Two sets of dogmas contend in Afghanistan: those of the Taliban and the West. Neither side pays the real price for their beliefs. Ordinary Afghans do with their lives. Some aid agencies labour quietly to bring help and hope through a dozen practical ways that bypass competing doctrines. They deserve support. In March last year, […] Continue reading ->
Nearly a year after Israel and Hamas agreed to a US-brokered cease-fire, some 94% of Gaza’s 2.1 million Palestinian residents lack adequate shelters with 84% facing severe constraints in heating, cooling, cooking, lighting and hygiene and nearly 60% facing “critical” or “catastrophic” shelter needs. This according to a new analysis by the Global Shelter Cluster, […] Continue reading ->
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – For nearly two years, Sierra Leone’s Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Care Bill has been stuck in a political and social tug-of-war that has little to do with the technical business of passing a health law. Instead, the country is wrestling with who gets to define reproductive health in the country: […] Continue reading ->
HPV vaccines have transformed cervical cancer prevention, but the next generation of vaccines must better reflect regional disease patterns, including the HPV35 genotype prevalent in Africa. The recent WHO Global Status Report on Cancer paints a sobering picture. Among the many challenges, human papillomavirus, or HPV, is one of the world’s most serious infectious causes of […] Continue reading ->
A Task Shifting/Task Sharing investment in Kano State in Nigeria is empowering community health workers and improving maternal and newborn outcomes KANO, Nigeria – It is antenatal day at Gwale Primary Health Care Centre (PHC) in the suburbs of Kano, the capital of the state by the same name and the second biggest city in […] Continue reading ->
The dramatic global health budget cutbacks in services for maternal and reproductive health and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have produced 17 million unintended pregnancies, and more than 34,000 preventable maternal deaths in just the first year since cuts were made. That recent assessment by French and Washington DC-based analyses, was cited by Guyana’s UN Ambassador […] Continue reading ->
A return on investment of 16:1 should be irresistible. So why does midwifery keep losing the budget fight, and what would make funders and finance ministers finally move? When a young mother in Mtendere, Lusaka, began bleeding heavily hours after delivering her baby, her life was in grave danger. Three midwives assessed her immediately, recognised […] Continue reading ->
Every year, around 27 million women bleed excessively after giving birth, and almost 43,000 die – yet there are new ways for this to be detected and treated. This is according to a series on maternal health published in The Lancet on Friday by the United Nations Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training […] Continue reading ->
The Commonwealth’s new strategic framework accelerates the elimination of cervical cancer, a highly preventable disease that claims hundreds of thousands of lives yearly. However, shifting global funding and major prevention gaps threaten to derail progress, forcing states to double down on shared digital resources, regional cooperation, and community engagement. Inside the wood-panelled executive boardroom at […] Continue reading ->
In January, India’s Supreme Court has ruled that menstrual health is a fundamental right, directing states and schools to take measures to facilitate menstrual health and sanitation. The laws of the world’s most populous country are now in line with the United Nations (UN) stand on menstrual health taken in 2024, and one that is […] Continue reading ->