Eleven Essential Resources on Global Health

by Alanna Shaikh

Published January 01, 2009 @ 08:44PM PT

There is an amazing body of work out there about global health. Books, websites, blogs, podcasts, videos – you can learn about any global health topic if you do a little digging. This is my own essential eleven.

Millions Saved

This is a collection of seventeen stories of global health success. It’s the book you will come back to again and again when changing the world seems hopeless or fruitless. Written by Ruth Levine, one of the giants of international health, it’s a guide to what kind of programs actually work. It also serves as an overview of most of the major global health issues of our time. Buy this book and keep it in your bedroom or your office, as proof that change is possible.

Global Public Health Supercourse

The global supercourse is a massive compendium of lecture of global health and epidemiology. It’s my go-to source when I need to teach myself about a new health topic, or brush up on something I haven’t thought about in a while. Any topic you need is there; I could spend hours browsing. For starters, check out a brief intro to epidemiology or the future of global health.

USAID’s Development Experience Clearinghouse

As far as I can tell, the Development Experience Clearinghouse contains the reports of just about every program USAID has ever funded. Detailed reports, available for download. If you want to find out what kind of work is being done at the field level on international health topics, this is the place to go.

Christine Gorman’s blog

Christine Gorman used to blog about global health for Time magazine. When that gig ended, she started her own blog. She shares her thoughts on new developments and ideas in global health; keeping up with her blog will help keep you in touch with the whole field of global health.

Globalhealthreporting.org

Provided by the Kaiser foundation, Global Health reporting is aimed at journalists, and designed to provide quick, comprehensible, accurate background so that reporters can write better stories about international health. That also makes it an invaluable resource for someone who just wants a steady stream of new research on global health, a glossary of global health terms, or useful briefers on major global health topics.

Hans Rosling on health statistics in the developing world.

This is honestly the most amazing presentation of statistics I have ever seen. It will give you a powerful and intuitive understanding of global health statistics, and leave you determined to see, and use, data in new ways. Everyone should see this presentation.

The World

Public Radio International’s program The World is engaging, entertaining public radio on international health topics. They programs are consistently well-researched and well presented. All broadcasts are available for download.

Center for Global Development Global Health Policy Blog

The Center for Global Development is a well-respected voice on international affairs. Its Global Health Policy Blog is maintained by several people, including the aforementioned Ruth Levine. The blog posts are dense with jargon and technical vocabulary, but they provide well-thought out discussion of topics that matter. It’s worth pushing through the difficult language for the excellent analysis.

The Global Health Council’s Global Health TV

Global Health TV, as you’d expect, features videos. They focus on reports from the field on health topics, generally by organizations doing health work, and on interviews with global health professionals. The production values aren’t going to blow you away, but hearing real people talk about their work is enlightening and sometimes engrossing.

Bill Foege

Foege is another global health giant. He is currently a fellow with the Gates Foundation and the Carter Center, and he teaches at the University of Washington. His lectures on global health are extraordinary. I recommend any of them, but here’s one on global health in general to get you started.

Essentials of Global Health

Lastly, a textbook. Sometimes you don’t want Google results or a slide deck. Maybe you don’t actually have internet access at that moment, or maybe you don’t want to waste time determining if your source is reliable and unbiased. Sometimes you just want to look stuff up. Essentials of Global Health is a comprehensive overview of almost all major global health issues. It’s well-written as textbooks go, and does a good job with making data accessible. I still have my copy from grad school. I keep it in my office, and haul it out occasionally when I need an immediate and authoritative answer.

(photo credit: moriza)