Updates

By: Harshi Hettige, Women Deliver

Jhpiego, a global health care organization for women and families, has made it their mission to ask the question, “How can we make lifesaving services available and accessible to the people who need them—all over the world?” This question will be brought up again and again at the International AIDS Conference in Washington DC next week. Together with partners Africare and the Tanzania Marketing and Communication (T-MARC) Company, Jhpiego has found an answer in Tanzania. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

In Ghana, 350,000 women and 57,000 children under five die each year. Access to quality, comprehensive health care could have saved many of these lives.  In response, from 2005 – 2009, the Quality Health Partners project (QHP) was put in place to support efforts that were already under way in Ghana to ensure high quality reproductive and child health services. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Philips Electronics, a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), announced in June that it would continue its work towards MDG 4 and 5 to reduce newborn and maternal deaths. The announcement took place during the 2012 Cairo to Cape Town Roadshow, while on a stopover in Ghana. During the stopover, Philips representatives showcased several clinical solutions designed to make progress towards reaching MDG 4 and 5. By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Philips Electronics, a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), announced in June that it would continue its work towards MDG 4 and 5 to reduce newborn and maternal deaths. The announcement took place during the 2012 Cairo to Cape Town Roadshow, while on a stopover in Ghana. During the stopover, Philips representatives showcased several clinical solutions designed to make progress towards reaching MDG 4 and 5. Read more...

By: GE Africa

Recently, GE Healthcare, in partnership with the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, commenced the first-of-its-kind training of 14 Tanzanian Healthcare professionals at the Kisarawe District Hospital on GE's Vscan and Venue 40 ultrasound products.

The training is coming after over a year of designing the "Enhancing Training and Appropriate Technologies for Mothers and Babies in Africa" study prepared to assess the feasibility of technology intervention for enhancing antenatal care in resource poor settings. Read more...

By: Niki Bhargava, International Justice Project

In honor of World Refugee Day, which falls on June 20 every year, the International Justice Project is spearheading a series that will highlight Darfurian refugees whose strength truly inspires us and whose stories shed light on the ongoing violence in Darfur, Sudan and the struggles of adapting to a new life in the United States. We do not use names to protect those who courageously share their stories with us.

Eight years ago, OK came to the United States as a refugee from Darfur, Sudan who was escaping the violence perpetrated by the Sudanese government. Now, she is the founder of an organization called the Darfur Women’s and Children’s Association (“DWACA”), which is dedicated to empowering Darfurian women and helping them and their families adapt to life in the United States. Read more...

By: Connie Lewin, SHE Global Fellow; Sustainable Health Enterprises is a winner of the Women Deliver 50.

Rarely mentioned in public, this taboo subject is steeped in fear and shame. It’s often hushed about behind closed doors and some girls and women even face social stigma if they are known to have it. This taboo is not any type of disease, but a natural occurrence for half of the global population. The shroud of secrecy that covers menstruation is widespread, and it has resulted in significant costs to public health, economic development, and girls’ and women’s dignity. Read more...

By:  Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Nigeria’s maternal deaths account for 14% of the world’s maternal mortality, with the risk of dying from complications in pregnancy and childbirth as high as 1 in 29. However, a new service scheme is beginning to show some promise. 

The solution is called the Nigerian Midwives Service Scheme (MSS). Read more...

By: Denis Robson, Director of African Affairs, Johnson & Johnson

Despite the quiet and formal surroundings of Dr. Aminu Mai’s office, matters of birth and death are always at the front of his mind. As an obstetrician in Nigeria, where one expectant mother dies every 10 minutes through no fault of her own, Dr. Mai spends a lot of time thinking about how closely the two events are linked – and how important it is that the country’s birth attendants receive updated information and training to save lives. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

World Pulse, a non-profit global communications network, is sharing a powerful new series called Laboring for Change. As part of the series, they share five stories of five women from different countries who are calling for increased attention and equality in maternal health and reproductive rights. As World Pulse explains, in the United States, advocates for maternal health and reproductive rights have seen a huge wave of recent legislation prohibiting health services, comprehensive sexual education, access to contraception, and abortion. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

The Nike Foundation continues its commitment to the Girl Effect and the health of girls and women by funding Tostan’s Community Empowerment Programs. 

Tostan is an international grassroots organization. The Community Empowerment Program is a community-based effort that makes use of the power of social networks to promote knowledge and skills sharing. The program was created with the intention of targeting the most vulnerable in the country: rural girls and women and embraces a holistic and participatory approach. Read more...

From March 27-28 2012, Women Deliver, in partnership with Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office, held an invitation-only regional consultation for 100-150 participants from sub-Saharan Africa in Kampala, Uganda. Policymakers, researchers, experts, and advocates attended the consultation on Achieving MDG 5: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons Learned to discuss regional success stories, lessons learned and pathways for future progress in maternal and reproductive health, with a focus on the International Conference on Population and Development’s (ICPD) Plan of Action and Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5. An outcome document is forthcoming and will be available on the Women Deliver website. View the agenda and all speaker presentations here. Read more...

By Kate Ixer; Health Poverty Action is a winner of the Women Deliver 50.

In April 2010, Sierra Leone introduced free health care for pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers to help reduce the maternal mortality and morbidity rate. Almost two years on from this watershed significant improvements have been made and many women have received the health care which they previously would not have been able to afford. Sierra Leone, a country where 70% of the population is living in extreme poverty, illustrates that free health care is crucial to improving women’s health rights. Read more... 

By Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Merck for Mothers, an initiative of the pharmaceutical company Merck (known as MSD in some countries), will be joining forces with the United States Government, the Government of Norway, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Every Mother Counts campaign to target Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5) – to reduce maternal mortality.

According to the United Nations MDG Report 2011, most maternal deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In 2008, maternal mortality in these regions was as great as 640 per 100,000 and 280 per 100,000 live births, respectively. Read more...