Monday, December 24, 2007
Monitoring and Program evaluation
http://www.cpc.unc.edu/measure/publications/index.php
The publications we used as sources were
Theresa Finn. (2007) A Guide for Monitoring and Evaluating Population-Health-Environment Programs
Gage et al. A Guide for Monitoring and Evaluating Child Health Programs
Monday, December 17, 2007
Bangladesh from our View: When Nari Jibon acts as an alternative skill provider
"Population is increasing rapidly in Bangladesh day by day and the same time the percentage of educated persons is also increasing. Almost at the same time women’s education is also increasing from previous levels. But Bangladesh government and economy are failing to create sufficient work for these educated populations. These educated and unemployed populations are facing heavy competition to get a job and are struggling with many difficulties [...]"
Congressional Conferees Raise the Bar
"We know that we can save millions of children's and mothers' lives if we invest in the proven interventions already available to us," said Dr. Nils Daulaire, president of the Global Health Council. "In this very difficult budget environment, it is gratifying to see that the grassroots work of our members and regular advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill have been well received by members of Congress from both houses and both sides of the aisle who are committed to supporting these critical issues. We are particularly grateful for the leadership of global health champions like Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Rep. Nita Lowey of New York."
The House and Senate foreign operations conferees report puts funding levels for global health priorities - including HIV/AIDS programs, tuberculosis, maternal health child survival - at an increase of about $1.8 billion over this year for fiscal year 2008 (FY08).
The global health appropriations presented by House and Senate foreign operations conferees include:
- Maternal and child health programs, including delivery of interventions to save newborn lives, will receive an increase of more than $90 million, bringing the total U.S. investment in its USAID-funded programs to $450 million;
- Family planning programs, both USAID bilateral spending and contributions to multilateral agencies, will receive an increase of approximately $24 million in FY08, bringing spending up to $425 million;
- USAID's programs to combat tuberculosis (TB) will receive an increase of approximately $74 million, bringing total TB spending up to $153 million;
- Malaria programs, including the President's Malaria Initiative, will see an increase of $100 million, bringing the total to $350 million;
- The Global HIV/AIDS Initiative spending for both the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and multilateral spending through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, will see an increase of approximately $1.5 billion, bringing total spending up to $4.7 billion. USAID's global AIDS programs saw a decrease in appropriations from $594 million in 2007 to $350 million for FY08;
- Spending on avian influenza will increase to a total of $115 million;
- U.S. investment in neglected tropical diseases remains steady at $15 million for FY08.
Proposed increases for the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, and language that would have rescinded the restrictions on aid to overseas family planning groups that provide abortions (the Global Gag Rule/Mexico City Policy) were withdrawn.
--This article is from http://www.globalhealth.org/ Happy Holidays!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Frustration With Charities and U.N. in Congo
"Frustration at the United Nations peacekeeping force and the dozens of aid organizations working in North Kivu Province, in eastern Congo, is rising as violence increases, the number of displaced people here creeps toward one million, and the pace of assistance lags, especially to those fleeing the fighting in the past few weeks [...]"
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Nigerian ex-oil governor arrested
By Alex Last BBC News, Lagos |
Nigeria's anti-corruption agency has arrested former Delta State Governor James Ibori, over allegations of corruption and money-laundering.
The head of the agency, Nuhu Ribadu, said Mr Ibori would be charged in the federal high court on Thursday.
Mr Ibori is also under investigation by the Metropolitan police in the UK.
The failure to prosecute Mr Ibori in Nigeria had raised doubts over the government's commitment to its anti-corruption campaign.
Mr Ibori is the most high-profile former governor to be arrested under the new administration.
Agents from Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested Mr Ibori at a private residence in the capital, Abuja.
Bold statement
Mr Ibori is the former governor of Delta State, one of the largest oil-producing states in Nigeria and, therefore, one of the richest.
He was seen as a key financier of President Umaru Yar'Adua's campaign for April's elections and is politically very powerful and well connected.
But he has been under investigation in the UK over allegations he laundered millions of dollars of looted state funds - charges he denies.
A UK court has frozen assets in the UK, allegedly belonging to Mr Ibori worth $35m.
His official salary while in office was less than $25,000 a year.
Mr Ibori, like other state governors, lost his immunity from prosecution when he had to leave office earlier this year.
But the key political issue has been whether anti-corruption agencies would be allowed to go after him in the way they have gone after other former governors.
The actions of Nigeria's new attorney general have been under particular scrutiny in this case.
Law enforcement agents in the UK and Nigeria have complained that he has been using his position to stall the prosecution of Mr Ibori - a charge he denies.
Still, it raised questions as to the scope of the new president's anti-graft policy.
This arrest is a bold statement from the anti-corruption agency at least that no-one is safe from prosecution.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Relevant Links for Tomorrow's Presentation on Corruption, Equity and Ethnicity
1. defining corruption: http://www.transparency.org/news_room/faq/corruption_faq
and
2. corruption and health: http://www.transparency.org/global_priorities/health.
Also, the Global Health Watch provides terrific information on the role global institutions, transnational corporations and rich countries have played in propagating corruption in the global South. Check out Part E of the report contents at: http://www.ghwatch.org/2005_report_contents.php.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Bangladesh completes polio vaccination drive
"Millions of children across Bangladesh were given their second vaccination against polio on Saturday, completing a drive to wipe out the disease, which re-emerged early last year, health ministry officials said [...]"
Women, Infants, and Children: But What About the Men?
"Despite its successes, the program has not gone without its critics. Many have criticized that the foods available to enrollees are not all appropriate(4), that it pushes infant formula feeding (5), that the program is inadequately funded (6,7), and for other reasons (8,9). However no records have been found that critique WIC in its effects on certain male populations from a social and behavioral science viewpoint."
Friday, December 7, 2007
U.S. Agency’s Slow Pace Endangers Foreign Aid
"The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a federal agency set up almost four years ago to reinvent foreign aid, has taken far longer to help poor, well-governed countries than its supporters expected or its critics say is reasonable.
The agency, a rare Bush administration proposal to be enacted with bipartisan support, has spent only $155 million of the $4.8 billion it has approved for ambitious projects in 15 countries in Africa, Central America and other regions [...]"
My Heart's In Accra
Dissident Voice : Ten Reasons Why “Save Darfur” is a PR Scam: Provocative article argues that US interest in Darfur is a smokescreen for interest in oil, and that if we genuinely cared about genocide, we’d be discussing intervention in Eastern Congo (tags: africa sudan oil uspolitics congo)
Can Greed Save Africa? Investors outside the African continent are building biodiesel facilities, manufacturing fertilizer from formerly flared natural gas, and generally building the commercial and financial infrastructure the continent needs.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Ending Famine, Simply by Ignoring the Experts - New York Times
Ending Famine, Simply by Ignoring the Experts - New York Times: "...In Malawi itself, the prevalence of acute child hunger has fallen sharply. In October, the United Nations Children’s Fund sent three tons of powdered milk, stockpiled here to treat severely malnourished children, to Uganda instead. “We will not be able to use it!” Juan Ortiz-Iruri, Unicef’s deputy representative in Malawi, said jubilantly. Farmers explain Malawi’s extraordinary turnaround — one with broad implications for hunger-fighting methods across Africa — with one word: fertilizer [...]"
War and Refugees links
(Great basic statistics on refugees!)
http://www.refugees.org/article.aspx?id=1941
The ICRC Code of Conduct
(If time permits, we would like to talk about humanitarian ethics and accountability in class, but the ICRC Code of Conduct should be read by everyone working in the humanitarian field)
http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/conduct/code.asp
UNHCR: Basic Facts
(UNHCR is the UN agency mandated to provide protection and assistance to refugees. This page gives a good basic introduction to the agency.
http://www.unhcr.org/basics.html
Human Rights Watch: Child Soldiers
(Good starting point to get an introduction to the problem of child soldiers; the site also has a compilation of reports on child soldiers.)
http://hrw.org/campaigns/crp/index.htm
Invisible Children
(We'll be playing parts of this documentary on child soldiers in Uganda in class, but here's the entire version.)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3166797753930210643
Yi-Ling & Neda
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Feedback for Training and Supervision
• Good training exercise – It’s too bad that half of the class missed an excellent session. Very good class discussion and participation.
• Delivery was good. Would have been good to see case-studies, what has worked and does not work with training.
• Nice job – both speakers. I loved the initial group exercise – the training activity was very thorough – coverage of the topic.
• Very well structured and well organized presentation with systematic presentation of the topics.
• Suturing exercise was a great learning tool
• Relaxed, friendly delivery. I missed the larger class, but the small group led to less competition to get a chance to comment or ask a question
Bangladesh newspaper article on Breastfeeding
The New Nation - Internet Edition - Breastfeeding: Component of Good Health for Children: "Allah has ordained us to continue breastfeeding for at least two years after the birth of a baby in Sura Bakara [...] "
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Preference for boy child increased in turmoil years
"...Syeda Afshana said that the preference for the boy child has grown over the last two decades in the turmoil-hit Valley. She said this was because the parents were feeling insecure for a girl child as girls were being used as “war weapons”. During the last 18 years, women in Kashmir have been tortured, killed, raped and subjected to extremes of human sufferings by the warring factions of Kashmir. Experts say that the events like Kunanposhpora, exploitation of girls in sex-scandal and their life as painful victims like thousands of half-widows, makes people think hundred times before praying for a child [...]"
The Challenge of Global Health
more on training in MCH: Games For Health
One of the more interesting topics was the new frontier of training opportunities via the internet. With OLPC, the opportunities are exploding for connectivity in previously unreachable settings from dense slums to rural desert villages. We aren't the only ones who think this can be huge--the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation launched an $8.25m campaign to research just this type of thing! The announcement comes via the Serious Games Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. What a dream job:
Games For Health:
"The Serious Games Initiative founded Games for Health to develop a community and best practices platform for the numerous games being built for health care applications. To date the project has brought together researchers, medical professionals, and game developers to share information about the impact games and game technologies can have on health care and policy."
Monday, November 26, 2007
Training and
I don't know if we'll get to this tomorrow, but it's worth taking a look at. It's an NGO called International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, started by someone who is now a professor at Columbia.
Training and Supervision
This website describes in more detail that I will what the SEED-SCALE model is.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Role of Public Health Improvements in Health Advances: The 20th Century United States
Peanut Butter and Patents - Richard Cash's experience in Bangladesh
Monday, November 19, 2007
New Guidelines for Addressing Mental Health in Emergencies
New Guidelines for Addressing Mental Health in Emergencies New York Launch of Guidelines Important Step Forward
Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/218615/119525842810.htm
It's relevant to what the Alderman's are doing.
War's assault on the mind
- By Paul Salopek |Tribune foreign correspondent
- 8:54 AM CST, November 15, 2007
The barrel — containing 50,000 capsules of fluphenazine hydrochloride, a potent anti-psychotic drug ordered from America—was boosting his patients' appetites. This was not good. Patients at Habeb Public Mental Hospital were scaling the facility's mud walls to scavenge for food outside, in the war-pocked streets of Mogadishu. One had been shot...
For full article see: http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-071115mental-story,1,1673232.story
Politics & Health and Community Participation
Following are some useful links for our presentation tomorrow. Hope you find them useful. Thanks. More to be posted shortly.
http://www.euro.who.int/document/e88137.pdf
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Resources/Ghana-Health-text.pdf
Saturday, November 17, 2007
The Bamako Initiative in Benin and Guinea: Improving the Effectiveness of Primary Health Care
Wiley InterScience: Journal: Abstract: "The objective of the health system revitalization undergone in Benin and Guinea since 1986 is to improve the effectiveness of primary health care at the periphery. Second in a series of five, this article presents the results of an analysis of data from the health centres involved in the Bamako Initiative in Benin and Guinea since 1988. Data for the expanded programme of immunization, antenatal care and curative care, form the core of the analysis which confirms the improved effectiveness of primary health care at the peripheral level over a period of six years. The last available national data show a DPT3 immunization coverage of 80% in 1996 in Benin and 73% in 1995 in Guinea. In the Bamako Initiative health centres included in our analysis, the average immunization coverage, as measured by the adequate coverage indicator, increased from 19% to 58% in Benin and from less than 5% to 63% in Guinea between 1989 to 1993. Average antenatal care coverage has increased from 5% in Benin and 3% in Guinea to 43% in Benin and 51% Guinea. Utilization of coverage with curative care has increased from less than 0.05 visit per capita per year to 0.34 in Guinea and from 0.09 visit per capita per year to 0.24 in Benin. Further analysis attempts to uncover the reasons which underlie the different levels of effectiveness obtained in individual health centres. Monitoring and microplanning through a problem-solving approach permit a dynamic process of adaptation of strategies leading to a step by step increase of coverage over time. However, the geographical location of centres represents a constraint in that certain districts in both countries face accessibility problems. Outreach activities are shown to play an especially positive role in Guinea, in improving both immunization and antenatal care coverage."
Friday, November 16, 2007
Cyclone Sidr Kills 35o in Bangladesh - New York Times
The government's acting secretary for disaster management, Ayub Mian, told reporters at a press conference in Dhaka today that at least 350 people had been killed by Cyclone Sidr, as it is called, while a private television station estimated the death toll to have crossed 500 [...]"
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Safe abortion services virtually non-existent despite 1985 law | Gender Issues Health & Nutrition | News I
"Asantao survived after an emergency operation, but many women do not. Maternal mortality in Ghana stands at about 540 per 100,000, and it is estimated that 22 to 30 percent of those deaths are from unsafe abortion, health experts say..."
(found via Wedia)
Uncovered stories and attention economics
Matt and Emily have discovered that there’s no shortage of undercovered stories to tell, and that journalists are deeply interested in telling these stories [...] "
sociodemographic correlates and barriers of maternal healthcare
feedback for 11/13
• Great class discussion. Too bad more people weren’t present.
• Really enjoyed the broad focus on media especially the focus on blogging. Neda it was great how you tied it all together at the end citing the disjoint between public health and the media. Kudjoe and Dina, I really enjoyed the scope of your presentation from the history of P.C. health to current models and examples. Thank you.
• Bennett: good solid presentation. Stimulating, considerable discussion.
• Abbas and Dowlatshahi: Basic concepts well delineated, perhaps more discussion of obstacles would be warranted; more attention to finance issues – good use of specific examples from different countries.
• Bennett: Must try to define key terms, acronyms more. Great presentation, good class participation. Still not much information on the blog.
• Great speakers! I like the discussion on media images but I feel that the topic on primary health care should be one of the earlier topics.
• Very good class participation was promoted by the presenters. Good class scenario to demonstrate primary health care.
• Well-researched slides. Please share your resources online!
Monday, November 12, 2007
more upcoming events!
Amnesty International recently released a report on sexual violence against native women, "Maze of Injustice." I wanted to alert you to this and invite you and ask you to inform any current or former students and faculty who may be interested in attending. Additionally, if there are faculty who have colleagues who are interested, please pass this along also. Thank you - Matthew Kennis, Amnesty International
Here's a link to the full report: *http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/maze/report.pdf*
You are invited to attend a reception and public program at The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in New York City. The event is being hosted by Rose Styron, Kerry Kennedy and Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA./*
*Where: *Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, One Bowling Green (across from Battery Park in downtown Manhattan)
*When: *Thursday, November 15, 2007, 6 – 8 p.m.
*What: *Learn about Amnesty International’s groundbreaking report: Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA.
*/_Speakers include:_/*
*Georgia Little Shield, Executive Director, Pretty Bird Women House*
*Winona Flying Earth, Sitting Bull College and South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence*
/Hors d'oeuvres and cocktails will be served.
This event is free and open to the public. Guests are Welcome
*/RSVP to Matthew Kennis by Monday, November 12; 212-633-4169 or mkennis@aiusa.org/*
The Global Health Club, Student Physicians for Social Responsibility and
the Einstein Umbrella for Health and Social Justice invite you to attend
Global Health Night on November 29 at 7:00 PM in Robbins Auditorium.
The keynote Speaker is Stephen Lewis, formerly Canadian Ambassador to
the UN and UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Currently, Mr. Lewis
is Co-director of AIDS-Free World, an international AIDS advocacy
organization. He is also a Professor in Global Health at McMaster
University.
In addition to the lecture by Mr. Lewis, there will be presentations by
medical students on their global health projects in Bolivia and Uganda
and a brief talk by the first citizen of the USA to graduate from the
Latin American Medical School in Havana, currently a first year resident
in Primary Care at Montefiore.
announcement from Dr. Brown
Date: Thursday, November 29, 2007
Time: 4 - 6 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
Location: Russ Berrie Science Pavilion, 1st floor
(1150 St. Nicholas Avenue @ 168th Street)
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Ashley Cross at 212-304-7455 or ac2738@columbia.edu.
Background of guest speaker:
Kevin Grumbach, M.D. is professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and chief of Family and Community Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. He is the director of the UCSF Center for California Health Workforce Studies, co-director of the UCSF Center for Excellence in Primary Care, and co-director of the Community Engagement Program for the UCSF Clinical Translational Science Institute. His research on topics such as primary care physician supply and access to care, racial and ethnic diversity in the health professions, and the impact of managed care on physicians have been published in major medical journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA, and cited widely in both health policy forums and the general media. He co-authored the best-selling textbook on health policy, "Understanding Health Policy - A Clinical Approach," and the recent book, "Improving Primary Care - Strategies and Tools for a Better Practice." Dr. Grumbach is co-chair of the UCSF University-Community Partnership Council, and a founding member of the California Physicians' Alliance, the California chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.
This is the second lecture in the 2007-2008 "Discovering the Primary Care Imperative" series, hosted by the Center for Family and Community Medicine. www.columbiacfcm.org
From origins to implications: key aspects in the debate over the digital divide
During one month of protests, military government steps up propaganda, censorship and violence against journalists
considering the role of media in MCH
Here are some resources for further exploring this topic:
The African Information Society Initiative: A Seven-year Assessment
Bienvenue sur Kidal.info: "Le site d'informations sur la région de Kidal"
Internet Computing, IEEE: Internet filtering in China
Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule - Google Books
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Rwanda aims to become Africa's high-tech hub | csmonitor.com
(via My Heart's in Accra)
Thursday, November 8, 2007
EVENT - Expanding Equitable Access to Emergency Obstetric Care
Seminar Series
Presents:
Helen dePinho, MD, MBA
Assistant Professor of Clinical and Population Family Health
Discussing:
"Expanding Equitable Access to Emergency Obstetric Care: The Power and
Potential of Mid-Level Providers and Non-Physician Surgeons"
November 12, 2007
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
60 Haven Avenue, B2 Conference Room
Drinks will be provided. Please bring your own lunch.
EVENT - Expanding Equitable Access to Emergency Obstetric Care
Seminar Series
Presents:
Helen dePinho, MD, MBA
Assistant Professor of Clinical and Population Family Health
Discussing:
"Expanding Equitable Access to Emergency Obstetric Care: The Power and
Potential of Mid-Level Providers and Non-Physician Surgeons"
November 12, 2007
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
60 Haven Avenue, B2 Conference Room
Drinks will be provided. Please bring your own lunch.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Growth Chart controversies
kellymom.com :: Average Growth Patterns of Breastfed Babies: "...Healthy breastfed infants tend to grow more rapidly than formula-fed infants in the first 2-3 months of life and less rapidly from 3 to 12 months. All growth charts available at this time include data from infants who were not exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months (includes formula-fed infants and those starting solids before the recommended 6 months). Because many doctors are not aware of this, they see the baby dropping in percentiles on the growth chart and often come to the faulty conclusion that the baby is not growing adequately. At this point they often recommend that the mother (unnecessarily) supplement with formula or solids, and sometimes recommend that they stop breastfeeding altogether [...]"
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Welcome to Global Voices
Global Voices Online - Health
Bloggers find ways to speak out in Pakistan
Healthy City Project | Advancement Project Los Angeles
feedback for 10/30
• There was a lot of medical stuff in the beginning that are confusing and without background – I was lost. I felt more could have been said on mental health.
• Weird start w/ no students but nice to have conversation with Aldermans.
• Great!
• Speaker #1: good delivery. Over use of statistics. Very broad topic, felt it did not adequately cover definitions. Wish there had been more focus on current issues, solutions & challenges. Speaker #2 did a good job of outlining the challenges. Would have been good to see a more solid connection to MCH.
• Didn’t see articles posted on blog until at least yesterday. Articles should be posted sooner – afternoon (although comment was made during the presentation).
• Good discussion by class.
• Speaker #1: I enjoyed her opinion of the mental health classification, especially her usage of the term “main health”. Excellent delivery.
• Speaker #2: I really enjoyed hearing about your personal experience with issue. Very well done!
• Good coverage that promoted excellent discussion concerned with a very broad set of topics. The Alderman’s added an important dimension to the discussion.
• Speaker #1: Excellent, effective, very broad presentation covering many aspects of the problem – covered much in the short period from medical/psychiatric/public health perspective. Interestingly presented. Good delivery of huge subject areas.
• Speaker #2: Did not led all of presentation but introduction and beginning of presentation – excellent and comprehensive.
• Nice job – both speakers. For both – when using graphs or charts, take a little more time to explain the basics – what they’re showing.
Harvard Public Health Review Winter 2007
Gene 'links breastfeeding to IQ'
Friday, November 2, 2007
Women's Health USA 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
ACE Study - Major Findings - Adverse Childhood Experiences
alcoholism and alcohol abuse
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
depression
fetal death
health-related quality of life
illicit drug use
ischemic heart disease (IHD)
liver disease
risk for intimate partner violence
multiple sexual partners
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
smoking
suicide attempts
unintended pregnancies
In addition, the ACE Study has also demonstrated that the ACE Score has a strong and graded relationship to health-related behaviors and outcomes during childhood and adolescence including early initiation of smoking, sexual activity, and illicit drug use, adolescent pregnancies, and suicide attempts. Finally, as the number of ACE increases the number of co-occurring or “co-morbid” conditions increases."
Monday, October 29, 2007
My heart's in Accra - Stewart Brand and thinking about Megacities
- Security of tenure - they want assurances that they'll own their homes before they improve them
- Location - they want to be near jobs
- Water, sanitation, electricity
- Protection from crime, whether it comes from the police, or from gangs
- Education - it's one of the main reasons to move to cities
They don't care about:
- Housing - they build it themselves
- Phones - everyone's got a mobile phone
- Starvation - people don't starve in cities, while they still do in the countryside
- Medical care - it's available to a much greater extent than it is in rural areas
- Unemployment - Everyone works, though generally in the informal economy: food stalls, internet cafes, mobile phone booths, bars, hairdressers, churches, tailors, copy shops [...]"
Peanut Butter and Patents
Peanut Butter and Patents : "Finally caught up to Anderson Cooper's report about PlumpyNut, which aired on Sixty Minutes a little over a week ago. Besides intimating that Doctors Without Borders had invented PlumpyNut (which it didn't), the 11-minute CBS report completely neglected to mention that PlumpyNut is patented. (Thanks to Josh for sending me the link.) Okay, you say, CBS has produced a feel-good story that doesn't have to be encyclopedic. But given the fact that Cooper says that there's not enough PlumpyNut to go around and ties the shortage to a lack of vision from food aid donors, you would think he might have at least mentioned other challenges, like negotiations over licensing and franchising rights stemming from the patent(s) [...]"
Kenya's Maternal Wards Deliver Abuse With Babies
Sexual Violence in the Congo
Rape Epidemic Raises Trauma of Congo War - NYT
Sunday, October 28, 2007
critical update to our discussion on rotavirus vaccine
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Where is maternal and child health now?
ScienceDirect - The Lancet : Where is maternal and child health now?: "21 years ago, Rosenfield and Maine1, 2 and 3 posed the question "where is the M in MCH?", conceiving the safe motherhood movement. What has happened to maternal and child health (MCH) since? [...] Inadequate focus and funding is certainly one of many reasons for this slow progress. Additionally, progress has been impeded at times by competition, conflicts, and changes of direction in global policy.3 We consider two such competitions—the mother versus the child, and community versus clinical care—and how these become obsolete with a shift to a continuum of care approach.
How did mother versus child become a competition? Despite the name, in the 1980s most MCH programmes focused on the child, with maternal care mainly limited to family planning. The justifiable need for more attention for women contributed to the downplaying of links between maternal and child health to such an extent that the ten action points for safe motherhood in 19973 did not mention the purpose of motherhood—a live, healthy newborn baby. Meanwhile child health programmes focused primarily on infectious diseases, largely ignoring the causes of 4 million neonatal deaths every year.5 The separation of maternal health and child health programmes contributed to inaction for newborn health...'"
Wide Income Gap Linked To Deaths In Both Rich And Poor Nations
Excess Female To Male Births In Canada Linked To Chronic Dioxin Exposure
HIV Is Spread Most By People With Medium Levels Of HIV In Blood, Says Study
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Distribution of nets splits malaria fighters - International Herald Tribune
Recently, Dr. Arata Kochi, the blunt new director of the World Health Organization's malaria program, declared that as far as he was concerned, 'the debate is at an end.' Virtually the only way to get the nets to poor people, he said, is to hand out millions free.
In doing so, Kochi turned his back on an alternative long favored by the Clinton and Bush administrations %u2014 distribution by so-called social marketing, in which mosquito nets are sold through local shops at low, subsidized prices %u2014 $1 or so for an insecticide-impregnated net that costs $5 to $7 from the maker %u2014 with donors underwriting the losses and paying consultants to come up with brand names and advertise the nets [...]"
Monday, October 22, 2007
200 journals join in theme issues on poverty and human development
Sunday, October 21, 2007
The effects of malnutrition on child mortality in developing countries
Jay Keasling and synthesizing the future
Saturday, October 20, 2007
'They thought I was cursed'
BBC NEWS | Special Reports | 'They thought I was cursed': "Obstetric fistula, a hole linking the vagina with the bladder or rectum, occurs when women - often in their early teens - are in labour for days. Campaigners at a global conference on maternal health in London this week, entitled Women Deliver, have emphasised that a simple and cheap operation can cure it [...]"
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Feedback for Female Literacy, Women & Development
• Good participation by the class. Good discussion.
• Great with involving the class in discussion. Good time management. Extra props for being comfortable leading the class alone!
• Excellent presentation of a very broad set of topics; good class interaction and good contributions by class and professors.
• I enjoyed the presentation! She presented it very well. Slides need to have larger words though! Well-done.
• Given that the other presenter didn’t come, I think the presentation was good. It was nice having such extensive class conversation.
• Could have organized the slides a bit better.
• Very good presentation considering that you had to do it alone! I like the informal discussion set-up more than the lecture format in previous classes.
• Nice presentation. Good job getting group discussion going – putting good questions to the group. Nice job presenting on your own! Only suggestion – fewer words per PowerPoint slide.
• Great job! I enjoyed the balance of class involvement.
• “Empowered presentation” Excellent – raised may complex questions and good discussion – very good use of examples – very good relationship to other classes.
Women Deliver
Continuum of care for maternal, newborn, and child health: from slogan to service delivery
The continuum of care has become a rallying call to reduce the yearly toll of half a million maternal deaths, 4 million neonatal deaths, and 6 million child deaths. The continuum for maternal, newborn, and child health usually refers to continuity of individual care. Continuity of care is necessary throughout the lifecycle (adolescence, pregnancy, childbirth, the postnatal period, and childhood) and also between places of caregiving (including households and communities, outpatient and outreach services, and clinical-care settings). We define a population-level or public-health framework based on integrated service delivery throughout the lifecycle, and propose eight packages to promote health for mothers, babies, and children. These packages can be used to deliver more than 190 separate interventions, which would be difficult to scale up one by one. The packages encompass three which are delivered through clinical care (reproductive health, obstetric care, and care of sick newborn babies and children); four through outpatient and outreach services (reproductive health, antenatal care, postnatal care and child health services); and one through integrated family and community care throughout the lifecycle. Mothers and babies are at high risk in the first days after birth, and the lack of a defined postnatal care package is an important gap, which also contributes to discontinuity between maternal and child health programmes. Similarly, because the family and community package tends not to be regarded as part of the health system, few countries have made systematic efforts to scale it up or integrate it with other levels of care. Building the continuum of care for maternal, newborn, and child health with these packages will need effectiveness trials in various settings; policy support for integration; investment to strengthen health systems; and results-based operational management, especially at district level [...]"
Let Men Do Their Bit
NY Times article on new malaria vaccine
New Malaria Vaccine Is Shown to Work in Infants Under 1 Year Old, a Study Finds
The world’s most promising malaria vaccine has been shown to work in infants less than a year old, the most vulnerable group, according to a study being published today.
The study, being published in The Lancet, a British medical journal, was small, comprising only 214 babies in Mozambique, and intended to show only that the vaccine was safe at such young ages. But it also indicated that the risk of catching malaria was reduced by 65 percent after the full course of three shots.
“We’re now a step closer to the realization of a vaccine that can protect African infants,” said Dr. Pedro Alonso, the University of Barcelona professor who leads clinical trials of the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine.
If it passes much larger clinical trials set to start in seven countries next year, and if it is accepted by national regulatory agencies, it could be ready for distribution by 2012, said Dr. W. Ripley Ballou, Glaxo’s vice president for international clinical trials.
In 2004, Dr. Alonso showed for the first time that the vaccine could protect children against infection or death. That study of 2,022 children aged 1 to 4 showed protection from infection about 45 percent of the time.
Such a relatively low level of protection would not be acceptable in a vaccine in the West, but malaria is a leading killer of African children, so even imperfect coverage is a major public health victory.
The vaccine, presently known as RTS,S and tentatively brand-named Mosquirix, is made by fusing a bit of outer protein of the deadly falciparum strain of the malaria parasite with a bit of hepatitis B virus and a chemical booster — the latter two added to provoke a stronger immune reaction.
At least nine malaria vaccine candidates are in development, but Mosquirix is the furthest along. Glaxo has been refining it for 20 years and expects to have spent up to $600 million on it by the time it comes to market. About $100 million has been paid by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.
No decision has been made about the price to be offered to poor countries and international health agencies. But “if a child will benefit, price will not stand in the way,” said Dr. Christian Loucq, director of the vaccine initiative.
The vaccine is given in three injected doses. That is an obstacle in poor countries, which have difficulties immunizing even against polio — done with oral drops requiring no medical skill.
But even one dose has some protective effect, the Lancet study found.
It is unknown how long protection lasts. But because the youngest children are the most vulnerable, Dr. Alonso said, vaccination buys them time to build up natural immunity, which is acquired by surviving multiple mosquito bites.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
NY Times article on Widow-Cleansing
Dr. Brown talked about the practice of widow cleansing in class and I equated it to 'wife-inheritance'; however after doing some reading it seems like widow cleansing and wife-inheritance are separate practices, though both involve having sexual relations with the dead husband's relatives.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Uneven progress in maternal health worldwide but some countries setting good example
Event
The Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health Fall 2007
Seminar Series
Presents:
Nassim Assefi, MD
Physician and Author
Discussing:
"Maternal Mortality in Afghanistan"
Description:
Afghanistan has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality ever
measured: on average one in six-to-nine women die of pregnancy
related causes. This talk will focus on:
- How we measure mortality in a country with no vital statistics,
insecurity, and destroyed infrastructure;
- The causes of maternal mortality in Afghanistan;
- Associated socioeconomic risks; and
- Solutions.
The speaker is a women's health specialist who spent 2004 and 2005
in Afghanistan constructing programs to decrease maternal and child
mortality.
October 15, 2007
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
60 Haven Avenue, B2 Conference Room
Drinks will be provided. Please bring your own lunch.
Action needed on maternal deathsAction needed on maternal deaths
Analysis in The Lancet medical journal shows half a million women die every year - little change from 20 years ago.
And 20 million unsafe abortions - a major factor in maternal deaths and illness - are done annually.
Read the article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7039647.stm
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Vaccine-linked polio hits Nigeria
It says 69 children in the north have caught the paralysing disease from others who had already been immunised.
The WHO says such rare outbreaks have occurred where immunisation campaigns did not reach enough of the population.
In 2003 Islamic leaders brought a temporary halt to the vaccine campaign in the north saying it was a Western conspiracy to sterilise Muslim women.
The WHO says this rare outbreak of vaccine-derived polio demonstrates the need for more vaccination, not less.
But the concern is that the cause of the outbreak could be misinterpreted by people here and reinforce their scepticism of the whole vaccine campaign.
Scare stories
The WHO says the outbreak occurred when some of those who had received the oral polio vaccine excreted a mutated form of the virus which infected those who were not immunised who had not completed the vaccination programme.
It says the outbreak is ongoing but slowing because of the continuing vaccination campaign, and the last reported case was in August.
The WHO says the outbreak occurred because not enough people were receiving the polio vaccine in the first place.
Northern Nigeria still has a low coverage rate for the vaccination campaign, a legacy of a temporary halt to the programme in 2003.
Those scare stories built on existing traditional scepticism of Western medicine.
But more recently the vaccination programme has made some progress.
Polio cases as a whole are down on last year, in part because of a new programme of polio victims accompanying immunisation teams to demonstrate to parents the risks of not having their children vaccinated.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7037462.stm
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Can We Acheive Millenium Development Goal 4?
http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/0140-6736/PIIS0140673607614780.pdf
Who's Making Money From Microcredit? . NOW | PBS
Who's Making Money From Microcredit? . NOW | PBS: "Microcredit has been hailed as a breakthrough in combating global poverty by giving small loans to impoverished people in the hopes of transforming their lives. But one very profitable Mexican lending program is now under intense scrutiny. NOW takes a close look at Compartamos bank, which started as a nonprofit organization lending small sums of money to poor indigenous Mexican women to help them start their own businesses. Today, it's a for-profit bank with more than 600,000 Mexican clients, often paying very high interest rates. Interviewing both grateful loan recipients and vocal critics-like Nobel prize-winning microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus-NOW investigates if Compartamos is truly serving the poor, or exploiting them."
Feedback for Maternal Health, Family Planning, and Safe Birth
• We did great – What else am I supposed to say?
• Good balance of student participation, professor commentary and presenter facilitation.
• Very well planned and thought-out. Good responses with own knowledge to questions and inquiries.
• Awesome presentation!
• Well thought out and presented. C-section discussion strayed towards domestic (developed countries concerns) but overall excellent. Game was fund and involved the class.
• Great presentation.
• Presenter #1: Excellent delivery – defined key concepts, engaged class and I think did a great job of connecting comments made to her slides (throughout). A bit graph heavy, but that said appropriately picked graphs.
• Presenter #2: Good delivery – very us focused when discussing requirements for clinical workers – would have been good to see comparison. Would have liked to hear a bit about the men’s role in family planning. Would have liked to also learn more about ways to incorporate post-natal and pre-natal care options (clinical & not).
• Presenter #1: Excellent overall delivery.
• Presenter #2: Great presentation, excellent delivery; however, too much medical info.
• Great speakers! Funny game too.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Make Every Mother and Child Count
WHO | The World Health Report 2005 - Make Every Mother and Child Count
One useful grouping of stats to keep in mind for tomorrow's class is the top leading causes globally of maternal mortality: "severe bleeding/hemorrhage (25%), infections (13%), eclampsia (12%), obstructed labour (8%), complications of abortion (13%), other direct causes (8%), and indirect causes (20%). Indirect causes such as malaria, anaemia, HIV/AIDS and cardiovascular disease, complicate pregnancy or are aggravated by it."
Distribution of Nets Splits Malaria Fighters
Would be interested to know what folks thought of social marketing vs. free nets...
The Quiet Scandal of 10 Million Deaths
Home Births vs. Hospital Births
BMJ 1999;319:1008 ( 9 October )
Letters
Data on babies' safety during hospital births are being ignored
EDITORZander and Chamberlain state that "no evidence exists to support the claim that a hospital is the safest place for women to have normal births."1 They cite the report Where to be Born, published in 1994 by the National Epidemiology Unit.
In 1997 the Confidential Enquiry into Stillbirths and Deaths in Infancy published a survey of 19 348 deaths in Britain occurring during 1994 and 1995, including 873 deaths due to intrapartum events.2 At that time 98.16% of all deliveries occurred in hospital. The chance of a normal baby dying during labour at term was 1 in 1561. The Royal Colleges of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and of Midwives regard this risk as unacceptably high and are working to reduce it still further.
Data on home deliveries in the United States were published in 1995,3 and data for home deliveries in Australia were published in 1998.4 In the American study (a retrospective review of 11 788 planned home births) the intrapartum and neonatal mortality among women intending to have a home birth at the onset of labour was 1 in 500. In a prospective American study of 1404 home births in 1994-5 the figure was 1 in 400, and the authors regarded this outcome as good.5 In the Australian study, which included 7002 planned home births during 1985-90, the risk of intrapartum fetal death was 1 in 371.
It is disappointing that no similar recent audit of the safety of home delivery in Britain is available. The figures from the United States and Australia are, however, strikingly similar; in the absence of current data from the United Kingdom they indicate that, for a normal birth, hospital delivery is now three to four times safer than home delivery for the baby.
Women should be able to choose between home and hospital delivery. They also have a right to accurate and up to date information.
James Drife
University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9NS j.o.drife@leeds.ac.uk
1. | Zander L, Chamberlain G. ABC of labour care: Place of birth. BMJ 1999; 318: 721-723 |
2. | Confidential Enquiry into Stillbirths and Deaths in Infancy. Fourth annual report: concentrating on intrapartum deaths 1994-95. London: Maternal and Child Health Research Consortium, 1997. |
3. | Anderson RE, Murphy PA. Outcomes of 11,788 planned home births attended by certified nurse-midwives. A retrospective descriptive study. J Nurse Midwifery 1995; 40: 483-492[Medline]. |
4. | Bastian H, Keirse MJNC, Lancaster PL. Perinatal deaths associated with planned home births in Australia: population based study. BMJ 1998; 317: 384-388 |
5. | Murphy PA, Fullerton J. Outcomes of intended home births in nurse-midwifery practice: a prospective descriptive study. Obstet Gynecol 1998; 92: 461-470[Abstract]. |
World Leaders Address Lagging Maternal and Child Health Goals
World Leaders Address Lagging Maternal and Child Health Goals - Feminist Wire Daily Newsbriefs: U.S. and Global News Coverage: "Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg recently unveiled a new World Health Organization (WHO)-led collaboration of governments and organizations designed to improve maternal and child health worldwide. Deliver Now for Women Children aims to spur progress on UN%u2019s Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, which call for a two-thirds reduction in child deaths and a three-quarters reduction in maternal mortality by 2015. Deliver Now was founded in reaction to slow progress on these goals, as well as those of the World Bank's Safe Motherhood Initiative of 1987. More than ten million women and children still die each year due to preventable causes%u2014more than the resulting deaths of AIDS and TB combined, according to the WHO."
Kano Records Low Maternal Mortality Rate in Two Years (Page 1 of 1)
allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Kano Records Low Maternal Mortality Rate in Two Years (Page 1 of 1): "...Dr Sani Jibrin also said within the communities in the state Emergency Loan Funds Scheme had been introduced to assist pregnant women while taken to hospital for delivery of other pregnancy related problems. He said under the programme the communities are motivated to deposit funds so that when ever there is case of pregnant woman needing money for emergency treatment such funds would be used for the purpose [...]"
Home Births in the US
There are many studies looking at the results of home birth versus hospital delivery. When using an intent to treat analysis (as a good study should - if the home baby dies when it gets to the hospital - it should not be placed in the 'hospital delivery' group) the home group always has higher mortality - presumably in the delay of getting care to critically ill mothers and infants.
Below are abstracts from 2 articles from a respected journal - looking at large numbers of patients. As seen below there are a high number of women that are transferred to the hospital - before, during, or after birth. It is also important to note that the 'hospital' group includes all the women with high risk pregnancies, that are known to have worse outcomes (pre-ecalmpsia, women with large babies, preterm labor, breech, Vaginal Birth After Cesarean, etc.).
Outcomes of Planned Home Births in Washington State: 1989–1996
From the Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington School of Medicine; Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, Washington; and Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Address reprint requests to: Jenny Pang, MD, MPH, University of Washington School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Box 357236, Seattle, Washington 98195; E-mail: jwpang@u.washington.edu.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there was a difference between planned home births and planned hospital births in Washington State with regard to certain adverse infant outcomes (neonatal death, low Apgar score, need for ventilator support) and maternal outcomes (prolonged labor, postpartum bleeding).
METHODS: We examined birth registry information from Washington State during 1989–1996 on uncomplicated singleton pregnancies of at least 34 weeks’ gestation that either were delivered at home by a health professional (N = 5854) or were transferred to medical facilities after attempted delivery at home (N = 279). These intended home births were compared with births of singletons planned to be born in hospitals (N = 10,593) during the same years.
RESULTS: Infants of planned home deliveries were at increased risk of neonatal death (adjusted relative risk [RR] 1.99, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06, 3.73), and Apgar score no higher than 3 at 5 minutes (RR 2.31, 95% CI 1.29, 4.16). These same relationships remained when the analysis was restricted to pregnancies of at least 37 weeks’ gestation. Among nulliparous women only, these deliveries also were associated with an increased risk of prolonged labor (RR 1.73, 95% CI 1.28, 2.34) and postpartum bleeding (RR 2.76, 95% CI 1.74, 4.36).
CONCLUSION: This study suggests that planned home births in Washington State during 1989–1996 had greater infant and maternal risks than did hospital births.Outcomes of intended home births in nurse-midwifery practice: a prospective descriptive study
OBJECTIVE: To describe the outcomes of intended home birth in the practices of certified nurse-midwives. METHODS: Twenty-nine US nurse-midwifery practices were recruited for the study in 1994. Women presenting for intended home birth in these practices were enrolled in the study from late 1994 to late 1995. Outcomes for all enrolled women were ascertained. Validity and reliability of submitted data were established. RESULTS: Of 1404 enrolled women intending home births, 6% miscarried, terminated the pregnancy or changed plans. Another 7.4% became ineligible for home birth prior to the onset of labor at term due to the development of perinatal problems and were referred for planned hospital birth. Of those women beginning labor with the intention of delivering at home, 102 (8.3%) were transferred to the hospital during labor. Ten mothers (0.8%) were transferred to the hospital after delivery, and 14 infants (1.1%) were transferred after birth. Overall intrapartal fetal and neonatal mortality for women beginning labor with the intention of delivering at home was 2.5 per 1000. For women actually delivering at home, intrapartal fetal and neonatal mortality was 1.8 per 1000. CONCLUSION: Home birth can be accomplished with good outcomes under the care of qualified practitioners and within a system that facilitates transfer to hospital care when necessary. Intrapartal mortality during intended home birth is concentrated in postdates pregnancies with evidence of meconium passage.
Link to article on reducing maternal and neonatal mortality in developing countries
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/329/7475/1166
Brooklyn midwife's practice thrives as expectant moms seek natural deliveries
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Family Planning: Methods of Contraception
For Tuesday's Presentation we will not go over the methods of contraception in great depth. If you are interested in learning more about the various types, their effectiveness, side effects, advantages and disadvantages, please take a look at the resources provided on these websites:
World Health Organization: Family Planning Resources: Decision-Making Tool for Family Planning Clients and Providers
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/publications/dmt/index.htm
Advocates for Youth: Rights, Respect, Responsibility. Contraceptives: What are your choices?
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/youth/health/contraceptives/
-Temple & Carolyn
Friday, October 5, 2007
Using mobiles to fight pharma fakes
Thursday, October 4, 2007
The Business of Being Born
The Business of Being Born
NYC Midwives - Our History
Later the ACNM organized the country's midwives into regional affiliates and NYC Chapter became known as Region II, Chapter I of the ACNM.NYC, Region II, Chapter has historically been one of the largest and most active chapters in the country. Joining hands in the early 1980's with the other NYS Chapters, NYC Midwives played a key role in the successful passage of the New York State Professional Midwifery Practice Act of 1992. (To read the Midwifery Act go to http://www.nysed.gov)
The chapter's executive board is elected by the membership every two years on a rotating basis. In the year 2000, the 8 New York State Chapter chairs formed a new organization called the New York State Association of Licensed Midwives (NYSALM) to assist with the ever changing political and legislative issues facing midwives in this era of managed health care. (For more information go to http://www.nysalm.org)"
Facebook says breastfeeding is obscene
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Feedback on Immunizations and Infections presenters
• Talabi used tables in small print – very had to grasp. Time management was a problem.
• Not enough time allowed for student speakers.
• The group appeared to not have prepared together. Low energy level of presenters. Fantastic guest speaker involvement.
• General comments: Speaker 2/3: need to talk about what diseases are more than just the symptoms/vaccines. Too much talking during presentations, conflicts with presenters’ ability to get through their information – this applies to all presentations. Maybe fewer slides – more discussion? Articles need to be posted earlier. Speaker #1: good delivery of material – answered questions appropriately.
• Speaker #3: try to maintain eye contact with group, look at PowerPoint less, project voice forward. All: have another member of team handle the PowerPoint slides so that presenter can move away from the computer/podium and make better use of space.
• Speaker #2: Lots of good information but try not to read from the notes.
• Speaker #1: Good eye contact with group, good voice projection, seemed like #1 had a smaller portion of overall presentation.
• All: Very good information (lots of it) but at times there was too much info on slides (charts difficulty to read)
• All: need more student participation; perhaps there were some discussion points built in that were dropped to make room/time for guest speaker and doctor comments.
• Speaker #2: reads entirely from notes – perhaps could engage more with audience/class and be more assertive about time management. Participation from guests/professors, while very interesting, mess up flow of presentation – perhaps better to have a dedicated discussion section?
• I think its difficulty for the presenter with constant discussion. Perhaps discussions should be limited to after completion of sections. Also, I think it is difficulty for the students to participate; perhaps it is the structure through which the discussions materialize.
• Reyes: Delivery required more eye contact. Too many graphs. Would have preferred to go into more details about diseases, etc. Found graphs unnecessary. Good organization of content on PowerPoint.
• Talabi: Presentation of content was confusing. Delivery could have been more interactive.
• Bennett: Good delivery – good explanations. Slides were difficult to read – wish he had summarized all the graphs, etc within PowerPoint.
• Over-use and overdependence on PowerPoint slides. The presenters lost control of their presentation with too many interruptions. Some slides were too small to read.
• Reyes: Soft voice (speak louder but good job on cutting off discussion to move on. Guests provided great information but monopolized presenters’ time!
• Items too small on slides.
• Increase font size on PowerPoint.