We are currently accepting article submissions for the Winter 2013 journal.

THEME:

2012 ≠ The End of the World

…or Infectious Diseases

I’m sure we’re all aware of the fabled Mayan “prediction” that December 21, 2012 would be the day the world ends. I’m also sure that we’re all aware the world did not actually end.  And the world isn’t the only thing that didn’t end in 2012: Infectious diseases having been plaguing mankind since the beginning of time, changing the course of history and, in many instances, dictating how we live out our lives.

This issue of The Global Health Beat aims to get at this long history of infectious diseases (the past), where we currently are in our battle against them (the present), and what infectious diseases the future may hold (the future). 

Article Topic Suggestions:

Though you are certainly not limited to the following topics, we are looking for one writer or team of writers to cover each of the following topics and, most notably, how they have played, are playing, or could play [in the future] a role in human history.  (Whether or not the focus should be on the past, present, or future is specified.)  Feel free to also use this list as a brainstorming aid if you’re interested in developing your own topic.

1. PAST: Leprosy
2. PAST: The Bubonic Plague
3. PAST: Anthrax
4. PAST: Cholera
5. PAST: Syphilis
6. PAST AND PRESENT: Infectious Disease Prevention Techniques
7. PAST AND PRESENT: Vaccines
8. PAST AND PRESENT: Influenza
9. PRESENT: Infectious Diseases in Hospitals (e.g., C. diff., pneumonia, bloodstream infections)

10. PRESENT AND FUTURE: HIV/AIDS

11. FUTURE: “Superbugs”

12. FUTURE: How Technology and the Modern Lifestyle Affects the Spread of Infectious Diseases

13. PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE: Tuberculosis

Article Guidelines:

• 500, 1000, or 2000 words in length.
• 3 accompanying pictures. Please provide whom to credit for the picture (e.g., yourself or a fellow trip participant). If you got the picture off the Internet, then please provide the link.
• If you desire, feel free to make your articles personal by including an applicable story, a striking quote from an interview, or anything else that really makes the article yours.  Please remember, though, that this is a professional global health journal, so ground your article in facts, research, statistics, current events, or societal and/or political analyses.  We’re looking for thoughtful, intelligent, and polished writing.
• If you wish to write about one of the suggested article topics above, please email Nate Wood (nate@uaidintl.org) with the topic name and number.  This is to ensure that not more than one person is assigned a single topic.  If you wish to write about a topic of your own, submit your finalized article as normal.
• If you have any questions or need further clarification regarding any of the article topic suggestions or guidelines, please email Nate Wood at nate@uaidintl.org.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINE:

Please submit your article (no matter if it is about one of the suggested topics or a topic of your own) to Nate Wood, the UAID Director of Journalism and Advocacy, via email (nate@uaidintl.org) by 11:59 PM on March 22, 2013.  This is a firm deadline.