The 2015 Global Health Conference, "Contagion: causes, costs, containment," will be held from Nov. 6-8, at the University of Iowa. Registration tables open at 3:00 p.m. on the 2nd floor ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union. The conference acts as a course for students to earn credit and engage with a range of speakers featured from on and off campus. 

The conference topic, contagion, looks back to the early 1980s as a brief but heady period when the global community believed that infectious diseases would soon be conquered. Smallpox had been eliminated, TB was waning with the expansion of antibiotic therapy, and HIV was not yet in the headlines. However, within a decade, HIV had exploded globally, antibiotic resistant TB was spreading, and there was a resurgence of infectious sources of diarrheal and febrile disease, making it clear that infectious diseases were not a thing of the past.

Inequity and inequality, driven by political, economic, environmental, and cultural factors, ensure that infectious disease is a continuing threat. This interdisciplinary conference will explore the current burden of infectious disease in historic, economic, social, and political contexts. Discussions will highlight the conjunction of clinical, public health, and social science approaches to managing the global threat of infectious disease.

This conference is sponsored by the Global Health Studies Programs, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and International Programs. For reading materials, the conference schedule, and information on speakers, please visit the conference webpage. 

Community members may also register. Course fee is $40. Please make check payable to University of Iowa. Payment may be made at the conference, or mailed in advance, along with the registration form. 

 Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Sarolta Petersen at sarolta-petersen@uiowa.edu.