UCSF presents a public forum on the global impact of health and disease

By Sandi Gettys

Infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, influenza, and SARS, are the main causes of illness and death in the developing world. Poverty and the lack of an organized system of medical care are strong contributing factors. The US will likely be affected by new and emerging diseases that may first gain a foothold in other countries.

A new six-week community education course on global health issues and how they affect people in the US and those who travel abroad will begin Wednesday, February 9, 2005, as part of the UCSF Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). The course is open to the public.

Attendees will gain an understanding of the social and biologic context of diseases that affect most of the world’s population, and learn about some of the things that UCSF faculty are doing to help address these problems. Classes will meet from 7 to 8:45 pm on Tuesdays at UCSF, 513 Parnassus Ave., San Francisco. Tuition is $85. To register, visit Life Long Learning or call (415) 476-2557.

FEBRUARY 8—TRAVEL MEDICINE: HOW TO STAY HEALTHY ABROAD—Jonathan (Jack) Rodnick, MD, professor of family and community medicine

FEBRUARY 15—STORIES FROM THE FRONT LINE: HIV AND AIDS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES—Michael Reyes, MD, MPH, associate professor of family and community medicine, co-director of I-TECH (International Training and Education Center on HIV)

FEBRUARY 22—HEALTH CRISES IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION—Thomas Novotony, MD, MPH, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and director of International Programs, UCSF School of Medicine

MARCH 1—THE STORY BEHIND EPIDEMICS THAT CAN GET YOU: INFLUENZA AND SARS—George Rutherford, MD, MPH, Salvatore Pablo Lucia professor of preventive medicine, epidemiology and pediatrics; head, division of preventive medicine and public health; vice chair, department of epidemiology and biostatistics; director, Institute for Global Health

MARCH 8—TUBERCULOSIS: GLOBAL STRATEGIES FOR A CLINICAL PROBLEM—Philip Hopewell, MD, professor of medicine, director, Francis J. Curry National Tuberculosis Center

MARCH 15—ORTHOPAEDICS OVERSEAS: UCSF PHYSICIANS HELPING ABROAD—Richard Coughlin, MD, associate clinical professor of orthopaedics, department of orthopaedics

UCSF Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is a community education program for adult learners sponsored by the UCSF Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy, the UCSF Medical Center, the UCSF Public Affairs Department and the University of California Academic Geriatric Resource Program. The program is supported in party by a grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation.