“I am glad to see that U.S. research universities, too, now all seem to boast programs in global health. But claiming to have programs in global health is not the same thing as creating programs that can make a difference to populations facing poverty and ill health,” Paul Farmer, chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and founding director of Partners In Health, writes in the Harvard Crimson.

Farmer outlines the role Harvard and other universities can play in promoting global health. “Taking global health from a hobby to a serious pursuit is well within our reach if we commit adequate resources to a series of tasks that include research, training, and improved delivery of quality care,” he writes (5/26).