As a child growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I watched my mother go to work each day, dedicated to running our local women’s health clinic. A staunch defender of reproductive rights, she was armed with more than a team of medical experts, but also the kindness and wisdom that patients—many of them young women—relied on to prepare for the rest of their lives.
Ten years ago today, the continent of Europe was certified polio-free. This was a critical landmark and helped to accelerate efforts to stamp out the disease everywhere.
Frontline health workers, including nurses, midwives and community health workers, are the first and often the only link to health care for millions of people living in the developing world. These invaluable figures in communities throughout the world are critical in settings where overall primary health care systems are weak or inaccessible.
The Sixty-fifth session of the World Health Assembly is took place in Geneva from May 21–26, 2012. At this session, the Health Assembly is discussing a number of public health issues such as universal health coverage, noncommunicable diseases, nutrition, the Millennium Development Goals, adolescent pregnancy, polio eradication, research and development, International Health Regulations, and the WHO reform process.
My wife Kate, the mother of our two young boys, understood immediately when I explained to her that I wasn’t going to be home on Mother’s Day. Instead, I was traveling to Africa. She knew that my trip would help bring hope, awareness, and life-saving bed nets to refugees fleeing violence in South Sudan.
Chris Helfrich, director of the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign, reports on the South Sudanese humanitarian crisis from Nairobi, Kenya.
When the electricity goes out, you know how quickly and easily your life is disrupted. You can’t watch television; your food could spoil in the refrigerator; you stumble in the darkness to find a flashlight or candles; the traffic lights might even be out of service in your neighborhood.
At age 34, shortly after reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, l decided that I’d had enough excitement and was ready to start a family. Eight months ago, my little girl was born. Little did I know she would be my greatest adventure.
Mother’s Day should be a happy time. But for a mother whose child died from pneumonia, this Mother’s Day will be a tragic reminder of everything she’s lost. With a simple vaccine, this all-too-common tragedy can be prevented…for millions of mothers and their children. But we need your help to make a difference.
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has joined forces with the United Nations Secretary General, Ban-Ki Moon to call us to attention this World Malaria Day. Why? Because Malaria still kills a child every minute. Every minute of every day.
