A web blog discussing current health and public policy issues in the US and globally
As any self respecting Baltimore resident I sometimes see business deals in terms of street culture. I must admit though that I am no expert in street culture however a conversation that I had with a Baltimore Street homeboy who claims to have personally known the real Nathan “Bodie” Barksdale the inspiration for the street […]
I believe some issues are definitely first world problems. Women’s reproductive rights, unfortunately falls into that category. I have been amused at how abortion rights has so paralysed this nation to the extent the division it is creating can potentially lead to disastrous consequences on this great nation that needs to be “made great again.” […]
Over the past two decades the United States has experienced an uncontrollable epidemic of drug related deaths. In 2016 sixty-three thousand Americans died of drug overdoses, two out of three of these deaths were due to opioids. In times like this whilst law enforcement and public health services grapple for solutions most may ask the […]
The whole of last week most of us have been debating or considering one way or the other if an individual accused but never convicted of attempted rape should be allowed to sit on the highest judicial bench in the land. That decision is a really big decision and would eventually be decided by our […]
A recent World Health Organization ranking of the world’s health systems puts the United States at number 37 between Costa Rica at 36 and Slovenia, first lady Melania Trump’s birth country at number 38. This situation is all the more surprising since the United States spends more than twice as much per capita for health […]
Here in the United States, a group of people has appropriated upon themselves the sole responsibility of determining when America was great, that America had always been great but America needs to be made great again! I call them the “much touted self-righteous holier than thou sole custodians of America’s greatness and patriotism.” For them […]
For me my most favorite place in this world is my home, this does not hold true for my son though; he loves hotels. A few days ago I got the shock of my life. My whole world was turned upside down. As a black man in the US your safety is always a big […]
My country of birth has been described as one of the most religious countries in the world. This is a crown that most Ghanaians wear proudly, whilst others would gladly avoid any mention of that. On that account one can understand why an elected president of Ghana would consider building a national cathedral to be […]
In a prior post I had dreamed of claiming my gun which I rightfully acquired as a citizen of this great nation. Unfortunately life always just appears to get in the way of the greatest ideas and like all great ideas that fateful journey to Arkansas for my gun has still not materialized. However, for […]
With the passing of my school mate by several decades Mr. Kofi Annan I had to do some thinking on my own obituary. Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die, not me! You see for me “it’s the depth of life that matters not the length.” Like the saying goes ”let the […]
In the US most patients who require PrEP (HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) get coverage for Truvada by their insurance companies. Patients with medicaid coverage have copays ranging from $3 – 25, however individuals with commercial insurance may have to pay up to $800 a month towards medication cost. This has proven to be a barrier for […]
More than 20 years ago I entered University of Ghana as a preme student in the Faculty of Science. One important thing about having the opportunity to spend time on the University Campus rather than starting right out in the medical school in Accra was the opportunity afforded us to interact with students pursuing other […]
This article is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Bongani Mayosi, a world renowned South African cardiologist who died by suicide from depression this week. As I sat in front of the couple trying to be stoic and listen to and diagnose their model teenage child with lupus, at this point I regret being a […]
When I look at what is happening around me these days in America, I get deja vu feelings about my childhood. Sometimes it causes me extreme tummy upset and nausea and here is why! My mom and I lived in a compound house in a low middle-class neighborhood called Adabraka in Accra, Ghana! A compound […]
As the summer enters its full force and many plan their vacations to the beach and other sunny places, I remembered that not all of us are going to be enjoying the sun equally. There are a few who would avoid the sun like the plague, and this is not from fear of skin cancer. […]
Happy Tuesday FB friends and family. I am a sole believer for educating and promoting awareness in Baltimore and beyond about HIV Prevention but I have several issues with this article that was featured on Fox’s webpage written by Marilynn Marchion, AP Chief Medical Writer and also Fox news reporter Patrice Sanders reported this topic […]
A good essay on the everyday issues that individuals with HIV experience in their efforts to live their lives with respect to love and relationships. This article uses the experiences of people living with HIV to inform on issues related to safer sex and HIV prevention,
I have been very lucky when it come to religious education. I grew up in the Anglican Church; actually my elementary education was in a school affiliated with the Church. In those days we would all march to the church on Ash Wednesday to get the grey black crosses on our foreheads after school assembly. […]
I lived with my single mother for the first 10 years of my life. At age ten I was distraught when my mother suggested I had to go live with my father because I needed a father figure to look up to! To ease my stay with my dad I had to spend some vacation […]
It has become abundantly clear to me that black people in America belong to a different subspecies of Homo sapiens! I have grouped them into a subspecies Homo sapiens blackus, and in my case Sub Subspecies Homo sapiens blackus shitus! How else can anyone explain the spate of calls that are made to cops about […]