Posts Tagged ‘Woodrow Wison International Center for Scholars’
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 by KateMitch
The US Government is currently (April 24th-25th) convening an Evidence Summit on Enhancing Provision and Use of Maternal Health Services through Financial Incentives in Washington DC. The Evidence Summit is part of a week of maternal health activities. Economists, government officials, and maternal health specialists from the academic and development communities from around the world have gathered to take a closer look at the evidence on the impact of financial mechanisms on maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
From our colleagues at USAID:
While maternal mortality in low and middle-income countries remains high, maternal health services are greatly underutilized and often of poor quality. Financial barriers contribute to low use of maternal health services. Financial incentives have been shown to have a positive effect on the demand for health services by reducing or eliminating financial barriers to access and increasing household income, as well as on provision of essential interventions in maternity services. However, specific recommendations for use of financial incentives by governments for increasing and improving maternal health services are lacking.
According to USAID, anticipated outcomes of the Evidence Summit include:
- initial policy and practice recommendations for LMIC governments and donors;
- identification of evidence gaps to inform a unified research agenda; and
- creation of a community of practice linking the maternal health and economics communities to advance the evidence base together for sustainable effective use of financial incentives.
Learn more about the summit here.
Check out the video of yesterday’s event, Learning From Success: Ministers of Health Discuss Accelerating Progress in Maternal Survival, here.
Tags: economists, Evidence, financial barriers, financial incentives, financial mechanisms, JSY, LMIC, maternal health, neonatal health, USAID, Woodrow Wison International Center for Scholars
Posted in Evidence, Meetings, News | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 by Christopher Lindahl
Unlike some other aspects of the development world, maternal health solutions are often straightforward and less controversial. Ask 10 experts how to improve local governance in a given country, and you’ll likely get 10 different answers. However, ask 10 experts how to treat post-partum hemorrhage, and you’ll likely get one answer: treat with misoprostol. This, however, doesn’t mean that maternal health is an issue we can ignore because the challenge is often how to get that knowledge and those supplies to those who need it. The science regarding maternal health is sound, but we still need to figure out how to put that science to use in low-resource settings.
This morning at the Woodrow Wilson center in Washington, D.C., the MHTF and UNFPA hosted “Expanding Access to Essential Maternal Health Commodities.” The discussion focused on methods to ensure that the necessary supplies that we know are essential for maternal health are available in low-resource settings. Elizabeth Leahy Madsen from Population Action International and Melodie Holden from Venture Strategies Innovations (VSI) discussed methods for getting supplies, such as misoprostol, into the hands of health workers and doctors in countries such as Bangladesh and Uganda.
On the Wilson Center’s website, you can view the video from this morning’s presentations and discussion and see the presentations given by the speakers.
Tags: health care commodities, maternal health commodities, Maternal Health Policy Series, Population Action International, Venture Strategies Innovations, Woodrow Wilson Center, Woodrow Wison International Center for Scholars
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Friday, November 5th, 2010 by Christopher Lindahl
Please join the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative, the Maternal Health Task Force, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the ninth event of the series on Advancing Policy Dialogue on Maternal Health.
Expanding Access to Essential Maternal Health Commodities
November 30, 2010
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
5th Floor Conference Room
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Featuring:
- Dotian Wanogo Ali, Chief Technical Advisor Reproductive Health Supplies, UNFPA Madagascar (Invited)
- Melodie Holden, President, Venture Strategies Innovations
- Elizabeth Leahy Madsen, Senior Research Associate, Population Action International
- John Skibiak, Director, Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (Invited)
- Moderated by Werner Haug, Director of Technical Division, UNFPA
Please RSVP to globalhealth@wilsoncenter.org with your name and affiliation.
About the event: Postpartum hemorrhage, eclampsia, and unsafe abortion are some of the leading causes of maternal deaths in developing countries. Maternal health supplies such as oxytocin, misoprostol, manual vacuum aspirators, and magnesium sulfate are crucial tools needed for effective interventions to address these issues. In order to expand access to these maternal health commodities increased research and coordination is needed to improve supply chain mechanisms and health care training.
Melodie Holden, president, Venture Strategies Innovations, will discuss what maternal health supplies are available and share lessons learned for distributing these supplies to trained health care workers. Elizabeth Leahy Madsen, senior research associate, Population Action International, will discuss the access challenges and gaps in supply chain mechanisms. John Skibiak, director of the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, will address the feasibility of integrating maternal health supplies into existing family planning supply mechanisms. Dotian Wanogo Ali, chief technical advisor of reproductive health supplies, UNFPA, will share experiences and lessons learned for implementation of family planning and maternal health supply chains in Madagascar.
About the Maternal Health Policy Series
The reproductive and maternal health community finds itself at a critical point, drawing increased attention and funding, but still confronting more than 350,000 deaths each year and a high unmet need for family planning. The Policy Dialogue series seeks to galvanize the community by focusing on important issues within the maternal health community. The Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative is pleased to present this series with its co-conveners, the Maternal Health Task Force and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and is grateful to USAID’s Bureau for Global Health for further technical assistance.
If you are interested, but unable to attend the event, please tune into the live or archived webcast. The webcast will begin approximately 10 minutes after the posted meeting time. Powerpoint presentations will be available online prior to meeting time. You will need Windows Media Player to watch the webcast. To download the free player, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download.
Directions: Woodrow Wilson Center at the Ronald Reagan Building: 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (”Federal Triangle” stop on Blue/Orange Line), 5th floor conference room. A map to the Center is available at www.wilsoncenter.org/directions. Note: Photo identification is required to enter the building. Please allow additional time to pass through security.
Tags: Advancing Policy Dialogue on Maternal Health, events, maternal health commodities, maternal health policy, Woodrow Wilson Center, Woodrow Wison International Center for Scholars
Posted in Announcements | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010 by Christopher Lindahl
Please join the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative, the Maternal Health Task Force, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today at 3:00PM for the eighth event of the series on Advancing Policy Dialogue on Maternal Health: New Applications for Existing Technologies to Improve Maternal Health. For event details, click here.
If you are interested, but unable to attend the event, please tune into the live or archived webcast, which will begin approximately 10 minutes after the posted meeting time. You will need Windows Media Player to watch the webcast.
Tags: maternal health policy, Maternal Health Policy Series, MHTF, technology, UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, Woodrow Wilson Center, Woodrow Wison International Center for Scholars
Posted in Announcements, News | No Comments »
Monday, October 18th, 2010 by Christopher Lindahl
Last week, Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika lifted a ban on traditional birth attendants (TBAs) that had been in place since 2007, saying:
We need to train traditional birth attendants in safer delivery methods. We should not completely stop them because their work is very important. We should train them to assist us in addressing the health challenges that we are facing.
Expanding opportunities for non-physicians to act as skilled birth attendants may help to stem the tide of maternal deaths in countries where doctors, midwives and nurses may not exist in the needed numbers. Evidence suggests that having a skilled birth attendant present at birth leads to fewer incidences maternal and child mortality and morbidity. If TBAs are properly trained as Mutharika suggests, they may be able to play a major role in reducing Malawi’s high maternal mortality ratio.
In January 2010, with the support of MHTF and UNFPA, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a Maternal Health Policy Dialogue on “Human Resources for Maternal Health: Midwives, TBAs and Task-Shifting.” To view the webcast and read the event summary, click here. For other events in the Policy Dialogue Series, click here.
Tags: Christopher Lindahl, Malawi, maternal morbidity, maternal mortality, maternal mortality ratio, MHTF, morbidity, mortality, Policy Dialogue Series, TBAs, traditional birth attendants, UNFPA, Woodrow Wison International Center for Scholars
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Thursday, May 6th, 2010 by KateMitch
Please join the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative, the Maternal Health Task Force, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the fifth event of the series on Advancing Policy Dialogue on Maternal Health.
This event will feature:
Víctor Conde Altamirano, Obstetric Nets Manager, CARE Bolivia
John Koku Awoonor-Williams, East Regional Director, Ghana Health Service
Subodh Satyawadi, Chief Operating Officer, GVK Emergency Management & Research Institute of India
Patricia Bailey, Public Health Specialist, Family Health International and Columbia University.
May 20, 2010
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
6th Floor Flom Auditorium
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Please RSVP to globalhealth@wilsoncenter.org with your name and affiliation.
Access to skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care are key solutions to improving maternal morality, yet functioning referral systems and poor road infrastructure delay efficient care. Increased research, funding, knowledge sharing, and coordination between private and public sectors are necessary to make transportation and referral a global health priority.
Today’s discussion will highlight the lessons and knowledge gaps identified at a Wilson Center workshop in Washington DC with 25 experts from the transportation and maternal health communities, as well as representatives from the private sector and donor community.
Víctor Conde Altamirano, obstetric nets manager, CARE-Bolivia will discuss how transportation and referral data is being incorporated into Bolivia’s health system to improve maternal health. John Koku Awoonor-Williams, east regional director, Ghana Health Service, will address the utilization and maintenance of ambulances in rural Ghana. Subodh Satyawadi, chief operating officer, GVK Emergency Management Institute will discuss the lessons learned and challenges faced through India’s “Emergency 108” call system. Strategies and recommendations identified at the Wilson Center workshop in Washington DC will be provided by Patricia Bailey, public health specialist, Family Health International.
About the Maternal Health Policy Series
The reproductive and maternal health community finds itself at a critical point, drawing increased attention and funding, but still confronting more than a half million deaths each year and a high unmet need for family planning. The Policy Dialogue series seeks to galvanize the community by focusing on important issues within the maternal health community.
The Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative is pleased to present this series with its co-conveners, the Maternal Health Task Force and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and is grateful to USAID’s Bureau for Global Health for further technical assistance. The Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health provided valuable technical assistance to this transportation and referral meeting.
If you are interested, but unable to attend the event, please tune into the live or archived webcast at www.wilsoncenter.org. The webcast will begin approximately 10 minutes after the posted meeting time. You will need Windows Media Player to watch the webcast. To download the free player, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download.
Location: Woodrow Wilson Center at the Ronald Reagan Building: 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (”Federal Triangle” stop on Blue/Orange Line), 6th Floor Flom Auditorium. A map to the Center is available at www.wilsoncenter.org/directions.
Note: Photo identification is required to enter the building. Please allow additional time to pass through security.
For information on previous and future events in this series, click here.
Tags: AMDD, Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD), Bolivia, CARE, CARE Bolivia, Family Health International, family planning, funding, Ghana Health Service, GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute of India, infrastructure, John Koku Awoonor-Williams, maternal health, maternal health community, Maternal Health Task Force, MHTF, Patricia Bailey, Policy Dialogue Series, private sector, public sector, referral, reproductive health community, research, roads, skilled birth attendants, Subodh Satyawadi, Transportaion, Transportation, unmet need, USAID, USAID's Bureau for Global Health, Victor Conde Altamirano, Woodrow Wilson Center, Woodrow Wilson Center's Global Health Initiative, Woodrow Wison International Center for Scholars
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Monday, April 5th, 2010 by KateMitch
Please join the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative and Environmental Change and Security Program, the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the fourth event of the series on Advancing Policy Dialogue on Maternal Health.
Family Planning in Fragile States: Overcoming Cultural and Financial Barriers
The event will feature:
Nabila Zar Malick, Director, Rahnuma Family Planning Association of Pakistan
Karima Tunau, OB/GYN, Usmanu Danpodiyo Hospital
Grace Kodindo, Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health, Columbia University
Sandra Krause, Reproductive Health Program Director, Women’s Refugee Commission
April 29, 2010
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
6th Floor Flom Auditorium
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Please RSVP to globalhealth@wilsoncenter.org with your name and affiliation.
Countries threatened by conflict rank lowest on maternal and newborn health indicators and have fewer resources for reproductive health services such as family planning and emergency obstetric care. Improving access to sexual and reproductive health services in fragile states may challenge cultural beliefs and gender relations within a country. Program managers, policymakers, and donors can mitigate these tensions through culturally sensitive approaches and increased female participation during peacebuilding efforts.
Nabila Zar Malick, director, Rahnuma Family Planning Association of Pakistan, Karima Tunau, OB/GYN, Usmanu Danpodiyo Hospital in Nigeria, and Grace Kodindo, Chadian OB/GYN and assistant professor of population and family health, at Columbia University will discuss their experiences implementing family planning services in Pakistan, Nigeria, and Chad and address the cultural and financial barriers they overcame to increase investments for maternal and reproductive health in their countries. Sandra Krause, reproductive health program director, Women’s Refugee Commission, will offer recommendations on how policymakers can improve access to reproductive health services for women in fragile settings.
About the Maternal Health Policy Series
The reproductive and maternal health community finds itself at a critical point, drawing increased attention and funding, but still confronting more than a half million deaths each year and a high unmet need for family planning. The Policy Dialogue series seeks to galvanize the community by focusing on important–and in some cases controversial–issue within the maternal health community.
The Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative is pleased to present this series with its co-conveners, the Maternal Health Task Force and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and is grateful to USAID’s Bureau for Global Health for further technical assistance.
If you are interested, but unable to attend the event, please tune into the live or archived webcast at www.wilsoncenter.org. The webcast will begin approximately 10 minutes after the posted meeting time. You will need Windows Media Player to watch the webcast. To download the free player, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download.
Location: Woodrow Wilson Center at the Ronald Reagan Building: 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (”Federal Triangle” stop on Blue/Orange Line), 6th Floor Flom Auditorium. A map to the Center is available here.
Note: Photo identification is required to enter the building. Please allow additional time to pass through security.
For information on previous and future events in this series, click here.
Tags: Advancing, CEDPA, Centre for Development and Population Activities, Columbia University, conflict, conflict settings, disaster settings, family planning, Family Planning in Fragile States: Overcoming Cultural and Financial Barriers, fourth event, Grace Kodindo, Karima Tunau, maternal health, Maternal Health Task Force, MHTF, Nabila Zar Malick, Population and Family Health, Rahnuma Family Planning Association of Pakistan, reproductive health, reproductive health in conflict settings, Sandra Krause, UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, unmet need, USAID, Usmanu Danpodiyo Hospital, Wilson Center, Women's Refugee Commission, Woodrow Wilson Center's Global Health Initiative, Woodrow Wison International Center for Scholars
Posted in Announcements, Meetings, News, Opportunities, Policy | No Comments »
Global Maternal Health Conference 2010: Empowering the Next Generation
Monday, August 30th, 2010 by Christopher LindahlWritten by Calyn Ostrowski, Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars
“We do not need new legislation… we need affordable, effective, and scalable solutions,” said Shn Gulamnabi Azad, Minister of Health, India, at the opening ceremony of the first-ever Global Maternal Health Conference in New Delhi.
Co-hosted by the Maternal Health Task Force and the Public Health Institute of India, this three-day technical meeting builds upon the momentum of Women Deliver and the G8 summit by bringing together 700 researchers, program managers, advocates, media, and young people to exchange ideas, share data, develop strategies, and identify solutions for reducing maternal mortality.
In order to reduce India’s maternal mortality rates, Azad called for the repositioning of family planning programs to include maternal and child health and not limit the scope of services to population control as historically executed. Improving family planning and maternal health services must also address the reproductive health needs of adolescent girls and India is currently developing a new ministry that will target gender inequality, poverty, early child marriages, as well as other critical health issues important to young girls such as the dissemination of sanitary napkins.
“Although the legal age of marriage is 18, there are districts in India where 35 percent of the population is married between the ages of 15-18,” said Azad. During the side event Adolescent Girls: Change Agents for Healthy Mother and Child technical experts such as Anil Paranjap of the Indian Institute of Health Management presented scientific evidence that girls who marry between 15-18 are five times more likely to die during childbirth than women in their early 20’s.
“We still have deep-rooted subordination that makes it very difficult for young women to realize their sexual and reproductive health rights,” said Sanam Anwar with the Oman Medical College. Interventions such as the UDAAN project–a private-public partnership between CEDPA and the Government of India–demonstrate promising solutions for empowering young people through the use of existing infrastructure. In collaboration with teachers, parents, principals, and students this project successfully increased leadership skills and improved youth knowledge on menstruation, health, friendship, peer pressure, early marriage, and reproductive health, said Sudipta Mukhopadhyay of CEDPA.
Empowering “young people” to improve maternal health also requires that the community support committed new thinkers and future leaders. The Young Champions of Maternal Health Program is a unique and refreshing group of young professionals from 13 countries dedicated to improving maternal health, and I look forward to learning how this new energy will further the maternal health agenda.
Calyn Ostrowski is the Coordinator of the Maternal Health Dialogue Series in partnership with the Maternal Health Task Force and UNFPA at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Stay up to date with the conference happenings! Follow the Maternal Health Task Force and EngenderHealth on Twitter: @MHTF and @EngenderHealth. The conference hashtag is #GMHC2010.
For more posts about the Global Maternal Health Conference, click here.
For the live stream schedule, click here.
Check back soon for the archived videos of today’s presentations.
[Translate]
Tags: adolescent girls, Anil Paranjap, Calyn Ostrowski, CEDPA, data, early marriage, family planning, Global Maternal Health Conference 2010, India, Indian Institute of Health Management, Maternal Health Dialogue Series, maternal mortality, Minister of Health, New Delhi, Oman Medical College, Public Health Institute of India, reproductive health, Saram Anwar, Shn Gulamnabi Azad, solutions, Sudipta Mukhopadhyay, UDAAN project, UNFPA, Women Deliver, Woodrow Wison International Center for Scholars, Young Champions of Maternal Health, young people
Posted in Commentary, Meetings, Young Champions of Maternal Health | 1 Comment »