the meeting to argue that “globalization” as conceived by the WTO, World Bank and others served corporate interests at the expense of poor farmers, labor laws and the environment (to name a few).

See the movie Battle in Seattle if your memory doesn’t serve.

So what do the WTO riots and globalization have to do with global health?

“Lots,” said Sparke, who noted that geographers do much more than make maps. He studies human geography — the study of how people shape, and are shaped by, place.

And Seattle is a very outward-looking, globalized place. Always has been. Washington was the first state to normalize trade relations with China. We’ve always depended heavily upon international trade. Microsoft, Starbucks and Amazon.com are just a few examples of our entrepreneurial track record. On the humanitarian side of things, we put out more Peace Corps volunteers per capita than any other region. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Basics, Politics, Battle in Seattle, globalization, Matt Sparke, Washington Global Health Alliance, WTO

September 14, 2011 | 11:02 AM | By Tom Paulson

A look at the local global health “industry” of Washington state

The Washington Global Health Alliance and the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development has published a new report describing our region’s growing global health industry (even though they shy away from calling it that, preferring words like “sector” and such).

Called the 2011 Global Health Strategic Mapping and Economic Opportunity Portfolio, the report identifies local organizations working in global health, the number of jobs, types of projects overseas and many other interesting tidbits — including business opportunities. Some key findings:

Respondent’s organizations have 2,503 projects and initiatives in 156 countries.
In Washington, 2,979 people work in global health. Outside of the state, these 59 organizations support an additional 17,275 employees.
Washington has particular expertise in infectious & chronic disease and developing technologies & devices.
Washington global health organizations surveyed collaborate with 1,574 partners, located in 111 countries across the world.

WGHA

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Basics, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH, Seattle Biomed, Washington Global Health Alliance

June 18, 2011 | 6:48 PM | By Tom Paulson

Partying with a purpose, looking for an impact

Tom Paulson

Partying with a Purpose

More than a thousand young (along with a few not-so-young) Seattleites got together Friday to eat, drink, dance, schmooze and Party with a Purpose.

Seattle’s second annual Party with a Purpose was at McCaw Hall, a sold-out affair put on by the Washington Global Health Alliance. The event is intended to raise awareness of a number of efforts by local global health organizations and assist in the fight against diseases of poverty around the world — this year focused on tuberculosis.

“We have a global health movement among young people in Seattle,” said Kristen Eddings, lead organizer of the event for WGHA. “A party can’t change the world … But it can support and seed the change.”

Can it? Can throwing a glam party really help fight poverty and disease in poor countries?

At a basic level, that of raising money, it did already. The event raised funds (about $35,000) to assist the Seattle-based Infectious Disease Research Institute in developing new methods aimed at fighting one of the world’s biggest killers – tuberculosis. This is substantially less than the party cost, but sponsors like the Gates Foundation, Glassybaby, Sightlife, the Seattle Center and others paid for that.

At the broader level of supporting a movement, does throwing a party actually raise awareness and increase understanding of critical issues in global health, the other aim of this event?

That’s not clear. It certainly shows that, in Seattle at least, global health is now popular and maybe even sexy. But whether or not this translates into truly understanding what global health is all about is hard to assess.

“We’re going to do a post-party survey to try to evaluate that,” said Becky Bartlein, one of the organizers of the event. Bartlein, a recent UW global health graduate and former Peace Corps volunteer who works on drug access in poor countries, is coordinating a post-party survey aimed at finding out and “keeping the party going.”

I did my own survey of participants — when I wasn’t dancing the “silent disco” or getting berated for misunderstanding what the party invitation meant by “cocktail attire” — and found a mixed reaction among the partygoers.

Tom Paulson

Silent disco fever

Everyone had a good time, and for some that was enough. I talked to quite a few people who thought the event was mostly a celebration of the local biomedical and biotech industry. Others who work on poverty and disease in poor countries said they were concerned that such a posh party sent a confused message — celebrating the kind of rich world extravagance that actually contributes to global poverty and inequity.

I put these concerns to Eddings, Bartlein and other co-organizers of the event (who all seem to be beautiful young women, for some reason).

“There’s more than one way to fight poverty,” Eddings said. Many of those who attend the party might not go to a lecture or watch a documentary about the fight against AIDS, TB or malaria in Africa, she said. “We can’t always be trying to ‘guilt’ people into caring or getting involved.”

Bartlein, who worked in Senegal with the Peace Corps, said partying is a universal method for building purpose.

“When I worked in these poor communities, a party was always one of the best ways to bring people together,” she said. “Do we really think poor people would fault us for having a good time while also drawing attention to their needs? Celebrating is how humans connect to each other.”

slideshow

FILED UNDER: Becky Bartlein, Infectious Disease Research Institute, Kristen Eddings, Party with a Purpose, tuberculosis, Washington Global Health Alliance

June 14, 2011 | 1:22 PM | By Tom Paulson

Party with a Purpose almost sold out!

Okay, you don’t have much more time.

Party with a Purpose is almost sold out. This Friday’s event, sponsored by the Washington Global Health Alliance, is aimed at bringing together mostly young people (and some old people like me) to eat, drink, be merry and focus on a particular global health issue.

Tom Paulson

Last year's Party with a (Poop) Purchase

Last year, they boldly based their social event on diarrhea; this year, it’s tuberculosis and the work of Seattle’s Infectious Disease Research Institute.

It’s more evidence of what I contend is a Millennials’ do-gooder revolution.

“This year’s event will be much more geared toward providing people with opportunities to engage,” said Kristen Eddings, lead organizer of the event for the WGHA. For example, Eddings said, the event will educate attendees about the Global Health Corps and encourage them to apply.

But the event isn’t limited only to those looking for a career in global health, she said. The idea is to provide an entertaining opportunity for anyone to simply come learn more about these issues, find causes to support or get involved as a volunteer. The focus this year is on bringing more public attention to a local effort that few seem aware of, the work done on TB by the Infectious Disease Research Institute.

“We’ve been lousy about getting our story out,” said Curt Malloy, senior vp at IDRI. The research organization, founded in 1993, explores novel approaches to vaccines and therapeutics.

Last fall, as reported by the Seattle Times, IDRI announced plans to begin clinical testing on a new TB vaccine — aimed at boosting the efficacy of the current vaccine. The Seattle firm also recently started testing a vaccine against leischmaniasis in the Sudan and is working on developing faster, cheaper TB diagnostic tests.

Party with a Purpose will also raise money to support IDRI’s research. It may not be enough to fund a vaccine trial. But that’s okay; the sponsors like the Gates Foundation, Sightlife, Vulcan and others are picking up the cost of the shindig so all the proceeds go to assist with IDRI’s work and every little bit helps.

The idea is to increase awareness of what’s going on in Seattle and why we’re now a global health epicenter.

FILED UNDER: Infectious Disease Research Institute, Millennials, Party with a Purpose, tuberculosis, Washington Global Health Alliance

April 8, 2011 | 8:30 AM | By Tom Paulson

MILLENNIALS

Pre-Party with a Purpose

What is the best way to get hundreds of the young, smart and beautiful people of Seattle to pay more attention to a deadly bacterial illness that kills millions of people around the world?

PARTY!

Tom Paulson

Pre-Party with a Purpose

That’s right. Party with a Purpose.

I can reveal at this point that it will be June 17, McCaw Hall and likely big. (The official unveiling, also when the tickets go on sale, is April 11)

Last year, when this event was first launched, it was all about raising money to help fight a deadly form of diarrhea. As I wrote then, only in global-health-fevered Seattle would young people be able to hold a spectacularly successful party with the theme being diarrhea.

This year, Party with a Purpose is targeting tuberculosis in partnership with a local research organization working on TB, the Infectious Disease Research Institute.

Thursday evening at the South Lake Union Discovery Center, organizers, sponsors and other supporters of the event gathered for a little pre-party gathering to get ready for the big shindig. One of the prime movers of Party with a Purpose, Kristen Eddings, with the Washington Global Health Alliance, spoke briefly.

“Seattle is the city that heals,” said Eddings. The goal for this year is to double attendance (to 1,000 people) aimed at building community and getting more people informed and engaged when it comes to global health matters.

Last year’s Party with a Purpose, Eddings said, raised $13,000 to help get oral rehydration kits out to many poor communities in Kenya. This year, she said, the goal is help fund research and get rapid TB tests out to needy communities.

So stay tuned for the big announcement Monday. I bet they sell out again.

Sponsors of this year’s TB bash so far include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Glassybaby, Sightlife, Vulcan, Swedish Hospital & Medical Center, Berk & Associates and eBioscience.