KATHMANDU, NEPAL – What’s the best treatment for burns? Prevention. That’s the answer you’ll get from most health care providers in rich and poor countries alike. But in poor countries, there’s little or no funding for burn prevention research and not much scientific…
In Nepal’s burn wards this September, journalist Joanne Silberner saw people recovering from recent burns or surgery. And they were the lucky ones. Perhaps only 1,000 of the 56,000 people with serious burns each year in that country get adequate treatment. The luckiest ones…
In Part II of GHN's Exclusive 3-part special series on burns in Nepal—the Untold Global Health Story of 2017—Joanne Silberner puts the extent of untreated burns in Nepal into focus: Of an estimated 56,000 burn injuries in the country in 2008, only about 1,000 received …
Intro to the Series Burns cause an estimated 180,000 deaths each year, yet they rarely rate a significant spot on the global health agenda.
In Part I of GHN's Exclusive 3-part special series on burns in Nepal—the Untold Global Health Story of 2017—Joanne Silberner profiles the efforts of surgeon Shankar Man Rai to help forgotten patients in Nepal.
The bicycle helmet, a common piece of safety equipment and one of our 100 objects that shaped public health, is in need of a radical redesign. While studies have shown that helmets can prevent severe brain injury, such as fracturing or brain bruising, they don’t do as…
Road traffic fatalities plague Brazil’s northeastern cities despite moves to tighten safety laws over the past decade. Researchers from 2 Brazilian universities examined the situation in Arapiraca, a city of about 200,000 that saw 76 road traffic fatalities per 100,000…
Believe it: Falls—such as slipping in the shower or tripping down stairs—kill over 420,000 people worldwide each year. Steps to prevent falls include cleaning up spills and treating slippery surfaces like bathtubs and icy walkways, staying alert during your daily routine…
US motorcyclists who love “riding free” have pushed for the right not to wear a helmet for several decades. But with evidence mounting that mandated helmet use saves lives, pro-helmet public health advocates have stopped the loosening of laws in 10 states this year and…
Tackling obstetric fistula in a speech at a Kenyatta University conference on Monday, Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta urged those suffering to seek assistance and called for more resources—both financial and human—to prevent this devastating condition. Many women…
