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July 02, 2012
comments [1]

Ramuta: From Sex Worker to Food Seller in Sierra Leone [2]

Fragile States [4]
HIV & AIDS [5]
Women & Gender [6]
ACEPT staff/MSH.} [2]Photo credit: ACEPT staff/MSH.

Ramatu Fullah is a 27-year-old woman in the Pujehun district of Sierra Leone.  She comes from a poor family and, for years, had to earn her living as a sex worker to take care of her two children. Recently, Ramatu learned skills that enabled her to change her trade through an awareness-raising campaign supported by the USAID [7] West Africa Regional Health Office's Action for West Africa Region II [8] (AWARE II) project, managed by Management Sciences for Health [9] (MSH). Today, Ramatu sells acheke, a local delicacy, on the streets of Sierra Leone.

Women and HIV & AIDS in Sierra Leone

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July 03, 2012
comments [10]

Capacity Development Training and Support Helps Nigerian NGO Earn New Projects [11]

Health Systems Strengthening [13]
MSH.} [11]Photo credit: MSH.

Securing funds from donors and partners can be challenging for Nigerian non-governmental organizations (NGOs), given the nation’s large pool of competing organizations. In order to earn funds, NGOs must have strong proposal writing skills, the ability to defend their proposals, and efficient operational capacity.

The Global Health Awareness Research Foundation [14] (GHARF) is a community-based organization operating in Enugu state in southeastern Nigeria. GHARF recently participated in a three-day proposal writing workshop, facilitated by the USAID [15]-funded Community Based Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CUBS) project [16], led by Management Sciences for Health [17] (MSH).

CUBS also conducted a series of training and systems-strengthening exercises with GHARF and MSH provided follow-up technical assistance to build the organization's capacity and improve its status within Nigeria’s large pool of NGOs.

Read more [11]
July 05, 2012
comments [18]

"HIV is Never the End," Says HIV-Positive Nigerian Woman [19]

Health Systems Strengthening [13]
HIV & AIDS [5]
Universal Health Coverage [21]
Women & Gender [6]
MSH, Nigeria.} [19]Photo credit: MSH, Nigeria.

Rabi gives a public awareness lecture on HIV. (Photo credit: MSH, Nigeria)

Forty-year old Rabi Suleiman lives in Koko Besse area in Kebbi state, Nigeria. She is married without children. Rabi, who now lives with her third husband, recalls that her ordeal with illness and social ostracism began in 2009. Rabi’s three marriages were the result of her inability to conceive, and a continuous search for a partner with whom she could successfully bear children. In the course of her marriages she contracted HIV.

Weakened by continuous infections and emaciated beyond recognition, Rabi recalls that she was abandoned, equated to animal status and locked up in a hut meant for cattle in her family home. Her meals were pushed to her through a door opening by relations who refused to look her in the face.

Today, Rabi has a new story to tell. With the assistance of the Prevention Organizational Systems AIDS Care and Treatment [22] (ProACT) project outreach team, Rabi was enrolled with the USAID [7]-supported ProACT antiretroviral therapy (ART) program in the General Hospital, Koko, late in 2009.

Read more [19]
July 10, 2012
comments [23]

Anna, a Nurse in Eastern Uganda [24]

Health Systems Strengthening [13]
HIV & AIDS [5]
Women & Gender [6]
M. Hartley/MSH.} [24]Photo credit: M. Hartley/MSH.

“I knew I wanted to be a nurse since I was 10. A woman used to come home to my village in her nurse uniform on the weekends and she was so smart and nice. It was my goal,” said Anna.

Anna finished nursing school and her formal training in 1998 and started working in 1999. In 2000, she began working at Kaginima Hospital in eastern Uganda, where she still works today.

Kaginima Hospital is an expanding facility and uniquely has a lot of space for patients and services. The facility has a surgical theater with two beds and is well stocked with medical supplies. As a private, nonprofit hospital, Kaginima does not receive any support from the Ugandan government. The hospital relies on support from USAID [7], international organizations, faith-based organizations, and local nongovernmental organizations. They also charge nominal fees for the services directly to patients.

Read more [24]
July 11, 2012
comments [26]

Rights, Choice, Equity: World Population Day and The London Summit on Family Planning [27]

Health Systems Strengthening [13]
HIV & AIDS [5]
Women & Gender [6]
MSH/Democratic Republic of the Congo.} [27]Photo credit: MSH/Democratic Republic of the Congo.

On this historic World Population Day --- the first with the world’s population at seven billion and growing --- we call your attention to a crucial summit in London happening today, and to the ongoing importance of supporting access to family planning and sexual and reproductive health.

The London Summit

Over one hundred high-level decision-makers are convening at The London Summit on Family Planning [28] in hopes of securing a better future for women and girls globally. Hosted by the UK government [29] and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [30], with UNFPA [31] and others, the summit seeks to provide an additional 120 million women in resource-poor countries with lifesaving contraceptives, information and family planning services by 2020.

Read more [27]
July 12, 2012
comments [32]

Guyana HIV Prevention Program Helps a Troubled Youth [33]

HIV & AIDS [5]
Women & Gender [6]

Karla came from a troubled home where there was domestic violence, drug use, and general turbulence. She was repeatedly sexually abused by a relative in her home.

In 2008, Karla participated in the In School Youth (ISY) HIV prevention program at her secondary school in Region 4, Guyana.

Agape Network Incorporated, a USAID [7]-funded, faith-based organization, leads the ISY program. Agape receives technical assistance from USAID's Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction and Prevention Program, Phase II [35] (GHARP II), led by Management Sciences for Health [17] with Howard Delafield International [36] and AIDS Healthcare Foundation [37],

Read more [33]
July 16, 2012
comments [38]

Expert HIV Clients Help Reach Their Ugandan Communities [39]

Health Systems Strengthening [13]
HIV & AIDS [5]
M. Hartley/MSH.} [39]Photo credit: M. Hartley/MSH.

I visited Masafu Hospital in eastern Uganda on a busy Tuesday morning. Tuesdays are antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinic days at this Ugandan facility. Patients come on their designated date for a checkup and to pick up their prescription refill. (Clients get a one month supply of medicines; ideally health workers see the HIV-positive clients once a month to check their health status.)

Three volunteer expert clients --- Jessica, David, and Matuet --- assist the trained health workers on clinic and non-clinic days.

On ART-clinic days, Jessica, David and Matuet organize files, greet patients, inform patients about side effects, educate on prevention methods, support CD4 collection, and communicate with relatives. On non-clinic days, the expert clients reach out to the communities to reduce stigma, inform people about the services available at health centers, and encourage others to know their status.

David explains that he chose to become an expert client because, “I have the challenge too; I want to help others understand HIV better.”

Matuet said, “Other community members don’t want to know their status. I had to stand up.”

Read more [39]
July 17, 2012
comments [40]

World Health Statistics 2012: Story of Progress, Ongoing Need [41]

Chronic Diseases [42]
Health Systems Strengthening [13]
Universal Health Coverage [21]
S.Holtz/Peace Corps.} [41]Photo credit: S.Holtz/Peace Corps.

The World Health Statistics 2012 [43] report released this year reveals a mixed bag of amazing progress and underachievement.

The report --- the World Health Organization [44]'s (WHO) annual compilation of health-related data for its 194 Member States --- includes a summary of the progress made towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals [45] (MDGs) and associated targets.

Countries have achieved amazing success in some areas and little or no progress in others. Here are some highlights:

Read more [41]
July 17, 2012
comments [46]

AIDS 2012: Join MSH at Satellite Events, Booth 162 [47]

Health Systems Strengthening [13]
HIV & AIDS [5]
MSH.} [47]Photo credit: MSH.

Over 40 Management Sciences for Health (MSH) staff from around the world will join the twenty thousand health workers, activists, researchers, donors, and policy makers at the XIX International AIDS Conference [48], "Turning the Tide Together". Visit us at the following events, poster and oral presentations [49], Booth [50], or online.

Read more [47]
July 19, 2012
comments [51]

USAID Twitter #AIDSChat today, MSH on PMTCT at 2 pm [52]

HIV & AIDS [5]
AIDSChat 2012 [52]AIDSChat 2012

USAID [53] and partners are hosting [54] a Twitter chat in preparation for the 19th International AIDS Conference [53]. The [55] began at 10 am EDT and continues throughout the day.

Management Sciences for Health [17] (MSH) will be co-hosting from 2:00 - 2:30 pm on the topic of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV with Scott Kellerman, MD, MPH, tweeting from [56] [57].

Read more [52]
Source URL: https://www.msh.org/blog/archive/201207

Links
[1] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/02/ramuta-from-sex-worker-to-food-seller-in-sierra-leone#comments
[2] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/02/ramuta-from-sex-worker-to-food-seller-in-sierra-leone
[3] https://www.msh.org/users/nsantuah
[4] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/fragile-states
[5] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/hiv-aids
[6] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/women-gender
[7] http://usaid.gov
[8] http://www.msh.org/global-presence/sub-saharan-africa/action-in-the-west-africa-region-ii.cfm
[9] http://www.msh.org
[10] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/03/capacity-development-training-and-support-helps-nigerian-ngo-earn-new-projects#comments
[11] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/03/capacity-development-training-and-support-helps-nigerian-ngo-earn-new-projects
[12] https://www.msh.org/users/cubs-staff
[13] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/health-systems-strengthening
[14] http://www.gharf-nigeria.org/
[15] http://usaid.gov/
[16] http://www.msh.org/global-presence/cubs-nigeria.cfm
[17] http://www.msh.org/
[18] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/05/hiv-is-never-the-end-says-hiv-positive-nigerian-woman#comments
[19] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/05/hiv-is-never-the-end-says-hiv-positive-nigerian-woman
[20] https://www.msh.org/users/fodunze
[21] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/universal-health-coverage
[22] http://www.msh.org/global-presence/proact.cfm
[23] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/10/anna-a-nurse-in-eastern-uganda#comments
[24] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/10/anna-a-nurse-in-eastern-uganda
[25] https://www.msh.org/users/margaret-hartley
[26] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/11/rights-choice-equity-world-population-day-and-the-london-summit-on-family-planning#comments
[27] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/11/rights-choice-equity-world-population-day-and-the-london-summit-on-family-planning
[28] http://www.londonfamilyplanningsummit.co.uk/index.php
[29] http://www.dfid.gov.uk/
[30] http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx
[31] http://www.unfpa.org/public/
[32] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/12/guyana-hiv-prevention-program-helps-a-troubled-youth#comments
[33] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/12/guyana-hiv-prevention-program-helps-a-troubled-youth
[34] https://www.msh.org/users/mpersaud
[35] http://www.msh.org/global-presence/latin-america-and-the-caribbean/guyana-gharp-ii.cfm
[36] http://www.howard-delafield.com
[37] http://www.aidshealth.org/
[38] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/16/expert-hiv-clients-help-reach-their-ugandan-communities#comments
[39] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/16/expert-hiv-clients-help-reach-their-ugandan-communities
[40] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/17/world-health-statistics-2012-story-of-progress-ongoing-need#comments
[41] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/17/world-health-statistics-2012-story-of-progress-ongoing-need
[42] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/chronic-diseases
[43] http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2012/en/
[44] http://www.who.int/en/
[45] http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
[46] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/17/aids-2012-join-msh-at-satellite-events-booth-162#comments
[47] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/17/aids-2012-join-msh-at-satellite-events-booth-162
[48] http://www.aids2012.org/
[49] http://conferences.msh.org/aids2012/presentations/
[50] https://twitter.com//search?q=%23162
[51] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/19/usaid-twitter-aidschat-today-msh-on-pmtct-at-2-pm#comments
[52] https://www.msh.org/blog/2012/07/19/usaid-twitter-aidschat-today-msh-on-pmtct-at-2-pm
[53] http://transition.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/aids2012/
[54] http://transition.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/aids2012/assets/images/aids_chat.pdf
[55] https://twitter.com//search?q=%23AIDSChat
[56] https://twitter.com/MSHHealthImpact
[57] http://twitter.com/MSHHealthImpact