Category: APHA IH Section

IH Section Members: Help us to better communicate with you!

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, Section Announcements

Attention IH section members! The IH Communications Committee has developed a survey to learn how its members use and benefit from it communications platforms. The survey comes in two parts: the first asks about the section’s traditional communications platforms (i.e. the website, newsletter, and monthly e-mails), and the second is about the section’s social media tools (Facebook, LinkedIn, and this blog). Please take a few minutes to complete the survey – we value your feedback and want to know how to better communicate with you!

The two parts of the survey can be accessed from the following links:
Traditional Communications
Social Media

Thanks in advance!
-Your friendly neighborhood Communications Chair

IH Section Conference Call: Current Developments in Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health (MCNH)

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, Maternal and Child Health, Section Announcements

UPDATED: Please note that the date has changed from June 13 to June 27.

Please join us for our next bi-monthly conference call!  The IH Section is hosting its topic-focused conference call for the month of June.  The call will be held on Monday, June 27 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. EST.  This call will be hosted by section members Miriam Labbock and Laura Altobelli, who will be discussing current developments in maternal, neonatal, and child health (MCNH).  The call will include:

  • Brief presentation of the APHA policy resolution proposal submitted by the IHS entitled, “Call to Action to Reduce Global Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Morbidity and Mortality”
  • Update on the Millenium Development Goals 4 and 5
  • An update on breastfeeding and child spacing as essential MNCH interventions
  • Update on the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth
  • Partnership for Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health – what it does and how one can get involved
  • Trends in US government funding levels for global MNCH

You are welcome to submit comments and questions for the speakers; however, we ask that you submit them in advance so that the panel can present them to the speaker. This will allow us to keep things organized. Please e-mail questions for the speakers to jmkeralis [at] gmail [dot] com  by Friday, June 24 at 8 p.m. EST.

 TOPIC: Current Developments in Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health (MCNH)
DATE AND TIME: Monday, June 27, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST
PHONE NUMBER: (712) 432-1001 (please note that this is not a toll-free number)
PASSCODE: 477461343#

US Institute of Peace Conference, June 9-10

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section

Countries that have experienced armed conflict and political instability account for approximately 15 percent of the world’s population. However, these same countries account globally for 30 percent of maternal deaths, 50 percent of children who die before the age of five, and a third of those affected by HIV/AIDs in developing countries. They face huge challenges in the planning, organizing, financing and sustaining health services. These hurdles are often exacerbated by the loss of infrastructure and the departure of health workers, in part as the result of attacks on health facilities.

In spite of the compelling challenges associated with building legitimate governments, health systems development in post-conflict and fragile states has experienced important successes. Questions still arise as to how health development in unstable and post-conflict states fits within donor global health priorities and policies, peacebuilding and stabilization, and human rights and governance.

The conference will review the last decade in health programming in post-conflict and fragile states, as well as address key questions about the intersection of health in “fragile states” and development, national security policy, and consider a way forward.

Speakers:

  • The Honorable Walter T. Gwenigale, MD (Minister of Health & Social Welfare of the Republic of Liberia)
  • Jonathan D. Quick, MD, MPH (President & CEO, Management Sciences for Health)
  • Lois Quam (Executive Director, Global Health Initiative)
  • Michael Posner (Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor)
  • Donald K. Steinberg (Deputy Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development)

The conference will take place in Washington, DC, at the US Institute of Peace Headquarters. Registration is free. Any questions about this event should be directed to Brooke Stedman at bstedman@usip.org. More information about the conference can be found here.

Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH) conference, June 9-12

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section

CCIH invites everyone to attend its 2011 Annual Conference June 9-12. The conference theme will be “Sustaining a Christian Foundation for Health in a Changing World.” The venue is a lovely retreat center overlooking Sugarloaf Mountain just north of Washington, DC. In plenary sessions, breakout discussions and through networking, attendees will discuss international health challenges and the role that faith-based organizations and values play in the global response.

Some of the questions to be explored during the conference include:

  • Is there a way to build long-term needs into short-term projects?
  • How can Christian organizations keep true to their mission and values while competing, often against each other, for donor support? How do we avoid “chasing the money”?
  • How can local community capacity be developed in order to avoid or break free from dependency on donor support?
  • How should the role of faith-based organizations evolve to meet these new realities?
  • How will changing demographics and epidemiological burdens of disease impact Christian health programs in the foreseeable future?
  • How does work in Christian international health relate to larger questions of Christian theology? What is God’s plan and are we being true to it?

Key speakers include:
Galen Carey (Director of Government Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals)
Robin Davis (Executive Director, Global Health Action; Co-Chair of Global Health Council Faith & Global Health Caucus)
Anbrasi Edward (Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health>
Libby Little (Missions Consultant, Interserve)
Meredith Long (Senior International Programs Director, World Concern)
Julia Martin (Deputy Global AIDS Coordinator, Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator)
Gil Odendaal (Global Director HIV/AIDS Initiative at the Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA)
Dr. Anne Peterson (Research Professor, International Health Consultant at George Washington University; former Assistant Administrator at USAID Bureau of Global Health)
Adam Taylor (Vice President for Advocacy, World Vision-US)
Rick Santos (President/CEO, IMA World Health)
Glenn Schwartz (Executive Director, World Missions Associates)
Thomas J. Walsh (Director for External Relations and Senior Advisor with the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator)

All are welcome to attend, regardless of religious background.  The conference will be a great opportunity to learn more about partnering with the faith community. For more information and to register, go to http://www.ccih.org, or contact Sharon Franzén at sfranzen@ccih.org.

Global Health News Last Week

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, News

SECTION NEWS

APHA’s 2011 Section elections are coming up soon! Online voting will open on May 16 and ends on June 20. Section members should receive an e-mail on May 16 (next Monday) which will include:

  • Your online election validation number
  • Your APHA membership ID number
  • Voting instructions
  • A direct link to your voting Web site

All you have to do is click on the direct link and VOTE!

APHA’s Trade and Health Forum has released its first newsletter! The Forum has established a quarterly APHA Trade & Health Forum Newsletter that includes brief reports from forum members regarding recent work and analyses of issues related to trade and health, as well as announcements for trade and health advocacy opportunities and events. The first spring issue can be viewed here (PDF).

David Sencer, the longest-serving director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and one of the leaders of the U.S. contribution to the smallpox campaign, passed away at age 86 on May 2.

May 5 was International Day of the Midwife.

POLICY

  • The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have joined forces to assist Asia Pacific countries in identifying priority actions for dengue prevention and control.
  • On May 11, dozens of countries around the world will kick off the first global Decade of Action for Road Safety, from 2011-2020.
  • Starting last week, China’s Ministry of Health is strengthening its tobacco rules to require 28 types of businesses, including bars, coffee shops, hotels and stadiums to become 100 percent smoke-free.

PROGRAMS

  • After a sensationalistic (and rather silly) report from the AP on corruption and graft, the Global Fund has assembled a high-level panel of independent experts to assess the risk of fraud in the current portfolio. The review should be concluded by mid-September
  • Sri Lanka commemorated 100 years of its National Malaria Control Program, which has brought the death toll from malaria from 80,000 per year to 0, on May 5. In 2010, only 684 cases of malaria were reported in the country.
  • Health officials in India have taken up a pilot project at taluka places to identify areas with less number of institutional deliveries to bring down maternal deaths.
  • UNICEF has found that boreholes drilled in response to the Zimbabwe cholera outbreak in 2008 have not been adequately supported by the government in Harare.
  • USAID announced that it will be launching a $10 million mobile health program which will deliver information and tips to mothers via SMS.

RESEARCH

  • Protease inhibitors used to treat patients with HIV looks to provide an effective treatment to malaria as well and are being hailed as ‘superdrugs.’
  • Headaches are the most common health disorders across the world, yet they remain neglected and under-treated, according to a UN study.
  • Researchers warn that East African plants that could cure malaria could disappear before scientists have a chance to study them.

DISEASES AND DISASTERS

Thanks, as usual, to the Healthy Dose and Humanosphere.