WASHINGTON, DC -- The United States is one of the biggest funders of reproductive health and family planning in multiple developing countries. It is also one of the biggest distributors of contraceptive services in the international market providing all but one: Abortion. The US congressional midterm elections taking place on 6 November could influence further proposed changes to these policies by the current US administration, potentially affecting the lives of millions of women worldwide, for better or worse. Continue reading ->
More dedicated to scientific research and much more “colourful” than the World Health Summit were descriptions for the 14th Global Grand Challenges Meeting 2018 that ended last night in Berlin and brought together some top researchers, policymakers and civil society. Like the WHS, the Grand Challenges Meeting focused on antimicrobial resistances and pandemic pathogens. But it also talked a little more on the issue of how better to incentivize R&D to fulfil SDG3, the UN Sustainable Development Goal on health, according to participants. Continue reading ->
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania -- When Yusta Michael (not her real name) unintentionally fell pregnant in the first year of her university, she realised her dreams had been shattered. A hard-working student at the Institute of Social Welfare in Tanzania’s largest commercial city, Michael was aspiring to become a social worker and help addressing the plight of street children in the sprawling city. At three months pregnant, Michael decided to terminate the pregnancy because her boyfriend disowned it, and she didn’t want to disappoint her deeply religious parents. Continue reading ->
Dorli Kahr-Gottlieb writes: For more than 20 years, every October, around 500 leading health experts from governmental institutions, civil society, the academic world, and the private sector meet up at the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG). They meet to discuss Europe’s contemporary health challenges and address pressing issues around the sustainability of European health systems in a Davos like setting, in the presence of Ministers of Health and senior European Commission and WHO officials. This year’s edition of the EHFG, called simply “Gastein” by the cognoscente, is an official Austrian EU Presidency event. Over the three days, Gastein is not going to shy away from the big European political debates such as how much of a role Europe should play in shaping health policy; but also it is going to take on some of the big global health policy challenges. Continue reading ->
Panos Moumtzis, Assistant UN Secretary-General and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis (since September 2017) spoke to Health Policy Watch in an exclusive interview Thursday about the escalating crisis in the Syrian conflict, the continued attacks on health care facilities and the mounting international humanitarian and diplomatic efforts to try and avert another humanitarian catastrophe in the war-torn nation. But he also warned he fears the worst might still be ahead of us over the looming battle for Idleb. Continue reading ->