Maternal Health News and Research

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Opinions: Clean water; oversight of U.N. bookkeeping; Obama's global health goals; maternal mortality

"Long before the earthquake, Haiti was mired in a crisis that only a few experts noticed - a severe lack of clean drinking water," writes Joseph Treaster, editor of the University of Miami's Internet magazine on global water issues and the environment, in a Miami Herald opinion piece that examines the interconnectedness between water and health problems in Haiti, as well as other countries around the world.

29 Jan 2010

Also in global health news: Pakistan's farm land; PMTCT in Kenya; Burkina Faso's maternal health; health care access in Middle East

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Tuesday the country plans to sell farmland to foreign investors despite warnings by the U.N. that doing so could compromise farmers' rights, Reuters reports.

28 Jan 2010

Clinton rebuffs criticism of U.S. aid to Haiti, pledges redoubling of efforts to help quake survivors

"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she resents criticism of the U.S. effort to help stricken Haiti and pledged to redouble efforts to help survivors of the Jan. 12 earthquake," the Associated Press/CBSNews.com reports. "I deeply resent those who attack our country, the generosity of our people and the leadership of our president in trying to respond to historically disastrous conditions after the earthquake," she said.

27 Jan 2010

WHO Director-General highlights global health gains, challenges at executive board meeting

During the WHO's recent executive board meeting, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan reflected on public health gains over the past decade and the challenges that lie ahead, Nigeria's Guardian reports. Chan commended the international community's response to H1N1 and global efforts to reduce child mortality, fight malaria and tuberculosis.

27 Jan 2010

Progress on MDG targets is 'key priority' in 2010 for U.N. Secretary-General

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called 2010 "the year of development" and said "he would make the drive to achieve" the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 "one of his key priorities this year," Agence France-Presse/My Sinchew reports.

13 Jan 2010

Obama administration supports Cairo conference goals, Clinton says

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday "reiterated the Obama administration's support" for universal access to family planning, improving maternal health care and other goals outlined at the 1995 International Conference on Population and Development Action Plan held in Cairo, Egypt, All Headline News reports.

12 Jan 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet Comment examines the "grossly insufficient" progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing under-5 child mortality. "Accelerated progress can be achieved, even in the poorest environments, through: integrated, evidence-driven, and community-based programmes that focus on addressing the major causes of death, including pneumonia, diarrhoea, newborn disorders, malaria, HIV, and undernutrition; reaching the unreached with a basic package of interventions at large scale and achieving coverage with equity; and using data for action and advocacy," the comment concludes (You et al., 1/9).

9 Jan 2010

VOA News examines obstetric fistula in Africa

VOA News examines obstetric fistula in Africa and looks at health officials' efforts to prevent and treat the condition.

24 Dec 2009

New WHO report shows considerable progress in malaria

According to the World Health organization’s World Malaria Report 2009 released earlier this week, more than one third of affected countries included in the study have witnessed reduction in malaria cases by more than 50 percent between 2000 and 2008.

18 Dec 2009

Doubling of global investments in family planning, birth control could cut maternal, newborn deaths, report says

By doubling investments in family planning and birth control, developing countries could nearly halve newborn deaths and reduce maternal deaths by 70 percent, a new report said Thursday, Reuters reports.

4 Dec 2009

More investment in family planning and pregnancy-related care will reduce maternal and newborn deaths

Maternal deaths in developing countries could be slashed by 70% and newborn deaths cut nearly in half if the world doubled investment in family planning and pregnancy-related care, shows a new report by the Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. Currently, more than half a million maternal deaths and 3.5 million newborn deaths, many of them easily preventable, occur each year in developing countries.

4 Dec 2009

British First Lady highlights maternal mortality worldwide

Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and head of the Maternal Mortality Campaign, highlighted global maternal mortality at the Royal College of Midwives annual conference on Friday, the U.K. Press Association reports.

30 Nov 2009

IPS examines next year's UNGASS on MDGs, improvements in maternal health

Inter Press Service reports that the September 2010 U.N. Generally Assembly meeting will feature a three-day special session (UNGASS) on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

24 Nov 2009

Health, policy experts gather for 3-day conference on family planning

By offering family planning services to people seeking HIV/AIDS information and treatment, Africa's population growth rate could be curbed by 2.5 percent, health experts said Monday during an international family health conference in Kampala, Uganda, Agence France-Presse reports (11/16).

18 Nov 2009

World's poorest countries fail to address HIV despite low cost and effective preventive health efforts

A proven and cost-effective strategy for turning the tide on global AIDS still remains significantly underutilized, World Vision warned in advance of World AIDS Day. Efforts to prevent mother-to-baby transmission of HIV must be urgently scaled up in high-prevalence countries to avoid needless infection of children, the Christian humanitarian organization said.

11 Nov 2009

WHO report calls for improved health care for women, girls

A new WHO report, released Monday, said women tend to "receive poorer quality care throughout their lives, particularly as teenagers and elderly people" even though they live six to eight years longer than men, Reuters reports. The WHO said women worldwide are "'denied a chance to develop their full human potential' because many of their critical medical needs are ignored" (MacInnis, 11/9).

10 Nov 2009

Rights group highlights maternal health issues in India

"India is falling behind other countries in meeting international commitments to improve obstetric care because it does not adequately monitor deaths and injuries in the critical period following childbirth and fix gaps in its health system and programmes," Human Rights Watch said Wednesday, the Hindu reports.

6 Nov 2009

Breastfeeding: ADA position paper details health benefits for both infants and mothers

The American Dietetic Association has released an updated position paper on breastfeeding that details health benefits for both infants and mothers and encourages promotion of breastfeeding whenever possible.

4 Nov 2009

Opinions: Obstetric fistula; malaria and climate change

In a New York Times opinion piece, columnist Nicholas Kristof examines a new plan to tackle obstetric fistula, "a childbirth injury, often suffered by a teenager in Africa or Asia whose pelvis is not fully grown." According to Kristof, "Just about the happiest thing that can happen to such a woman is an encounter with Dr. Lewis Wall, an ob-gyn at Washington University in St. Louis.

3 Nov 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

"Action always leads to reaction, a fundamental law of nature," write the authors of an introduction appearing in a Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS) supplemental issue that focuses on global health systems.

30 Oct 2009

Maternal Health News and Research

Opinions: Clean water; oversight of U.N. bookkeeping; Obama's global health goals; maternal mortality

Also in global health news: Pakistan's farm land; PMTCT in Kenya; Burkina Faso's maternal health; health care access in Middle East

Clinton rebuffs criticism of U.S. aid to Haiti, pledges redoubling of efforts to help quake survivors

WHO Director-General highlights global health gains, challenges at executive board meeting

Progress on MDG targets is 'key priority' in 2010 for U.N. Secretary-General

Obama administration supports Cairo conference goals, Clinton says

Recent releases in Global Health

VOA News examines obstetric fistula in Africa

New WHO report shows considerable progress in malaria

Doubling of global investments in family planning, birth control could cut maternal, newborn deaths, report says

More investment in family planning and pregnancy-related care will reduce maternal and newborn deaths

British First Lady highlights maternal mortality worldwide

IPS examines next year's UNGASS on MDGs, improvements in maternal health

Health, policy experts gather for 3-day conference on family planning

World's poorest countries fail to address HIV despite low cost and effective preventive health efforts

WHO report calls for improved health care for women, girls

Rights group highlights maternal health issues in India

Breastfeeding: ADA position paper details health benefits for both infants and mothers

Opinions: Obstetric fistula; malaria and climate change

Recent releases in Global Health

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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