What I'm Reading Now-

Saving the lives of 25 million children

This entry brings together three items that are of particular interest to me. I gained interest in the subject of the first entry in 1987 when I was fortunate to be asked to serve a consultancy at the World Health Organization in Geneva. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Adolescent and School Health was interested in becoming a WHO Collaborating Center and some background work needed to be done in Geneva. While there, I was exposed to an emerging theme at UN partner organization UNICEF called the child survival revolution. The child survival revolution was mostly a result of hard work and advocacy by Jim Grant, the executive director of UNICEF from 1980 to 1996. This became a major effort that resulted in significantly reducing child mortality. 

It may be time for us to take another look at an out of print book, Jim Grant – UNICEF Visionary now that it is available for free download in .pdf form. In a recent post to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation blog, Bill Gates said, “I recently came across a book that tells the amazing story of Jim Grant, whose influence in making vaccines widely available in the developing world is credited with saving the lives of 25 million children. Because of the work the foundation is doing on vaccine-preventable diseases, I’ve read quite a bit about the history of global immunization. But until I read Jim Grant—UNICEF Visionary, I didn’t appreciate what a remarkable visionary and results-driven leader he was.”

Jim Grant is responsible for the launch of the child survival and development revolution. Former President Jimmy Carter wrote the book’s forward and it contains eight essays written by Grant’s colleagues. Each essay reflects Grant’s achievements in a variety of ways. This book is worth reading, find it here.

Five Fictions About Social Media in Public Health and Health Care

The second piece is about one of my favorite things to tinker with – social media.  More importantly it refers to a blog entry by an exceptional writer and visionary on social marketing.  Craig Lefebvre’s blog entries will frequently be referred to here, and this is a particularly compelling entry because of the extent to which many think social media can overcome some of our most challenging barriers to reaching out to our constituencies.

Craig Lefebvre is a terrific writer and someone who has served as a visionary for the field of social marketing. He is also quite adept around new technologies, particularly social media. There are few others who can give such a considered analysis of the role social media can play in social marketing. Here Lefebvre warns us what social media cannot do by identifying what he calls five fictions: 1) We can reach audiences with social media; 2) We can change people with social media; 3) Health behaviors are the focus of our social media efforts; 4) We have target audiences who use social media; and, 5) To use social media effectively we need to be on Facebook and Twitter. If these “fictions” sound provocative to you (and they should), read Lefebvre’s post here.

The future of Global Health Journalism

I’ll close today with an item that may not be mainstream for those in public health but which is nonetheless a critical concern. I believe that effective public health journalism is essential to the health of our profession. However, as an art and a profession, journalism is struggling. I highly recommend a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation regarding the current state of public health journalism. 

The report is called “Taking the Temperature: The Future of Global Health Journalism.” Most of us are aware that in recent years journalism has struggled economically – not only in the U.S. but world-wide as well. There have been major workforce and budget reductions that have influenced the ability of journalists and journalism outlets to cover critical stories as they once would have done. This report is based on interviews with 51 stakeholders in global health journalism, including reporters, editors and producers of a wide variety of media. This report “provided a window into what was happening in global health journalism in the U.S. and in select outlets abroad. How were challenges they faced influencing the type and amount of global health coverage available to the public and policymakers? What were the most important trends in reporting global health issues and what could they portend for the future? With mainstream journalism mired in economic trouble, what were the prospects for funding independent journalism going forward?”

If you’re interested in global health you understand the critical contributions of journalism to our efforts. This report summarizes these interviews, outlines some common themes and issues, and raises some critical questions that must be addressed in the coming years. Download the report here.