For nearly 30 years, the first day of December has offered an opportunity to unite in the fight against HIV/AIDS and highlight how far we have come. Despite all the advances, girls and young women are still being left behind. That is unacceptable and must change.
Getting women into medical care when they are only a few months pregnant is a top priority of public health officials, because simple interventions often save the lives of both mother and child.
For decades, global health has been a core part of American foreign policy. Through supporting the well-being of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations, it is clear that America embraces generosity through its role as an international superpower. However, these acts should not be solely regarded as magnanimous or altruistic. Grappling with the health of global populations has crucial benefits for American interests.
The official start of the Bachelor in Midwifery program in Nepal is an important milestone towards improving maternal and newborn health in the country, said the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
For more than a year we have been analyzing the issue of childhood nutrition (along with a large number of other topics that go into the post-2015 discussion). Nutrition is obviously one of the most critical issues for development. Both children and adults need a good quality diet, but, like others in this field, we have come to believe that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life – from conception to age two – are vital for proper development.
The mental health of pregnant women can be affected by a range of factors, including partner violence and unemployment. But one of the key drivers that adversely affect a pregnant woman's mental health is food insecurity. Being food insecure is when someone doesn't have food or has the wrong kinds of food.
In late February, when the Trump administration was poised to unveil a budget of deep cuts to the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development, a group of retired U.S. generals and admirals put pen to paper in defense of foreign assistance. “Now is not the time to retreat,” the letter to the U.S. Congress, signed by over 120 military leaders, concluded.
A decade and a half ago, we came together to bridge the political divide and address one of history’s worst public health crises. In 2002, 3.1 million people worldwide died of AIDS-related causes and 11 million children in sub-Saharan Africa had lost one or more parents to the disease. The AIDS epidemic was only getting worse; immediate action was necessary.
I am not in the “ignore President Trump’s tweets because they are a distraction from important things” camp. His most recent micro-harangues — accusing (without evidence) a news executive of wrongdoing, hinting that a television host may have been involved in murder and embracing the debunked anti-Muslim rantings of Britain’s alt-right — indicate some type of degeneration. The president seems to be in a downward spiral of anger, compulsion, conspiracy theorizing and prejudice that is alternately offensive and frightening.
The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is one of the most successful humanitarian relief efforts ever undertaken. It is directed at one of the world's most daunting public health problems.