Responding in Haiti

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Haiti on August 14, 2021. The USGS estimates that the shaking zone affected more than 2.1 million people. The earthquake caused at least 2,207 deaths, 12,268 injuries, and 129,929 houses damaged or destroyed. Many local hospitals were very quickly overwhelmed.The earthquake preceded Tropical Storm Grace which generated flooding, heavy rains, and strong winds on August 16 and 17. Recent crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and political instability also impacted earthquake response efforts. The country is still recovering from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the country in 2010, killing over 200,000 people and [...]

Responding in Haitiadmin2021-09-24T13:35:50-04:00

Meet MGH Global Health: Annet Kembabazi, MSC

The “Meet MGH Global Health Series” spotlights the passionate, diverse members of our global health team at home and abroad who believe everyone, everywhere has a right to good health. Meet MGH Global Health: Annet Kembabazi, MSC. Annet Kembabazi, MSC Today we introduce Annet Kembabazi, MSC! Kembabazi is the senior program manager of the Mass General Hospital-Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) Global Health Collaborative (GHC). She joined the program in 2006 as a project assistant and in the 15 years since has risen up the ranks the program into her current position. She holds a degree [...]

Meet MGH Global Health: Annet Kembabazi, MSCadmin2021-09-16T15:49:34-04:00

Meet MGH Global Health: Stephen Asiimwe MBChB, MS, DrPH

The “Meet MGH Global Health Series” spotlights the passionate, diverse members of our global health team at home and abroad who believe everyone, everywhere has a right to good health. Meet MGH Global Health: Stephen Asiimwe MBChB, MS, DrPH. Dr. Stephen Asiimwe Dr. Asiimwe is the Program Director of the Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) Global Health Collaborative (GHC), Uganda, an institutional partnership between MUST and the MGH Center for Global Health. He has earned degrees from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, Case Western Reserve University Ohio and from the University of Georgia, U.S. We asked Dr. [...]

Meet MGH Global Health: Stephen Asiimwe MBChB, MS, DrPHadmin2021-09-02T07:46:23-04:00

Earthquake in Haiti

Last Updated August 25, 2021 On August 14, 2021, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded in Haiti. The USGS estimates that the shaking zone affected more than 2.1 million people. As of August 20, reports indicate 2,207 earthquake-related deaths, 12,268 injuries, and 129,929 houses damaged or destroyed. Many local hospitals are also overwhelmed. We at the MGH Center for Global Health (CGH) extend our thoughts and attention to the people of Haiti and our partners located there. In 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the country killing over 200,000 people and injuring many others. The country is still recovering from the effects [...]

Earthquake in HaitiKristen Giambusso2021-09-10T18:06:00-04:00

Holyoke COVID-19 Community Antibody Study Takeaways: An Interview with Ryan Paxton, MPH

When COVID-19 forced public health organizations to act, the universal strategy included social distancing, quarantine measures, comprehensive contact tracing and testing, mask wearing, and other strategies in order to prevent the virus from spreading. Enacting this strategy taxed public health infrastructure across the globe. In many communities in the United States, this constellation of responses required local Boards of Health to significantly alter their operations. In Holyoke—a city in western Massachusetts with an approximately 53% Latinx population that was hard-hit early in the pandemic—the Board of Health changed many city employees’ roles, including having school nurses serve as contact tracers [...]

Holyoke COVID-19 Community Antibody Study Takeaways: An Interview with Ryan Paxton, MPHadmin2021-07-14T16:51:33-04:00

Mass General dispatches team to support COVID-19 response in Uganda

The Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Global Health (CGH) is deploying a team on Thursday, June 24 to Mbarara, Uganda in collaboration with Build Health International to support efforts to treat patients with COVID-19 infections. "This is not just about access to resources, it is about access to vaccines. There is a connection between current COVID-19 surges and lack of vaccine access and equity." While many areas across the globe have begun reporting decreasing COVID-19 cases and deaths, numbers are rising in Uganda and other countries on the African continent. This surge has sparked what is being called a third [...]

Mass General dispatches team to support COVID-19 response in Ugandaadmin2021-07-07T13:18:00-04:00

Answering the Call in India and Beyond

As we in Boston and across the United States gradually emerge from the isolation of COVID-19, we can begin to breathe a cautious sigh of relief. This is not the case for everyone around the globe. Health systems in India, Brazil and other countries in Southeast Asia are currently overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases. On May 6, India — the world’s second most populous country, with 1.4 billion citizens — recorded 414,188 infections and 3,769 deaths in one day. Experts warn these numbers are likely dramatic undercounts due to testing limitations and inability of local hospitals to care for the surge [...]

Answering the Call in India and Beyondadmin2021-07-07T13:16:32-04:00

A Holistic Vision for the Asylum Clinic

This story is part of our Summer 2021 Newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. “AS PHYSICIANS OUR JOB is to think holistically about health,” says Altaf Saadi, MD, MSc, Co-Director of the MGH Asylum Clinic. This comprehensive view orients the future of the Asylum Clinic—which conducts forensic medical examinations for individuals seeking asylum. Since launching in October 2017, the Asylum Clinic has undergone tremendous growth; increasing its capacity to perform examinations for asylum-seekers, responding to COVID-19, and bringing together a wide network of providers within MGH and the greater Boston community. “We’ve seen about 325 asylum-seekers in the [...]

A Holistic Vision for the Asylum Clinicadmin2021-06-25T14:44:25-04:00

Ending the COVID-19 Pandemic Together

This story is part of our Summer 2021 Newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. ON DECEMBER 8, 2020, Margaret Keenan, a 91-year-old woman, received the first approved Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine dose in the world. Pfizer and BioNTech collaborated to produce the vaccine in less than a year. Moving through clinical trials and producing an effective vaccine in such a short period of time is one of this generation’s greatest biotechnological achievements. However, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was just the first vaccine to be approved by the European Union, the Food and Drug Agency in the United States, and the [...]

Ending the COVID-19 Pandemic Togetheradmin2021-06-25T14:45:06-04:00

Building a Global Oncology Community

This story is part of our Summer 2021 Newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. OVER THE PAST several decades, cancer technology has grown immensely. Oncology research has led to new treatments and therapies. Patient outcomes have improved for a variety of cancers. All of this growth saves lives. “There is tremendous growth and scientific progress happening,” echoes MGH oncologist Aparna Parikh, MD, MPH. “Yet, where the preponderance of cancer cases is happening, people don’t have access to these developments.” In 2018, 59% of new cancer cases were in low- and middle-income countries and a disproportionate 70% of cancer [...]

Building a Global Oncology Communityadmin2021-06-25T14:45:43-04:00