Here at INFO, we love to report about how others are using Web 2.0 to advance the cause of improved global health, especially in the area of reproductive health, family planning and maternal and child health.
Recently I received a wonderful e-mail from the folks at Engenderhealth (see past post on the ACQUIRE End of Project Meeting). EngenderHealth has been using YouTube in order to raise awareness for infant and maternal mortality and the Millennium Development Goals.
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that the 189 United Nations member states (plus a broad range of international organizations) agreed in 2001 to achieve by the year 2015. They include cutting levels of extreme poverty in half, substantially reducing child mortality rates, fighting epidemic diseases, and promoting global socioeconomic development.
YouTube has organized a global campaign called “In My Name” to raise public awareness of the Millennium Development Goals, in the belief that governments would be willing to do more if they saw how strongly so many of their citizens believe in this kind of effort. The overall campaign features Black Eyed Peas front man Will.I.Am, and his call-out video asks people from around the world to create and upload their own video stating their name, their home country, and a specific request that their own government do more to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to attend the ACQUIRE End of Project event this past week. l was there to promote the Resources for HIV and SRH Integration Website. Betty Farrell, Senior Medical Associate for Integration, EngenderHealth commented that you could find many ACQUIRE documents and tools on the Integration Web site. You can also read an interview with Betty Farrell on the “Voices from the Field” Section of the site. Prior to the integration session, there was a plenary panel consisting of Dr. Fred Ndede, Engenderhealth/Kenya and Nancy Russell, Senior Technical Advisor for Community Linkages, ACQUIRE Project/CARE. The panel discussed the work that ACQUIRE has done in promoting IUD uptake in the Kisii district of Kenya. The panel discussed how they used ACQUIRE’s Supply/Demand/Advocacy Programming model to increase the supply of IUDs, increase demand through countering myths and training trainers and to engage stakeholders in needs assessments. Read the rest of this entry »
Seth
posted this on
September 15, 2008 at 1:50 pm
· Filed under Education
This past Friday, September 12, 2008 public healthy professionals from organizations through the United States and abroad came together at the George Washington University School of Public Health for the annual USAID Global health Mini-University. During the day individuals took various “courses” focusing on different areas of global health. All of the presentations will be posted to the MAQ web site in the coming weeks. I’ll briefly summarize some of the courses I was able to attend:
New Recommendations for FP/HIV Integration, Virginia Lamprecht (USAID) and Susan Adamchick (Family Health International): This workshop discussed what we know about FP/HIV integration and what we are currently learning. The workshop discussed the formation of the USAID FP/HIV Technical Working Group, results from a recent integration literature review presented at the Mexico City AIDS Conference, and research results from FHI’s latest analysis of integrated programs in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa and Ethiopia. The presenters concluded that more money needs to be put into integration efforts and that integration efforts are crucial if donors wish to meet unmet contraceptive need.
Thanks to former INFO Project Program Specialist and blogger extraordinaire Rose Reis for contacting the Communication Initiative to provide them information about the project.
So the time has come to say good bye. All HIV/AIDS activists, researchers and scientists must say good bye to each other. This was truly an amazing event and I learned so much and met many interesting individuals. There has been talk that a future conference may be in the United States, now that legislation has been passed repealing the short-term travel restrictions on individuals living with HIV/AIDS. This conference was the first in Latin America, and was the second largest attended
The key note address of the closing session was given by Michel Katzatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (pictured below). Mr. Katzatchinke mentioned four key areas where we need to focus on to achieve universal action (the theme of the conference):
Human rights: Right for all individuals to decent care, including sexual and reproductive health care, the right to travel freely with HIV and the eradication of stigma and discrimination against homosexuals and men who have sex with men, women, youth, intravenous drug users, indigenous people and migrants.
Increase in funding for AIDS Research: The presentation of operational research studies and their findings were under represented
Advance the health systems agenda: AIDS has always been part of the solution in strengthening health systems (as was also mentioned in Bill Clinton’s speech)
Sustainability of the global response to AIDS: All G8 members should match the US in their monetary response to AIDS (US just reauthorized the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief for $48 billions USD). Individual countries need to do more to make AIDS a health priority.
The mayor of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard also addressed the audience, saying that a fundamental change in the culture of sexuality in Mexico City and Mexico needs to take place. Individuals cannot be afraid to talk about sex, condoms, men who have sex with men, other sexual minorities, and sexual rights. On the Monday following the conference, Mexico City policy makers will begin to come up with a plan to address ways to institute this fundamental change. Read the rest of this entry »
Disclaimer: The information provided on this web site is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Government or The Johns Hopkins University.
So the time has come to say good bye. All HIV/AIDS activists, researchers and scientists must say good bye to each other. This was truly an amazing event and I learned so much and met many interesting individuals. There has been talk that a future conference may be in the United States, now that legislation has been passed repealing the short-term travel restrictions on individuals living with HIV/AIDS. This conference was the first in Latin America, and was the second largest attended
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