Jim Yong Kim

Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del autor incorporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de diciembre de 2006. Para fechas anteriores realice una búsqueda entrecomillando su nombre.

ReflexionesNaturaleza, ,

En apenas seis semanas, los líderes mundiales se reunirán en París para negociar un nuevo acuerdo global sobre el cambio climático. Hasta la fecha, 150 países han presentado planes con detalles para que sus economías dependan menos del consumo de carbono. Se trata de la primera generación de inversiones para construir un futuro competitivo sin los peligrosos niveles de emisiones de dióxido de carbono que hoy causan el calentamiento global.

Para hacer la transición a un futuro más limpio será necesario aplicar tanto medidas gubernamentales como incentivos adecuados para el sector privado. Su eje articulador debería ser una sólida política pública que ponga precio a la contaminación por carbono.…  Seguir leyendo »

Syrian refugees arrive at the island of Lesbos, Greece last month. (Petros Giannakouris/AP)

Internacional

I am a migrant. In 1964, I came to the United States from South Korea, then an extremely poor developing country that most experts, including those at the World Bank, had written off as having little hope for economic growth.

My family moved to Texas, and later to Iowa. I was just 5 years old when we arrived, and my brother, sister and I spoke no English. Most of our neighbors and classmates had never seen an Asian before. I felt like a resident alien in every sense of the term.

Over time, my family integrated into our adopted homeland, which in many ways has come to understand the benefits of diversity and multiculturalism.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalSalud Pública

El mundo actual parece enfrentarse a más riesgos que nunca. Los efectos cada vez más visibles del cambio climático, las crecientes tensiones geopolíticas, las crisis y colapsos de los estados, las oportunidades económicas desiguales o inadecuadas y la propagación de enfermedades infecciosas (por nombrar solo algunas de las amenazas de mayor perfil) han creado un ambiente de gran incertidumbre. ¿Será 2015 el año en que estos riesgos se hagan realidad o el momento en que los líderes se reúnan para desarrollar estrategias reales que los puedan mitigar?

Esta semana participaré en encuentros con líderes de los negocios, los gobiernos, la política, las artes y el ámbito académico en el Foro Económico Mundial (FEM) de Davos, Suiza, para hablar de los riesgos a los que se enfrenta el mundo.…  Seguir leyendo »

Members of District 13 ambulance service disinfect a room in a village north of Monrovia, Liberia. Credit Jerome Delay/Associated Press

MundoÁfrica, ,

In my career as a medical doctor and global health policy maker, I have been in the middle of monumental struggles, including fights to make treatment accessible in the developing world for those living with H.I.V./AIDS as well as multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. But the Ebola epidemic is the worst I’ve ever seen.

More than 11 months into the crisis, thousands of people are dead and more than 17,000 have been infected. The virus kills quickly, spreads fear even faster, alters human relationships, devastates economies and threatens to cruelly extinguish hope in three fragile countries that were on the rebound after years of misery.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalEconomía

Hemos logrado enormes avances durante los últimos 25 años en la lucha contra la pobreza. En 1990, el 36% de la población mundial ganaba menos de 1,25 dólares al día. Para el año próximo, estimamos que esa tasa habrá caído al 12%, lo que representa una reducción de dos tercios en 25 años. Esto significa que, para el año que viene, habrá 1000 millones de personas menos que en 1990 sumidas en la pobreza extrema. Un progreso enorme. Sin embargo, será mucho más difícil ayudar a los siguientes 1000 millones a salir de la pobreza. Tenemos mucho trabajo por hacer, en especial en África al sur del Sahara, donde unos 450 millones de personas se despiertan cada día en la pobreza.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfricaInternacionalSalud Pública, ,

If the Ebola epidemic devastating the countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone had instead struck Washington, New York or Boston, there is no doubt that the health systems in place could contain and then eliminate the disease.

Hospitals would isolate suspected cases. Health workers would be outfitted with proper protective clothing and equipment. Doctors and nurses would administer effective supportive care, including comprehensive management of dehydration, impaired kidney and liver function, bleeding disorders and electrolyte disturbance. Labs would dispose of hazardous materials properly. And a public health command center would both direct the response and communicate clearly to the public about the outbreak.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfricaInternacionalSalud Pública, ,

Pour la troisième fois seulement en soixante-six ans d'existence, l'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) a décrété une urgence mondiale de santé publique. Cette fois, c'est à cause de l'épidémie d'Ebola, qui sévit dans trois pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest : la Guinée, le Liberia et la Sierra Leone. Après l'épreuve traumatisante de ces derniers mois, les pouvoirs publics et les populations de ces trois pays cherchent désespérément des signes qui montrent qu'Ebola peut être stoppé dans son élan.

En qualité de médecins ayant une bonne connaissance aussi bien du continent africain que de la lutte contre les maladies infectieuses, nous sommes persuadés que le plan de lutte contre le virus Ebola, orchestré à la fois par les pays et l'OMS, permettra de contenir cette flambée épidémique et, en quelques mois, de l'éteindre.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial, ,

Growing up in Iowa, I was often judged solely on appearance. In stores, strangers would make karate-chop gestures at me, inspired by the popular TV series “Kung Fu.” When I played quarterback for my high school team, opponents were not above slamming me to the dirt and then piling on racial slurs.

These incidents embarrassed me and made me self-conscious. But they are trifling indignities compared with the discrimination that many people around the world face based solely on their sex, age, race or sexual orientation.

I raise this in light of the law Uganda enacted this week, which could imprison for life those convicted of homosexuality, and the increased violence against gays in Nigeria after an anti-gay law took effect there this year.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people in the Philippines last fall, reminded us how much suffering and damage nature can cause, and how important it is to invest in resilience and be ready to respond.

As climate change and booming urbanization leave more and more people exposed to hazard, governments worldwide want to make sure their roads, buildings and public services can withstand natural disasters such as floods, storms and earthquakes.

Here are seven lessons, culled from years of experience, on how to reduce risks:

1) Identify those risks. Indonesia has shown how this can be done. There, the government and partners developed InaSAFE, a free interactive software program that allows local officials to ask questions that help them quantify the damage a disaster might cause.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial

En el mundo de hoy se está produciendo un cambio histórico, inadvertido para la mayoría e impensable décadas atrás. En solo una generación, podemos poner fin a la pobreza extrema. Esto es revolucionario. Durante siglos, muchos líderes religiosos pensaron que la pobreza era inevitable, parte del orden establecido por Dios. Pocos se atrevieron a sugerir que podría tener origen en el ser humano y que este podría eliminarla.

La suposición de que siempre habría pobres fue excusa para la inacción. Hoy tenemos nuevas responsabilidades. Debemos tomar conciencia de la posibilidad de terminar con la pobreza, en gran medida resultado de políticas y estructuras creadas por el ser humano.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

The world is starting to get serious about climate change. This is happening for one major reason: leadership.

President Obama’s announcement this week of a broad set of actions to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are changing our climate was very welcome. His plan, largely based on executive orders, will cut carbon pollution in the United States, prepare the country for the rising number of extreme weather events such as hurricanes and droughts, invest more in clean-energy sources and help lead international efforts to combat climate change and manage its effects.

These steps must be seen in the context of growing mobilization on climate change worldwide because the United States is one part of a larger puzzle.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

The weather in Washington has been like a roller coaster this January. Yes, there has been a deep freeze this week, but it was the sudden warmth earlier in the month that was truly alarming. Flocks of birds — robins, wrens, cardinals and even blue jays – swarmed bushes with berries, eating as much as they could. Runners and bikers wore shorts and T-shirts. People worked in their gardens as if it were spring.

The signs of global warming are becoming more obvious and more frequent. A glut of extreme weather conditions is appearing globally. And the average temperature in the United States last year was the highest ever recorded.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalSalud Pública

President Bush made a historic pledge in his 2003 State of the Union address: to get urgently needed AIDS treatment to 2 million people living with HIV in impoverished countries by 2008. Congress concurred and launched a major initiative to fight AIDS focusing on 15 developing nations. At a U.N. General Assembly conference on AIDS this year, the United States went further and committed, along with other countries, to come as close as possible to universal access to HIV treatment by 2010.

We have come a long way since 2000, when AIDS treatment was available to only the fortunate few. Activists campaigned successfully to drive down the cost of treatment with affordable off-patent AIDS medicines that are now available in most developing countries.…  Seguir leyendo »