Global Health

Chronic illnesses (or non-communicable diseases) have overtaken infectious diseases as leading causes of death in both the developed and emerging economies. Factors such as poverty and limited access to healthcare are factors both locally and globally that contribute to the high burden of chronic diseases and to challenges in managing these conditions effectively. Additionally, the rising tide of some chronic conditions like diabetes are making the management of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) and HIV more challenging in San Francisco and around the world.

The work of CVP faculty to develop innovative approaches to prevent and treat chronic conditions in populations at risk begins locally with improving the health of all communities in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Because the factors that contribute to poor health in vulnerable communities in the Bay Area are often the same as those contributing to poor health globally, our work has direct implications for the global epidemic of chronic diseases as well.

Many of our faculty work directly on improving health of new immigrants to California. Others works directly in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and China addressing risk of chronic diseases in these context, as well as both community, healthcare, and policy solutions to improving health. CVP’s global health projects portfolio is expanding to include initiatives that address the intersection of communicable and non-communicable diseases.