Maternal and Child Health – Page 7

Students: Internship in Maternal Mortality for Summer/Fall 2011

February 24, 2011May 28, 2017 by ihsection, posted in Internships and Fellowships, Maternal and Child Health, News

This opportunity was originally posted on the Maternal Mortality Daily blog. Please contact the referenced individuals for details about the program.

The Safe Motherhood Program at UCSF is accepting applications for an upcoming internship opportunity in the Copper-belt of Zambia. The intern will spend the majority of their time in the labor and gynecology wards at a district hospital and several peri-urban clinics, gaining an understanding of front-line maternal health service delivery and research.
Position Description:

This internship is based in the Copperbelt Region of Zambia. The intern will work on a study that aims to reduce maternal mortality and morbidities in Zambia and Zimbabwe caused by obstetric hemorrhage. This is a cluster randomized control study that compares outcomes based on evidence from intervention and control clinics. The intervention clinics in this study are the clinics that are using the NASG (Non-pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment) as a first aid device for patients suffering from hypovolemic shock caused by bleeding during pregnancy.

Some of the duties of the intern include:

-Providing logistic support for the local Zambian team – distributing supplies, copies, etc.
-Reviewing data collection forms
-Encouraging protocol adherence
-Conducting trainings with local hospital and clinic staff
-Visiting the study clinics
-Following up on cases
-Liaising with the San Francisco office and the in-country staff

Desired qualifications: Experience in international settings, interest in maternal health, research experience, familiarity with clinical environments. Must be highly detail-oriented, be well organized and have excellent follow-through skills.

Time requirements: Must be able to commit a minimum of 2 months in the Copperbelt, although 3 months is preferred.

Compensation/Funding: Interns must secure their own funding for travel and lodging. There is no funding for these positions but it is valuable experience for someone who wants to make a huge difference in women’s lives.

To learn more about the NASG (Life Wrap), visit: www.lifewrap.org.

If interested, please send your CV and cover letter to Elizabeth Butrick at ebutrick@globalhealth.ucsf.edu, with a copy to Kathleen McDonald at kathleen.p.mcdonald@gmail.com

Global Health News This Week

December 18, 2010August 13, 2015 by ihsection, posted in Maternal and Child Health, News

Richard Holbrooke, an American diplomat who worked for peace in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and the founding President of the Global Business Coalition against AIDS, passed away on Monday due to complications in surgery.

The State Department has launched the Foreign Assistance Dashboard (v. 1.0), which allows visitors to see how the government’s foreign aid money is being spent. The website is still in its beginning stages and there is a lot that has not yet been published, but it is a step in the right direction. In related government news, Secretary Clinton announced the full release of the first QDDR on Wednesday.

The Gates’ seem to be establishing themselves as the new “Big Brother” of global health, which makes some journalists uncomfortable – most recently with regard to ABC’s new “Be the Change” global health series. The Gates Foundation (along with the WHO, UNICEF, and NIAID) has also recently announced the “Global Vaccine Action Plan,” following the Gates’ call this past January to make the next ten years the “Decade of Vaccines.” They also provided funding for the development of a new polio vaccine developed by researchers at the University of Leeds.

The Canada-based organization Aids-Free World is accusing the UN of endangering women and children in their push to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Swine flu (H1N1) has reared its ugly head again in the UK, shocking doctors by its severity and spread.

An article in the Lancet revealed that TB cases have risen by 50% in London in the last ten years, making it the tuberculosis capital of Western Europe.

The WHO released its 2010 World Malaria Report this week.

Doctors in Germany claim to have cured a man of both cancer and HIV, though critics maintain that the treatment – a transplant of bone marrow and stem cells from a naturally HIV-resistant individual – is not a reasonable option for the general population.

International Health: A One-Way Trip?

November 23, 2010August 13, 2015 by ihsection, posted in Guest Blog, Maternal and Child Health

Guest blogger: Dr. Teresa Nwachukwu

This is my first blog ever, thanks to a hard-bargaining Jessica. I knew that the International Health section of APHA was the right place for me when I saw that one of the burning issues for the section is the challenge of recruiting hard-earned health workers from poorer countries by richer nations. Having registered for the IH section, I raced around that colossal conference centre in Denver, trying to locate meeting rooms. As the meetings progressed, I was dismayed to find that “international health” basically meant America sending health, aid, services, materials, people, or whatever to Africa and other resource-poor continents. It seemed to me that poorer countries had nothing to offer the richer nations. International health seemed like a one-way trip to these nations with no return visits. The question I asked myself was, does Africa have anything to offer, or has Africa ever given anything, to Europe or America? If so, have these gifts been widely acknowledged?

I can think of a lot of things we are doing right. For instance, Nigeria still has an amazing maternal social support system. A nursing mother hardly ever has to go it alone. Rich or poor, there is a neighbour, friend, mother or mother–in-law, or sister who is delegated, or who takes it upon herself, to mother and pamper the new mama for months. Might a practice like this contribute to mothers’ mental health shortly after delivery in richer nations like the United States?

In a country with so many challenges, getting through a pregnancy, while highly desirable, is an alarmingly risky business. Can you begin to imagine what the infant and maternal mortality rates would have been like without a powerful communal support system for every new mother? Fully-paid maternity leave for four months has improved what would have been a colossal disaster if working mothers had to return to work a month after delivery, or lose their jobs.

I live and work in Nigeria and have been in the United States for four whole months. The question I ask myself is, “What can I offer in terms of ‘international health’ to America?” Quite a lot, I have discovered. One of them has been sharing hands-on experiences about the public health practice in Africa from a different angle. Believe me, it is better than reading it in the books. Also, I have found a community centre in my neighbourhood where I volunteer once a week to set tables and help feed the homeless. (And yes, people, there are homeless folks in America.) Really, the greatest gift these ‘poor’ countries can give the United States is to look within themselves and solve their problems so that America can redirect some of the outgoing resources inwards. In my opinion, international health should mean the practice of sharing health information and services by all peoples with all peoples and not a one way trip by the rich to the poor. After all, what is a relationship, if one partner only gives and the other only receives?

Dr. Teresa Nwachukwu is a Humphrey Fellow at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Her area of research is Health Systems Strengthening with special focus on the human resource component system.

Annual Meeting, Day 3: NTDs, Kids, and Careers

November 10, 2010August 13, 2015 by Jessica, posted in Aid Effectiveness, APHA IH Section, Maternal and Child Health

I started off my morning with two unpleasant experiences: a burnt cup of coffee from my hotel’s breakfast buffet and a session on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Please don’t misunderstand me – the session, hosted by Dr. Hélène Carabin, was very interesting, but pictures of the clinical manifestations of those worms will make even the sturdiest of young professionals’ skin crawl. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about onchocerciasis, or river blindness (did you know that those worms can live for 14 years in the body?); helminthes; baglisascariasis, or raccoon roundworm (in Brooklyn, of all places); neurocysticercosis, and trachoma. These diseases have rightly earned their designation as NTDs – they are inexpensive and easy to treat and prevent, yet most people have never heard of most of them. (Alanna Shaikh has a theory that giving them more descriptive and graphic names will attract attention to them – you can read her proposed naming scheme here.)

Next up was a session hosted by Dr. Elvira Beracochea on aid accountability and effectiveness. There were several very insightful talks and an interesting discussion (Dr. Beracochea always likes to involve the audience, which can be fun). After a lunch of Vietnamese fast food, I attended a session on child survival and child health, to which I was invited by Ms. Beth Charpentier (Ms. Katherine Robsky’s colleague from Global Health Access Program). While I believe that maternal and child health is very important (and I am thrilled that it is enjoying so much attention from Secretary Clinton and other development advocates), I am not very familiar with that area, so I learned a lot.

Finally, I attended the “Careers in Global Health” panel that is organized by Dr. Carabin every year. There was a very useful presentation on the key knowledge areas and skills that currently global health leaders identified as crucial to the incoming workforce. Ms. Carol Dabbs provided some practical information on the different points of entry with USAID, and then Dr. Eckhard Kleinau told his incredible story of breaking into global health after finishing his residency (he and his wife sold everything they owned and drove to Burkina Faso – from Germany! – in a VW van). If you would like any of this information, please contact me by e-mail at jmkeralis [at] gmail [dot] com.

Finally, the section held its closing business meeting at 6. After committee updates, Dr. Miriam Labbok was recognized for her hard work as section chair for the past two years. I personally will always remember her as a very welcoming face when I attended the annual meeting for the first time last year as a CDC fellow – she encouraged us “newbies” to jump right in.

Tomorrow’s Global Health Luncheon promises to be a real treat (though I probably will not be able to attend – I will have to navigate public transportation back to the airport). The malaria session is always well-attended, however, and it is in the morning – so hopefully I will see you there!

Rotavirus—the most common and lethal form of diarrhea—deadly for children

November 19, 2009February 20, 2011 by Eckhard, posted in Maternal and Child Health, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene

Rotavirus—the most common and lethal form of diarrhea—is one of the most deadly diseases facing children

By Dr. John Wecker, director of the Vaccine Access and Delivery Global Program at PATH

Whether you have heard of rotavirus before or not, it may surprise you to know that you’ve probably had it. Nearly everyone in the world will have at least one rotavirus infection by age 3.

In wealthy countries, ready access to medical care means that few children will die from rotavirus. And with the recent availability of vaccines, the risk of dying, or of ever having to be hospitalized because of rotavirus, has dropped dramatically.

In the developing world, the situation is completely different. Rotavirus—the most common and lethal form of diarrhea—is one of the most deadly diseases a child will face.

This global health crisis can be solved by making rotavirus vaccines widely available in the developing world. The World Health Organization recommends that these vaccines be included in every country’s immunization program. What is lacking is the political will at all levels to make this happen.

Raising awareness about the toll of this disease and the promise that vaccines hold to save lives is critical for building political will. Recently, the scientific Journal of Infectious Diseases released a special supplement on rotavirus, Global Rotavirus Surveillance: Preparing for the Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccines. It provides a comprehensive review of the latest information about rotavirus disease and the role that vaccination can play.

Not only is rotavirus not well known as a major killer of children worldwide, but the fact that diarrheal disease is responsible for the death of 1.5 million young children each year in developing countries is lost on a world that takes for granted access to sanitation, clean water and basic health services. In a recent New York Times story the chief of health at UNICEF, Mickey Chopra, was quoted as saying, “All the attention has gone to more glamorous diseases, but this basic thing has been left behind. It’s a forgotten disease.”

Included below is a short release on the special rotavirus supplement.

To access the supplement, please visit: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jid/200/s1.

For more information on rotavirus, read: Common Virus and Senseless Killer: Briefing Paper on Rotavirus