Posts by Dr. Melvin Sanicas
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Most Influential Post Nominee: What We Know – and Don’t Know – About Zika and Its Treatment
As it was becoming more obvious that Zika was a worldwide health crisis, Dr. Melvin Sanicas wrote a post about the search for a vaccine. It turned out to be the most popular post of April, and is entered in this year's Most Influential Post of 2016 contest. We'll publish a new entrant in the contest every day through Jan. 2; check them out, and be sure to vote for your favorite.
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Stopping the Spread of ‘Superbugs’: Six Promising Solutions
The use, overuse and misuse of antimicrobial drugs has created resistant strains of bacteria that could be a greater threat in poorer nations than in richer ones, due to the absence of monitoring and surveillance systems for drug resistance and lack of regulation. And if new antibiotics become available, they are likely to be expensive and unaffordable in the developing world. Here are six ways the global health community can respond.
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Swine Flu Adds to Brazil’s Zika Worries
Brazil, which will host the Olympics beginning Aug. 5, was already beset by economic problems, a political crisis and the Zika outbreak. Now it's experiencing its worst swine flu outbreak since 2009. Dr. Melvin Sanicas, a program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, wonders if this will be the crisis that forces a change to the Olympic schedule.
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With Another Pandemic Looming, Let’s Change Perspective
We cannot prevent the emergence of new viruses, according to Dr. Melvin Sanicas, a Global Health Fellow and program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but we can take measures to prevent small epidemics from becoming big ones, including investing in infrastructures for preparedness.
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Cancer Vaccines Move From ‘Far-fetched’ to Reality
The significant differences in cost of treatment versus vaccination make the HPV and hepatitis B vaccines highly cost effective in the developing world. And while there have been improvements in global vaccine coverage in the past decade, disparities still result from competing health priorities, limited resources, poor health systems, inadequate monitoring and supervision, among other things.
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