March 2016

HIV & AIDS [12]

[11]Some members of the Amdo Health Club in Billiri, Gombe StatePhoto credit: MSH Nigeria

It isn’t easy being a woman–or a girl–in Nigeria.

I grew up in a little village in the North where the tradition was very patriarchal. But my family was quite revolutionary. My father, right from the beginning, supported all of his children to go to school. When he got ill, he told my mother: ‘You must promise me this: If I’m not around, and you are forced to choose between who to send to school, always choose the girl. The boy will inherit the land; he will always have a livelihood. The girl, she is not allowed to inherit anything; the girl child needs an education to find a livelihood for herself. '

It’s the opposite of what everyone thought! This is how I learned to lead.

Every Day is Women's Day [15]

Greg Olson [16]

[15]Caren Wakoli, member of the East Africa Women's Mentoring Network, presents at the International Conference on Family Planning. (Photo: Sarah McKee/MSH)

And a happy International Women’s Day to you too. Every year, on March 8, activists, organizations, and officials celebrate advancements in women’s rights; however, despite global advocacy and action, women continue to suffer a disproportionate burden of disease and death [17].

If health systems are expected to deliver responsive and high-quality health services that can end preventable child and maternal deaths, then governments, organizations, and leaders must first address women’s continued underrepresentation in health leadership, management, and governance.

Frankly put, expanding women’s health leadership requires a health system-wide approach that collaborates with individuals, organizations, and governments. For the LMG Project, this means building individual women’s leadership capacity, highlighting the importance of women in health governance, and mainstreaming gender at all levels of a health system [18].

Financing Care and Control of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Western Pacific Region Meeting [20]

[20]Participants of the 10th National TB Programme Managers Meeting in the Western Pacific Region in Manila, Philippines.Photo credit: WHO, Western Pacific Regional Office

Tuberculosis (TB) has surpassed HIV and AIDS as the number one infectious killer worldwide, and in many countries, TB remains a major cause of death, sickness, and poverty. Major challenges to TB care and control include increases in drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) and reductions in donor funding.

It is crucial, therefore, that governments develop sustainable TB care and control delivery and financing mechanisms in the context of universal health coverage (UHC) programs.

Earlier this month I presented on this topic and MSH’s experience supporting TB program costing, economic analysis, and financing in Indonesia, at the 10th National TB Programme Managers Meeting in the Western Pacific Region in Manila, Philippines. With assistance from MSH under the US Agency for International Development [22] (USAID) TB CARE I project, the Indonesian government has been a leader in South East Asia in terms of projecting financing needs, looking at cost-effective interventions, and working with the private health sector and national insurance scheme to expand coverage and ensure quality of care.

Ending a Global Epidemic: Tuberculosis in Children [24]

Rudi Thétard [25]
Catherine Lijinsky [26]

HIV & AIDS [12]

[24]Atsede Tefera recalls three months of long delays in the diagnosis of tuberculosis for her daughter Nigist, who was eventually able to initiate treatment.Photo credit: MSH Ethiopia

When my daughter got sick, I took her to a clinic in my neighborhood. They gave her cough syrup for seven days.

I thought she was getting better, but it was apparent that she was still ill. After another examination, they referred her to St. Paul Hospital in Addis Ababa where they put her on oxygen and started taking blood sample after sample and injection after injection for a month. Her condition did not get better so they gave her another medicine. The doctors then decided to take blood from her back… only then did they know it was tuberculosis.

~ Atsede Tefera

Tuberculosis (TB) kills more people each year than any other infectious disease, causing over 1.5 million deaths globally. More than a quarter of cases are in Africa, the region with the highest burden of TB disease relative to population. Children are amongst the most vulnerable, and all too often children with TB remain in the shadows, undiagnosed, uncounted, and untreated. Today, more than 53 million children worldwide [28] are infected with TB and over 400 die each day from this preventable and curable disease.

World Tuberculosis Day 2016: Four Ways to End TB [30]

Pedro Suarez, MD [31]

HIV & AIDS [12]

[30]Photo credit: Warren Zelman

Tuberculosis (TB) claims a life every 15 seconds; it is the single largest infectious killer and is universally recognized as a global epidemic. Nearly 200 children die every day of TB.

The challenges of tackling TB are well known, particularly in settings with limited resources, crowded urban environments, and among high risk groups including people living with HIV, prisoners, and children. The emergence of multidrug resistant strains of the disease (MDR-TB), the result of incomplete or poor managed TB treatment, present further obstacles and add exponential costs to already burdened health systems. Furthermore, challenges with access to, affordability, and proper use of pharmaceuticals and laboratory materials can have devastating consequences on diagnosis and treatment.

The key to ending TB is to work together to strengthen health systems in high TB-burden countries to be able to effectively implement both proven and innovative strategies. Four approaches will help save lives by uniting stakeholders to collaborate, innovate, and end TB:

Five Keys to Ensuring Sustainability of High-Impact, Scalable MNCH Programs [33]

HIV & AIDS [12]

[33]Photo credit: Mark Tuschman

Impact. Scale. Sustainability. As public health professionals, we are dedicated to high-impact and high-coverage interventions that significantly improve the health of large human populations. We also hope that the benefits become part of the timeless fabric of their families, communities, and the health system.

This triple expectation—impact, scale, and sustainability—has accompanied global health for decades and especially during the last generation. In 1990, Dr. Thomas Bossert reported that, among five US government-funded health programs in Africa and Central America, a project’s capacity to show results [34] was the most important factor to ensure the sustainability of its benefits.

Global Health Impact: Maternal, Newborn and Child Health: Stronger Health Systems Save Lives [36]

Management Sciences for Health [37]

HIV & AIDS [12]