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January 03, 2013
comments [1]

Podcast: Strengthening Cameroon's Health System [2]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]
Lisa Peterson, Deputy Chief of Mission, US Embassy, Yaoundé, Cameroon. {Photo courtesy of US Embassy Yaoundé.} [2]Photo courtesy of US Embassy Yaoundé.

Formally launched in 2012 in Cameroon, the USAID [5]-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services [6] (SIAPS) Program, led by Management Sciences for Health, has been working on strengthening the overall pharmaceutical management system, specifically to ensure the people of Cameroon have access to safe and affordable medicines at the central and peripheral levels.

In a new podcast [7], US Deputy Chief of Mission in Cameroon Lisa Peterson [8] discussed SIAPS’ important work in the country and how it will impact the local population.

"The program will help, I believe, bring people to clinics. It will help definitely ensure that when people get to a clinic, they are able to access medicines and medical supplies that they need," Ms. Peterson said.

Read more [2]
January 03, 2013
comments [9]

Saving Newborns in DRC: Supporting Safer Deliveries through "Helping Babies Breathe" [10]

Fragile States [12]
Health Systems Strengthening [4]
Women & Gender [13]
IRC.} [10]Photo credit: IRC.

Thirteen newborns die every hour in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). So on July 23, when 25-year old Immaculée went into labor with twins at the Monvu Reference Health Center in the Idjwi Health Zone, and her first twin was born without signs of life, the chances of survival were not in his favor.

The odds are stacked against newborns in the DRC: neonatal mortality hovers around 97 deaths for every 1,000 live births, and has done so for years, explaining the acute need for intervention in this area.

Recognizing this need, the USAID [14]-funded DRC-Integrated Health Project [15] (DRC-IHP), in conjunction with the Church of Latter Day Saints and the Ministry of Public Health, organized a “Helping Babies Breathe” training in Kinshasa in April 2012, to build the capacity of health providers who oversee labor and delivery.

Helping Babies Breathe is an evidence-based neonatal resuscitation approach designed for resource-limited areas, which teaches health workers how to handle newborns’ breathing in their first minute of life, a critical period known as the “Golden Minute.”

Read more [10]
January 07, 2013
comments [16]

With Natural Disasters on the Rise, MSH Helps Communities and Governments Protect Health [17]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]

A hurricane superstorm slams the Caribbean and the eastern seaboard of the United States, flooding Manhattan’s subway system, leaving lower Manhattan and Brooklyn without electricity for days and destroying much of Staten Island. The storm kills hundreds of people, destroys thousands of homes, and causes over $65 billion in damage. Prior to October 2012, this scenario read like the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster. But now we know these were the very real effects of hurricane Sandy.

Read more [17]
January 09, 2013
comments [18]

DRC: Increasing Health Center Referrals in Mwene Ditu with Mobile Phones [19]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]
Overseas Strategic Consulting, Ltd.} [19]Photo credit: Overseas Strategic Consulting, Ltd.

Mobile phones are being used increasingly throughout Africa to improve health. The USAID [14]-funded Democratic Republic of Congo-Integrated Health Project [15] (DRC-IHP) is using mobile phone technology to increase the number of people referred to health centers in the project’s 80 targeted health zones. In Mwene Ditu, project staff observed that low numbers of referrals to health centers would be improved by increasing communication—within the community, between the community and health service providers, and among provincial health officials.

Read more [19]
January 15, 2013
comments [21]

World Malaria Report: Are We in Danger of Replicating History? [22]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]
Women & Gender [13]

When I worked in Smallpox eradication in the mid-1970s, I traveled all over northern India and Bangladesh. I never took malaria prophylaxis, because malaria had been cleared from those areas. Likewise, I did not take malaria prophylaxis when I worked in the Brazilian Amazon in the late-1970s. At that time, malaria was found only in gold miners in isolated tributaries of the Amazon. Now, due to our financial inability to continue high levels of malaria eradication activities worldwide in that time period, emergence of both anti-malarial and insecticide resistance, and spread of the mosquito vectors, all of these are heavily malaria endemic areas with a high mortality rate for pregnant women and children.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released the World Malaria Report 2012 [23], summarizing 2011 data from 104 malaria-endemic countries and citing progress and challenges toward the eradication of malaria.

Read more [22]
January 16, 2013
comments [24]

Rebuilding from the 2010 Earthquake: Hope and Resilience in Haiti [25]

Fragile States [12]
Health Systems Strengthening [4]
Women & Gender [13]
C. Gilmartin/MSH.} [25]Photo credit: C. Gilmartin/MSH.

Late one April night in 2012, 19-year-old Ilionelle was struggling to give birth at her home in rural northwest Haiti. After several hours, she began having seizures, a clear indication of eclampsia, a severe medical disorder that can lead to the death of the mother and/or baby.

Ilionelle’s situation is not uncommon in Haiti, which has the highest maternal mortality rate in the Western hemisphere with 630 deaths per 100,000 live births [27]. Fortunately, Tilma, the traditional birth attendant helping Ilionelle, quickly identified these life-threatening symptoms and arranged for her transport to Beraca Hospital for emergency obstetric care. After being carried on a stretcher for four hours along a steep and treacherous road, Ilionelle arrived at Beraca Hospital where she safely delivered a healthy baby boy. “If it wasn’t for Tilma, both my son and I could have died,” Ilionelle said.

Tilma is among thousands of Haitians working to improve their nation’s health after recent years of misfortune.

Read more [25]
January 18, 2013
comments [28]

Photo Gallery: Global Maternal Health Conference 2013 [29]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]
US Global Health Policy [30]
Women & Gender [13]
MSH.} [29]Photo credit: MSH.

Management Sciences for Health (MSH) staff presenting at the Global Maternal Health Conference [31] in Arusha, Tanzania, January 15-17, 2013. (Photo credits: C. Lander & J. Briggs / MSH)

Read more [29]
January 18, 2013
comments [32]

Video: USAID Administrator Shah Addresses African Leaders on Child Survival [33]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Y7y-EfIHM&feature=youtu.be [35]

USAID [36] Administrator Rajiv Shah welcomes attendees to the African Leadership on Child Survival meeting in Ethiopia via this video.

Related

 

Read more [33]
January 18, 2013
comments [40]

Care and Support Program Helps an HIV-Positive Athlete Regain Strength and Self-Esteem [41]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]
HIV & AIDS [43]
Women & Gender [13]
V. Hinds/MSH.} [41]Photo credit: V. Hinds/MSH.

Shelly has always been very athletic. She competed in both her high school track events and in community races in her hometown of Essequibo, Guyana. In 2010, she was ecstatic after winning a cash prize for placing first in an annual regional championship. However, her life took a turn one year later.

Shelly became pregnant and, during an antenatal care appointment, tested positive for HIV. The news devastated her, as she believed that an HIV diagnosis meant her athletic career was over. Shelly was unaware of how to remain healthy while living with HIV, and so she soon became ill, weak, and lost a significant amount of weight. To add to this, she was unemployed and lacked the means to provide for her newborn son.

Read more [41]
January 22, 2013
comments [44]

Global Maternal Health Conference: Improving Access to, and Quality of, Maternal Health Medicines and Care [45]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]
US Global Health Policy [30]
Women & Gender [13]
C. Lander / MSH.} [45]Photo credit: C. Lander / MSH.

Cross-posted from the SIAPS website [46].

“Respectful maternal care was said to be more than just a means to an end, and can be framed as several issues: human rights, quality of care, equity and public health,” Jocalyn Clark [47], senior editor of PLoS Medicine, noted about the final day of the 2013 Global Maternal Health Conference [48] (GMHC).

The conference brought together scientists, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to share knowledge, ideas, innovations, research, programs and policies on maternal health quality and access, among several other topics. Participants also worked on building progress towards reducing and eliminating preventable maternal mortality and morbidity.

Quality of maternal care was a consistent theme throughout the conference.

Read more [45]
Source URL: https://www.msh.org/blog/archive/201301

Links
[1] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/03/podcast-strengthening-cameroons-health-system#comments
[2] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/03/podcast-strengthening-cameroons-health-system
[3] https://www.msh.org/users/marie-reine-maroun
[4] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/health-systems-strengthening
[5] http://www.usaid.gov
[6] http://www.msh.org/our-work/projects/systems-for-improved-access-to-pharmaceuticals-and-services-program
[7] http://stream.state.gov/streamvol/libmedia/cameroon/8568/Podcast/siapshealthsystem.mp3
[8] http://yaounde.usembassy.gov/siaps.html#.UKUYKI8pelc.email
[9] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/03/saving-newborns-in-drc-supporting-safer-deliveries-through-helping-babies-breathe#comments
[10] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/03/saving-newborns-in-drc-supporting-safer-deliveries-through-helping-babies-breathe
[11] https://www.msh.org/users/mmeta-mstone
[12] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/fragile-states
[13] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/women-gender
[14] http://usaid.gov
[15] http://www.msh.org/global-presence/integrated-health-program.cfm
[16] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/07/with-natural-disasters-on-the-rise-msh-helps-communities-and-governments-protect#comments
[17] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/07/with-natural-disasters-on-the-rise-msh-helps-communities-and-governments-protect
[18] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/09/drc-increasing-health-center-referrals-in-mwene-ditu-with-mobile-phones#comments
[19] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/09/drc-increasing-health-center-referrals-in-mwene-ditu-with-mobile-phones
[20] https://www.msh.org/users/jean-baptiste-mputu
[21] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/15/world-malaria-report-are-we-in-danger-of-replicating-history#comments
[22] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/15/world-malaria-report-are-we-in-danger-of-replicating-history
[23] http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/world_malaria_report_2012/en/index.html
[24] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/16/rebuilding-from-the-2010-earthquake-hope-and-resilience-in-haiti#comments
[25] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/16/rebuilding-from-the-2010-earthquake-hope-and-resilience-in-haiti
[26] https://www.msh.org/users/colin-gilmartin
[27] http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti_statistics.html#93
[28] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/18/photo-gallery-global-maternal-health-conference-2013#comments
[29] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/18/photo-gallery-global-maternal-health-conference-2013
[30] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/us-global-health-policy
[31] http://maternalhealthtaskforce.org/conference
[32] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/18/video-usaid-administrator-shah-addresses-african-leaders-on-child-survival#comments
[33] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/18/video-usaid-administrator-shah-addresses-african-leaders-on-child-survival
[34] https://www.msh.org/users/management-sciences-for-health
[35] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Y7y-EfIHM&feature=youtu.be
[36] http://www.usaid.gov/
[37] http://blog.usaid.gov/2013/01/ethiopia-hosts-african-leaders-to-accelerate-gains-in-child-survival/
[38] http://www.unicef.org/media/media_67165.html
[39] http://blog.msh.org/2012/06/21/10-steps-towards-child-survival/
[40] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/18/care-and-support-program-helps-an-hiv-positive-athlete-regain-strength-and-self#comments
[41] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/18/care-and-support-program-helps-an-hiv-positive-athlete-regain-strength-and-self
[42] https://www.msh.org/users/shameza-david
[43] https://www.msh.org/blog-categories/hiv-aids
[44] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/22/global-maternal-health-conference-improving-access-to-and-quality-of-maternal-health#comments
[45] https://www.msh.org/blog/2013/01/22/global-maternal-health-conference-improving-access-to-and-quality-of-maternal-health
[46] http://siapsprogram.org/2013/01/18/access-to-and-quality-of-maternal-health-medicines-and-care/
[47] http://blogs.plos.org/speakingofmedicine/2013/01/17/do-human-rights-have-a-place-in-maternal-health-day-3-of-global-maternal-health-conference-2013/
[48] http://maternalhealthtaskforce.org/conference/conference