Posts Tagged ‘Integration’

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“The Test” – A Demonstration of In-Country Integration

September 17th, 2010

A key platform of President Obama’s Global Health Initiative is integration at the country level.  Wednesday afternoon, the Global Health Council sponsored a screening and lively discussion on a short documentary film entitled, “The Test,” which provided an on-the-ground example of what disease prevention and treatment integration could look like.  The film took place in a rural, underserved community in western Kenya.  Over 40,000 people were tested for HIV and, at the same time, provided with bed nets and water filters (CarePacks) to aid in the prevention of malaria and diarrheal diseases.  Those who tested positive for HIV were immediately provided with counseling (peer support) and linkages to treatment and care services.  The week-long campaign was a public-private partnership with the Kenyan Ministry of Health, the U.S. Center for Disease Control, Vestergaard Frandsen, and CHF International and demonstrated what could happen when in-country health workers partner with the private sector and bilateral donors to achieve national and international health goals, like the MDGs.

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Posted in Africa, Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, poverty, Public Health, U.S Government

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A Holistic Approach to Treating Intestinal Worms in Women and Children

September 16th, 2010

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” –African proverb

By: Kim Koporc, Director, Children Without Worms

Anyone who has ever tried to change the world is familiar with this sentiment. For those of us working in global health, it serves as an inspiring reminder that when faced with a seemingly insurmountable goal, teamwork is ultimately more successful than even the most heroic individual effort.

Policymakers often talk about tackling problems like endemic disease in a holistic way, integrating medical, educational and social resources into a combined effort. The desire for change may be there, but it requires thoughtful collaboration to make it happen. Policy makers can learn from the teachers, health workers, and volunteers, who work directly with the communities and must collaborate to overcome the challenges imposed by scarce resources.

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Posted in Africa, Global Development, Global Health, hookworm, NTDs, poverty, Public Health, Water and Sanitation

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A Creative Model for Vaccine Development

September 3rd, 2010

Reprinted with Permission from Forbes

by: Helen Coster

I’m in Washington, D.C. as part of a fellowship with the International Reporting Project. Next Saturday I head to Bolivia, where I’ll be reporting and writing on public health and a number of different topics.

One advantage of spending time in D.C.—in addition to meeting other IRP fellows and running past the White House— is the opportunity to meet with the world-class scientists and policy makers who work here. Yesterday I met with Dr. Peter Hotez, the president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, a non-profit organization that’s affiliated with George Washington University. The Sabin Institute—named after Dr. Albert Sabin, who developed the polio vaccine— develops vaccines for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), a group of 13 diseases that affect poor people in the developing world. NTDs include diseases like guinea worm, Chagas disease, kala azar and lymphatic filariasis. Together they impact 1.4 billion people, most of whom live on under $1.25 a day. » Read more: A Creative Model for Vaccine Development

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Posted in Africa, Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Public Health, Vaccine Diplomacy

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Recent NTD Control Program Annual Meeting in Rwanda Brings Together Major Global Health Players

July 23rd, 2010
Kigali, Rwanda — The Ministry of Health, in partnership with Columbia University’s Access Project, organized the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) 2010 annual workshop, which was held at Laico Umubano Hotel on July 20, 2010. The objective of the meeting was to share the achievements accomplished by the NTD Control Program since its inception 3 years ago and to discuss the integration of the NTD Control Program strategies into existing initiatives.
The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, launched the workshop by applauding the program’s impressive achievements over the past 3 years.
“We are happy with all the achievements in the fight against intestinal worms and bilharzias in Rwanda, but together with our stakeholders invited to this workshop, we are expecting to come up with strong program implementation strategies and discuss the feasibility of successfully integrating the program into existing initiatives” she said.
The NTD Control Program’s first activity was conducting a national assessment on the five most important NTDs in Rwanda, namely soil transmitted helminths (STHs), schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis and onchocerchiasis.

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Posted in Africa, Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Politics, poverty, Public Health, Water and Sanitation

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