Connect to share and comment
GlobalPost Blogs » Global Pulse

A diverse look at global health issues.

Nicole SchieggMarch 26, 2013 09:58

Opinion: USAID gets results on reducing global child mortality

Nicole Schiegg, USAID senior advisor, says USAID has made achievements in child health.
20130325 rajiv shah usaidEnlarge
Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator, speaks at the 2012 "Every Woman Every Child" dinner in New York. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

Editor’s Note: GlobalPost Special Reports presents this guest post as part of a major global reporting initiative on children's health launching this summer.

WASHINGTON, DC — As reported in GlobalPost last week, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) released its first progress report examining how reforms enacted three years ago have strengthened the agency's relentless focus on results. One of the strongest examples of leveraging innovation and partnership is USAID's contribution to ending preventable child deaths.

More
March 21, 2013 15:14

USAID report gives few details on progress reducing child mortality

More than 170 countries have signed a pledge to reduce child mortality, but specifics are lacking.
130321 rajiv shah usaid childrenEnlarge
Head of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Rajiv Shah speaks with children on the Turkish-Syrian border on November 27, 2012. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) yesterday released its first progress report for USAID Forward, the major reform effort it initiated in 2010 “to change the way the Agency does business.” 

“Development is a discipline,” said USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, in a keynote speech to mark the report’s publication. With USAID Forward, the agency has put forth a new model for development very much defined by the language of business. Shah, a Wharton School of Business graduate, spoke about metrics, results, cost-benefit analysis, new partnerships and innovation.

More
March 18, 2013 17:08

TB is a leading, but underdiagnosed, cause of child mortality

At least 500,000 children die from the treatable disease each year
20130318 child tuberculosis tbEnlarge
A volunteer pours children's tuberculosis medicine for patients in Payatas, Philippines. (David Greedy/Getty Images)

Drug-resistant tuberculosis is a growing concern for the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, who issued a joint statement today calling for additional funding to combat the deadly infectious disease. “We are treading water at a time when we desperately need to scale up our response to [multi-drug resistant TB],” said Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO’s director-general, in a press release.

While health officials did not single out the devastating impact of the disease on children, just last week, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that its doctors in Tajikistan are treating the youngest patient they have ever diagnosed with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, a 9-month old little girl.

More
March 4, 2013 12:17

Twitter's reactions to toddler's #HIV cure

Here's how Twitter reacted to Sunday's news that a toddler in Mississippi, who was born with HIV, has been effectively cured.
March 1, 2013 15:07

PEPFAR report recommends countries control own HIV/AIDS programs

An independent evaluation of PEPFAR praised the program's achievements but said its work is unfinished. Among its recommendations is a shift to an advisory role.
20130301 pepfarEnlarge
HIV/AIDS activists, some of them living with the virus, yell during a demonstration April 25, 2012 in Nairobi on the sidelines of a joint conference sponsored by the US embassy here and Kenya's vision 2030 about health and reducing mortality in the East African nation. The activists demanded that the US' - HIV programme, PEPFAR and the Kenya government work together to utilise some 500 million of unspent PEPFAR funds to get desperately needed HIV treatment to more Kenyans. (Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images)

An independent evaluation of the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), released last week by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), lauded the program’s achievements as proof that HIV services can be delivered successfully on a large scale. The report also recommended several changes to the program, to ensure that the HIV/AIDS response is sustainable.

More
February 21, 2013 17:42

Q&A: Should mental health be part of the gun control debate?

Forensic psychologist Dr. Reid Meloy tells GlobalPost that the link between mental illness and gun violence isn't as strong as the public might think.
20130221 meloy mental health2Enlarge
Dr. Reid Meloy, forensic psychologist and professor of clinical psychology at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine (Courtesy)
GlobalPost talked to Dr. Reid Meloy about the role of mental health in the current national gun control debate.
More
February 15, 2013 14:46

Emergency contraception use more than doubles

A recent NCHS report shows that more American women than ever are using the morning after pill.
Plan BEnlarge
5.8 million American women reported using an emergency contraception pill, like Plan B, between 2006 and 2010. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The use of emergency contraception by American women has more than doubled in recent years, according to a study released yesterday.

The study by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) surveyed more than 12,000 women and found that 11 percent of sexually active women between the ages of 15 and 44 had used the morning after pill at least once between 2006 and 2010. In 2002, the study said, four percent of women had used the drug.

More
February 7, 2013 12:14

On National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a crisis continues

A look at some of the programs trying to stem the AIDS epidemic among African-Americans.
AIDS Quilt Washington DCEnlarge
The details of a panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt which is on display at the National Cathedral July 17, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/AFP/Getty Images)

On this 13th annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, GlobalPost looked at some of the leading initiatives for combating HIV/AIDS in the black community. The staggering number of black Americans living with HIV has spurred many efforts to combat transmission of the disease, and recently, the focus has shifted from understanding the risk factors to addressing them head-on.

More
February 4, 2013 13:03

Health care beyond 2015: Highlights from a conversation with UNDP's Helen Clark

Helen Clark talked to the Harvard School of Public Health about global health and what lessons we can learn from the Millenium Development Goals, set to expire in 2015.
20130204 hsph forumEnlarge
(Courtesy/Screengrab)

BOSTON, Massachusetts—Helen Clark, administrator of the United Nations Development Program, spoke at the Forum at the Harvard School of Public Health on Thursday, January 15.

Clark spoke about addressing social determinants of health, and the need to look at health and environment in the promotion of sustainable development. She also discussed what we can learn from the Millennium Development Goals, which are set to expire in 2015. Here are some highlights from her talk.

More
David OshinskyJanuary 30, 2013 12:39

Op-Ed: On FDR's birthday, a celebration of polio champions

David Oshinsky reflects on the advances in the fight against polio, one of FDR's greatest legacies.
20130130 fdr polioEnlarge
An undated portrait of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

January 30 marks the 131st birthday of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the longest-serving American president, who guided the nation through the twin perils of the Great Depression and World War ll. But we also remember FDR for another humanitarian cause—his contribution to the war against polio.

The groundswell of global solidarity against polio is one of Roosevelt’s most remarkable legacies. The insidious killer and crippler of so many around the world is now closer to eradication than ever before. Today, we’ve eliminated 99 percent of new polio cases and only three endemic countries remain: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

Thanks to tremendous advances last year, we have a unique opportunity to end polio. In 2012, we saw the fewest cases in the fewest countries on record. But we must ensure that a funding gap does not stand in the way of success. Now, we must secure the resources to realize Roosevelt’s vision of a polio-free world. Donors and endemic countries must fully fund the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to finish the job.

More