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Cesar Chelala

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Cesar Chelala

Cesar Chelala, MD, PhD, is an international public health consultant for several UN agencies, and a writer on human rights, medical and foreign policy issues. He is a winner of an Overseas Press Club of America Award. His articles have been published in more than 70 countries worldwide.

COMMENTARY

May 25, 2010

Afghan kids paying price of opium addiction

NEW YORK — The revelation that the number of opium-addicted Afghan children has reached new highs is a tragic unintended consequence of that war. It dramatically illustrates how adult war games doom generations of children to a miserable life.

COMMENTARY

May 13, 2010

A blow to Spanish judicial independence

Baltasar Garzon, a Spanish "investigative magistrate" in charge of investigating crimes of national or international significance, is now himself under investigation. Conservative groups accuse Garzon of prevaricato judicial (roughly translated as "abuse of a judge's power") for having intentionally...

COMMENTARY

Apr 27, 2010

New sanctions will only bolster hardliners

If past experience with authoritarian regimes is any guide, new sanctions on Iran will not succeed in curbing its nuclear power development and will, instead, strengthen the hardliners in government. Much more can be gained by improving the relationship between U.S. and Iranian citizens.

COMMENTARY

Apr 19, 2010

Diabetes epidemic the price of China's growth

China has a serious problem with diabetes, which has reached epidemic proportions in the country. This is the conclusion of a group of researchers from Tulane University and colleagues from China, whose findings were published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Type 2 diabetes accounts...

COMMENTARY

Mar 30, 2010

Drone dependency trivializing Afghan war

NEW YORK — Captain Ferguson (a fictitious name) gets up early in the morning, and has breakfast with his wife and children. At the office, he sits in front of a computer off and on for almost eight hours. At the end of the day he heads back home. Ferguson's wife is glad to see him as they discuss...

COMMENTARY

Mar 16, 2010

Obama needs a push to normalize Cuba ties

NEW YORK — Several years ago, during my first visit to Cuba to attend a health-related meeting, I witnessed a demonstration. As friends and I walked into the Bodeguita del Medio, a traditional restaurant famous for the number of illustrious visitors who had dined there over the years, a young Cuban...

COMMENTARY

Mar 2, 2010

U.S. 'torture memo' lawyers got off too easily

NEW YORK — The recent statement by the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) that the two lawyers who wrote the so-called torture memos merely exercised "poor judgment" is a disservice to justice. This is a topic that should be properly addressed by a serious inquiry...

COMMENTARY

Feb 7, 2010

Rebirth of Haiti begins with education effort

NEW YORK — "Did you see this?" My colleague asked me in a hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, in 2005.

COMMENTARY

Feb 2, 2010

Cities robbing their people

NEW YORK — When observing the chaotic growth of the modern city, the more erudite of urban planners will reminisce wistfully on how different it is from its ancient Greek counterpart, the polis, which Italian architectural historian Leonardo Benevolo once described as "dynamic but stable, in balance...

COMMENTARY

Jan 8, 2010

Warding off risks from Iran's nuclear plans

NEW YORK — Iran's development of nuclear power provides an opportunity for reaching an accord on a Middle East nuclear weapons-free zone (NWFZ). Talks between Iran and representatives of the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China can help develop a consensus to ward off a possible...

COMMENTARY

Dec 18, 2009

Illegal wall exacerbates disaster for Gazans

NEW YORK — Collusion between Egypt and the United States in building a wall separating Egypt from Gaza not only threatens Gazans' health and quality of life, already seriously deteriorating because of the de facto Israeli blockade, but also violates international law.

COMMENTARY

Dec 2, 2009

AIDS takes increasing toll on women's lives

AIDS is posing an increasing threat to women, especially in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, AIDS is the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa.

COMMENTARY

Nov 2, 2009

How the U.S. can clear Guantanamo's name

TUCUMAN, Argentina — The U.S. Senate decision allowing terror suspects held at the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo Bay facility to be brought to the United States for trial is a significant development toward resolving the human rights issue surrounding their detention.

COMMENTARY

Sep 30, 2009

Too soon to view HIV vaccine as a solution

NEW YORK — The results of a new HIV vaccine trial in Thailand, although encouraging since they show a lowered rate of infection among those vaccinated, should be treated with cautious optimism.

COMMENTARY

Sep 22, 2009

Face up to civilian casualties in Gaza

NEW YORK — The long-awaited United Nations report on the conflict in Gaza is strongly critical of both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups. Both sides are said to have committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. The report recommends that Israel start its own investigation...

COMMENTARY

Sep 9, 2009

A Spanish medical doctor's African epiphany

I was visiting Rio Muni, the continental half of Equatorial Guinea with some medical colleagues. We were assessing the health situation in the country and we had arrived at Niefang, a small, sparsely populated, neglected town in the interior. The high humidity made the heat even more oppressive.

COMMENTARY

Aug 24, 2009

Afghan health crisis defies aid efforts so far

NEW YORK — Afghanistan is going through a serious public health emergency, exacerbated by the unstable political situation in the region. Food shortages could leave 8 million Afghans — 30 percent of the population — on the brink of starvation, unless more effective aid is provided soon....

COMMENTARY

Aug 18, 2009

Corporate greed versus Americans' health

NEW YORK — The health care discussion in the United States increasingly has revealed evidence of how corporations and politicians hinder the provision of adequate health care to the majority of Americans. The result is that the U.S. has one of the worst health care systems among industrialized...

COMMENTARY

Jul 27, 2009

Threats against Iran feed off modern myths

NEW YORK — Several myths regarding Iran stand in the way of the United States and other nations reaching a peaceful relationship with that country. Much of the concern that Iran may attack Israel, if Iran successfully develops nuclear weapons, rests on the statement by Iranian President Mahmoud...

COMMENTARY

Jul 7, 2009

Rule of law eludes Guantanamo detainees despite Obama's cheerleading for rights

NEW YORK — The Obama administration should show resolve in releasing Guantanamo Bay inmates or trying them in a court of law, says Navanethem Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

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The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

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