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Table of Contents

January 2010

Cover

Science must be responsible to society, not to politics.
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Recent high-impact collisions between health research and politics include a US Senate vote to disregard updated US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines for breast cancer screening, and the UK Home Secretary's dismissal of drug abuse advisor Prof. David Nutt. Considering the prospects for unbiased comparative effectiveness research in light of such events, the PLoS Medicine Editors argue that "evidence-based medicine deserves better than a push out of the frying pan of partisan politics into the fire of vested interests," and urge politicians to remember that "society encompasses not only the corporate engines of economic growth and decline, but also individuals whose lives depend on the quality of health care data."

Image Credit: Chris Pichado

Editorial

Science Must Be Responsible to Society, Not to Politics

The PLoS Medicine Editors

PLOS Medicine: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000222

The PLoS Medicine Debate

Are Patents Impeding Medical Care and Innovation?

E. Richard Gold, Warren Kaplan, James Orbinski, Sarah Harland-Logan, Sevil N-Marandi

PLOS Medicine: published January 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000208

Essay

Meeting the Demand for Results and Accountability: A Call for Action on Health Data from Eight Global Health Agencies

Margaret Chan, Michel Kazatchkine, Julian Lob-Levyt, Thoraya Obaid, Julian Schweizer, Michel Sidibe, Ann Veneman, Tadataka Yamada

PLOS Medicine: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000223

Perspectives

Neonatal Circumcision for HIV Prevention: Cost, Culture, and Behavioral Considerations

Seth C. Kalichman

PLOS Medicine: published January 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000219

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  1. Male Circumcision at Different Ages in Rwanda: A Cost-Effectiveness Study

Mapping the Distribution of Invasive Staphylococcus aureus across Europe

Franklin D. Lowy

PLOS Medicine: published January 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000205

Related Articles

  1. Geographic Distribution of Staphylococcus aureus Causing Invasive Infections in Europe: A Molecular-Epidemiological Analysis

Health in Action

Microscopy Quality Control in Médecins Sans Frontières Programs in Resource-Limited Settings

Derryck B. Klarkowski, Juan Daniel Orozco

PLOS Medicine: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000206

Policy Forums

The Global Health System: Actors, Norms, and Expectations in Transition

Nicole A. Szlezák, Barry R. Bloom, Dean T. Jamison, Gerald T. Keusch, Catherine M. Michaud, Suerie Moon, William C. Clark

PLOS Medicine: published January 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000183

The Global Health System: Strengthening National Health Systems as the Next Step for Global Progress

Julio Frenk

PLOS Medicine: published January 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000089

The Global Health System: Linking Knowledge with Action—Learning from Malaria

Gerald T. Keusch, Wen L. Kilama, Suerie Moon, Nicole A. Szlezák, Catherine M. Michaud

PLOS Medicine: published January 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000179

The Global Health System: Lessons for a Stronger Institutional Framework

Suerie Moon, Nicole A. Szlezák, Catherine M. Michaud, Dean T. Jamison, Gerald T. Keusch, William C. Clark, Barry R. Bloom

PLOS Medicine: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000193

Research Articles

Quantifying the Number of Pregnancies at Risk of Malaria in 2007: A Demographic Study

Stephanie Dellicour, Andrew J. Tatem, Carlos A. Guerra, Robert W. Snow, Feiko O. ter Kuile

PLOS Medicine: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000221

Geographic Distribution of Staphylococcus aureus Causing Invasive Infections in Europe: A Molecular-Epidemiological Analysis

Hajo Grundmann, David M. Aanensen, Cees C. van den Wijngaard, Brian G. Spratt, Dag Harmsen, Alexander W. Friedrich, the European Staphylococcal Reference Laboratory Working Group ¶

PLOS Medicine: published January 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000215

Related Articles

  1. Mapping the Distribution of Invasive Staphylococcus aureus across Europe

“Working the System”—British American Tobacco's Influence on the European Union Treaty and Its Implications for Policy: An Analysis of Internal Tobacco Industry Documents

Katherine E. Smith, Gary Fooks, Jeff Collin, Heide Weishaar, Sema Mandal, Anna B. Gilmore

PLOS Medicine: published January 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000202

Related Articles

  1. A New Policy on Tobacco Papers

Relationship between Vehicle Emissions Laws and Incidence of Suicide by Motor Vehicle Exhaust Gas in Australia, 2001–06: An Ecological Analysis

David M. Studdert, Lyle C. Gurrin, Uma Jatkar, Jane Pirkis

PLOS Medicine: published January 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000210

Male Circumcision at Different Ages in Rwanda: A Cost-Effectiveness Study

Agnes Binagwaho, Elisabetta Pegurri, Jane Muita, Stefano Bertozzi

PLOS Medicine: published January 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000211

Related Articles

  1. Neonatal Circumcision for HIV Prevention: Cost, Culture, and Behavioral Considerations

The Evolution of the Epidemic of Charcoal-Burning Suicide in Taiwan: A Spatial and Temporal Analysis

Shu-Sen Chang, David Gunnell, Benedict W. Wheeler, Paul Yip, Jonathan A. C. Sterne

PLOS Medicine: published January 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000212

The Relationship between Anti-merozoite Antibodies and Incidence of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Freya J. I. Fowkes, Jack S. Richards, Julie A. Simpson, James G. Beeson

PLOS Medicine: published January 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000218