Masimba Biriwasha wrote a blog post on RH Reality Check today about the need to screen pregnant women for other STIs than HIV. She references a new study that was conducted in Cameroon on gynaecological morbidity--defined as "any condition, disease or dysfunction of the reproductive system that is not related to pregnancy, abortion or childbirth but may be related to sexual behaviour." Biriwasha says:
Updates
Sarah Brown on Maternal Mortality
September 16th, 2008
"500,000 women a year die in childbirth... you can save them." -- Sarah Brown.
Mobile Phones and Global Health
September 10th, 2008
Many thanks to DataDyne, the nonprofit (sponsored by the UN Foundation and Vodafone Foundation) that developed a software application for mobile phone devices that enables public health workers in developing countries to collect data more efficiently. (Found via UN Dispatch) Yesterday, the UN Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation, together with the World Health Organization announced that its EpiSurveyor program will expand to 22 sub-Saharan African countries by the end of the year. Check out this video of a DataDyne employee who helped train health workers in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo explain why this technology is so significant. Click through to watch a video.
Africa Seeks a Global Fund to Fight Maternal Deaths
September 5th, 2008
YAOUNDE, Cameroon – African countries at the 58th Session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for Africa conference have proposed setting up a Global Fund to advance the fight against maternal deaths and infant mortality.
UN Partnerships Tackle Natural Disaster Relief for Pregnant Women in the Pacific
September 4th, 2008
SASAMUGA, Solomon Islands – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) have established the Joint Country Presence initiative to expand the agencies’ ability to respond to natural disaster crises and provide effective health care to women and children in the Pacific Islands.