March 2011

March 01, 2011

Saving Children’s Lives by Recognizing and Treating Pneumonia in Afghanistan [2]

Afghanistan’s mountain ranges are beautiful to the eye. Rugged peaks and ridges are separated by valleys, carved out over the centuries by streams and rivers supporting the green web of vegetation along their banks.

But many of the small villages that cling to the walls of these valleys are often cut off for months by heavy snow or the floods that follow the spring melt. The cold wet climate, together with smoke from household stoves, increases the risk of pneumonia, particularly among babies and children. One in five deaths of young Afghan children is caused by pneumonia, an infection easily treated with antibiotics if diagnosed early enough.

The Senate Should Restore Funding for Critical Development Programs [5]

Management Sciences for Health [6]

US Global Health Policy [7]

Last week, the House of Representatives cut the international affairs budget by 20% of the FY 2010 levels. While these are tough times, these cuts are disappointing given investments made in international affairs account for only 1 percent of the overall US Government budget. More plainly, these cuts affect the poorest and most vulnerable people around the globe.

A recent poll [8] conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org/Knowledge Networks showed that most Americans support foreign assistance levels up to 10% of the budget.

Furthermore, such small cuts in spending will not solve the deficit problem. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has argued that investments made in development and diplomacy can help deter future needs for resources for defense and that America’s national security depends on the civilian diplomats and aid workers who also risk their lives every day to support our overseas interests.

The Power to Create Change: Lessons from a Nurse in Upper Egypt [10]

Simi Grewal [11]

Fragile States [3]

Simi Grewal is the Program Coordinator for Health Systems Strengthening and Results Management at MSH. She worked as a fellow in Egypt from January 16-February 5.

MSH Celebrates International Women's Day 2011 [13]

Management Sciences for Health [6]

Women & Gender [14]

For 40 years, MSH has promoted equal access to health care for women by strengthening health systems and building the capacity of women as leaders and managers, technical experts, clinicians, and community health workers. Management Sciences for Health celebrates International Women's Day, March 8, 2011. Meet the women who inspire us.

A Woman's Health is Her Primary Wealth [16]

Health Systems Strengthening [17]

HIV & AIDS [18]

Women & Gender [14]

One hundred years ago on March 8, a handful of countries celebrated the first International Women’s Day [19]. Today it is celebrated around the world as an opportunity to look back on women’s accomplishments and look forward to the realization of their full economic, political, and social rights. The United Nations theme for International Women’s Day 2011 [20] is centered on women’s access to education, technology, and decent work.

For 40 years, MSH has promoted equal access to health care for women by strengthening health systems and building the capacity of women as leaders and managers, technical experts, clinicians, and community health workers. We interviewed Dr. Belkis Giorgis, our NGO Capacity Building/Gender Advisor in Ethiopia about women and development.

Why is International Women’s Day important?

A Conversation in Afghanistan: Perspectives on International Women’s Day [22]

Lutfullah Ehsaas (Ehsaas ) [23]

Women & Gender [14]

Dr. Karima, General Directorate of Pharmaceutical Affairs, Ministry of Public Health, speaks at the opening ceremony of the Drug and Therapeutics Committee training course for provincial hospitals

Empowering Women for Better Health Outcomes in Ethiopia [25]

F Tadesse [26]

HIV & AIDS [18]

Aberu Hailu is a 31 year old, mother of four living in Hidmo, Ethiopia a rural community 8 kilometers south east of Adigodum town in Tigray. Two years ago, she visited the Adigodum Health Center to be tested for HIV, a disease she had learned about through community health education. She discovered she was HIV-positive and informed her husband that he should be tested, but he refused.

Two months later, Aberu became pregnant and found herself in despair. She thought she would pass the virus on to her baby and she feared the stigma and discrimination she knew often came with a positive HIV status.

Aberu returned to the Adigodum Health Center and the HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program (HCSP) [27], a USAID-funded MSH-led health project, for help. Aberu learned that her baby could be protected from the virus with prevention of mother to child transmission services.

Enhancing Access and Improving Use of Essential Medicines Worldwide [29]

Jonathan D. Quick, MD, MPH [30]

Health Systems Strengthening [17]

HIV & AIDS [18]

Every day people are dying in the developing world because they cannot access affordable, quality medicines. Modern pharmaceuticals have revolutionized health care, but weak health systems prevent many people from accessing basic life-saving medicines. The health of men, women, and children can be dramatically improved throughout the world by enhancing access to and improving the use of essential medicines and other health care technologies.

Gaps in the management and availability of essential medicines and health commodities have been a constant weakness for developing countries. These gaps hamper the ability to access and distribute the pharmaceutical and medical supplies needed to treat infectious diseases. We have seen particular success in addressing pharmaceutical management challenges when interventions include: increasing access to products and services, improving the use of those products and services, promoting rational pharmaceutical use, developing public-private partnerships, providing thorough assessments and trainings, and improving procurement processes.

Health Information, or Lack Thereof in Haiti [32]

Kate Wright [33]

Fragile States [3]

Health Systems Strengthening [17]

I recently visited Haiti and had the opportunity to meet with some local Haitian non-governmental organizations supported by MSH’s Santé pour le Développement et la Stabilité d’Haíïti (SDSH) [34] project, as well as the central Ministry of Health, and departmental Ministry of Health offices. I was searching for information in an effort to learn more about how Performance-Based Financing (PBF) [35] has affected service delivery in Haiti. The SDSH-supported facilities produce monthly service utilization reports that capture the important information, but I’ve been working to obtain comparable information on other facilities. My first thought was the Health Information System (HIS) Unit at the Ministry of Health (MoH).

In Southern Sudan, the Forgotten Are Remembered [37]

Erin Polich [38]

Fragile States [3]

Tukuls in the process of construction which will house midwives and PHCC staff, as viewed from Muni PHCC, (Muni Payam, Terekeka County, Southern Sudan)

Terekeka, a growing county and town just 60 miles north of Juba, translates as “The Forgotten” in the local dialect. Just five years ago, this area was awash in violence, poised close to the frontlines of a civil war which resulted in the death and displacement of millions. Villagers and returnees began repopulating the area after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, which heavily increased demand for health services. Today, Terekeka is heavily populated by southern returnees seeking refuge, land, and jobs, as well as internally displaced persons escaping nearby tribal violence.

Read more [37]

Links
[1] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/01/saving-children%E2%80%99s-lives-by-recognizing-and-treating-pneumonia-in-afghanistan#comments
[2] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/01/saving-children%E2%80%99s-lives-by-recognizing-and-treating-pneumonia-in-afghanistan
[3] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/fragile-states
[4] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/01/the-senate-should-restore-funding-for-critical-development-programs#comments
[5] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/01/the-senate-should-restore-funding-for-critical-development-programs
[6] https://www.msh.org/users/management-sciences-for-health
[7] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/us-global-health-policy
[8] http://www.usglc.org/2010/12/03/americans-vastly-overestimate-u-s-foreign-assistance/
[9] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/03/the-power-to-create-change-lessons-from-a-nurse-in-upper-egypt#comments
[10] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/03/the-power-to-create-change-lessons-from-a-nurse-in-upper-egypt
[11] https://www.msh.org/users/simi-grewal
[12] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/07/msh-celebrates-international-womens-day-2011#comments
[13] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/07/msh-celebrates-international-womens-day-2011
[14] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/women-gender
[15] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/07/a-womans-health-is-her-primary-wealth#comments
[16] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/07/a-womans-health-is-her-primary-wealth
[17] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/health-systems-strengthening
[18] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/hiv-aids
[19] http://www.internationalwomensday.com/
[20] http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/iwd/
[21] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/09/a-conversation-in-afghanistan-perspectives-on-international-women%E2%80%99s-day#comments
[22] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/09/a-conversation-in-afghanistan-perspectives-on-international-women%E2%80%99s-day
[23] https://www.msh.org/users/lutfullah-ehsaas-ehsaas
[24] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/10/empowering-women-for-better-health-outcomes-in-ethiopia#comments
[25] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/10/empowering-women-for-better-health-outcomes-in-ethiopia
[26] https://www.msh.org/users/ftadesse
[27] http://www.msh.org/global-presence/hiv-aids-care-and-support-program.cfm
[28] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/11/enhancing-access-and-improving-use-of-essential-medicines-worldwide#comments
[29] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/11/enhancing-access-and-improving-use-of-essential-medicines-worldwide
[30] https://www.msh.org/users/jonathan-d-quick-md-mph
[31] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/14/health-information-or-lack-thereof-in-haiti#comments
[32] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/14/health-information-or-lack-thereof-in-haiti
[33] https://www.msh.org/users/kate-wright
[34] http://www.msh.org/global-presence/haiti-sdsh.cfm
[35] http://www.msh.org/expertise/healthcare-financing/performance-based-financing.cfm
[36] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/17/in-southern-sudan-the-forgotten-are-remembered#comments
[37] https://www.msh.org/blog/2011/03/17/in-southern-sudan-the-forgotten-are-remembered
[38] https://www.msh.org/users/erin-polich