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To Combat Climate Change Ethiopia Plants Over 350 Million Trees in 12 Hours
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. Chinese Proverb One of my favorite countries in the world is Ethiopia. I have had the pleasure of visiting four times traversing the north and south and find it gorgeous in so many regions. I cannot wait to go back…
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Radiotherapy will be required to treat cervical cancer in low-and-middle income countries
When I was in Zambia I saw ways in which nurses treat cervical cancer in low resource settings. Women who do not benefit from the HPV vaccine and still develop cervical cancer are often subject to visual inspection of the cancer typically with a digital camera followed by cryotherapy to freeze the diseased part of…
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NEW: Drug That Prevents PostPartum Hemorrhage Added To WHO Essential Medicines List
As I have written many times before postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) or excessive uterine bleeding after childbirth is the leading cause of maternal mortality in low-and-middle income countries. The recommended drug to prevent PPH according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is oxytocin. When administered in its recommended dose it causes little to no side effects.…
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Netflix Movie Reveals Grim Reality of Nigeria to Europe Sex Trafficking
Tens of thousands of young Nigerian girls and women leave their country every year with sincere hopes of starting a brand-new life in Europe where they believe they will be met with ample job and educational opportunities to provide for their families. That is what they are often told by “recruiters” in their home states…
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Maximize Traveling for Good While Minimizing Your Footprint
There is a lot of need in the world and it takes a special person who willingly gets on a plane to aid communities that can use a helping hand from added resources (monetary and otherwise) to expertise, to volunteering. While traveling for good is on the proverbial bucket list for many, more thought should…
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First Malaria Vaccine Rolls Out in Malawi
It is heartening to see progress in the fight against malaria. Over the past thirty years and with hundreds of millions of dollars invested thus far, the RTS,S malaria vaccine was officially rolled out yesterday in Malawi. In 2017, I wrote about the vaccine trials that began in 2009 and the announcement of the three countries…
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11 Maternal Health Organizations to Support This Year
Maternal mortality continues to be a major problem the world over. The United States is the only developed country where maternal death rates are increasing especially for non-Hispanic black women. And in low-and-middle income countries, approximately 830 women die each day from pregnancy-related, preventable causes.
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BioLite Brightens East Africa One Home at a Time
I have visited enough traditional family huts and homes in rural Africa to know that light and power are precious commodities. When the last bit of sun streams through the windows and doors in the evenings, the only recourse for light again is when the sun shines brightly in the morning. That is a long…
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Kenya’s Marie Stopes ban may drive more women to unsafe abortions
According to the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board, they banned abortion services provided by Marie Stopes following complaints from the general public. Restrictive laws mean that women resort to unsafe means. jbdodane/Flickr Michael Mutua, African Population and Health Research Center The Kenyan Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board has stopped the NGO Marie Stopes International from performing…
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Sexual Violence is Off the Charts in South Sudan – But a New Female Head Chief Could Help Bring Change
PHOTO: Navi Pillay (third from right), UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, poses for a group photo with South Sudanese women from Jonglei State who shared stories about their experiences with human rights violations, including violence, child abduction, and forced marriage. UN Photo/Elizabeth Murekio By Rachel Ibreck, Goldsmiths, University of London A woman was recently elected…
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Suffering in silence: how Kenyan women live with profound childbirth injuries
Shutterstock Kathomi Gatwiri, Southern Cross University Sasha is 22-years-old. She was married off when she was just nine and by the time she was 11, she was pregnant with her first child, and unprepared for childbirth. So when labor came, in the middle of the night – in her geographically isolated village in rural Kenya…
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Kenya Maternity Fee Waiver is Great – But There are Still Gaps in the Policy
Kenya’s pregnancy policy hasn’t addressed the inequalities between rich and poor. Shutterstock Estelle Monique Sidze, African Population and Health Research Center About 21 pregnant women die every day in Kenya due to complications from childbirth. That’s equivalent to two 10-seater commuter micro minibuses, known as matatus, crashing every day with the loss of all the…
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Finnish Fashion Designer Creates Maternity Wear for 12-Year-Olds to Highlight Worldwide Child Pregnancy
Child pregnancy is a worldwide blight. Seven million girls in developing countries under the age of 18 become pregnant every year meaning that they have to grow up too soon, put an end to their education, look for adequate healthcare that they can afford, earn money somehow, possibly marry a much older suitor, and figure out…
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Why Kenya Needs to Adopt ‘Milk Banks’ to Reduce Infant Deaths
Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, Brown University Mother’s milk has an enormous impact on child survival. While in Kenya it has improved over the past decade, the number of children who die before five years remains significant. The rate has decreased from 115 per 1000 live births in 2003 to 52 in 2014. Neighbors Rwanda (2008), Tanzania (2012)…
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How a Breastfeeding Initiative in Rural Kenya Changed Attitudes
Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age. Alissa Everett/Reuters Judith Kimiywe, Kenyatta University and Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, Brown University There’s a growing global recognition of proper infant nutrition in the child’s first 1000 days of life. This can be monitored through encouraging proper nutrition during pregnancy and the first two years of life…
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Why 20 Million People Are on the Brink of Starvation and How You Can Help
It’s difficult to fathom that 20 million people are on the brink of starvation in Sub-Sharan Africa and the Middle East, but the statistic is true. In fact, the region is facing the largest humanitarian crisis in over seventy years and if no help is provided 1.4 million children are at risk of death. Not…
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Why Family Planning Matters for Maternal Deaths and Child Survival
Contraception empowers women to plan the number of children they will have. Tizta Tilahun Degfie, African Population and Health Research Center Family planning improves child survival and reduces maternal deaths. But the uptake of family planning in Africa is only 33%, nearly half the world average of 64%. The contraceptive prevalence rate in African countries…
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Ensuring Safer Pregnancies for Kenyan Women in Urban Slums
Antenatal care is important during pregnancy. Reuters Blessing Mberu, African Population and Health Research Center; Kanyiva Muindi, African Population and Health Research Center, and Patricia Elungata, McGill University Globally, there’s a general decline in the number of women who die from pregnancy or childbirth complications. However in Kenya, it remains high at 488 deaths per…
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Coca-Cola Celebrates Mother’s Day With Women Artisans #5by20
Last year I was happy to see women in Nepal benefitting from Coca-Cola’s 5by20 program. By 2020 Coca-Cola has pledged to help five million women entrepreneurs around the globe by allowing them to earn money through its value chain. That could mean teaching women valuable business skills as I saw in Kathmandu to providing women with…
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Increasing Caesarean Sections in Africa Could Save More Mothers’ Lives
Shutterstock Salome Maswime, University of the Witwatersrand and Gwinyai Masukume, University of the Witwatersrand Caesarean sections have been lifesaving procedures for hundreds of thousands of women across the world who experience complications during labour. Globally, it’s estimated that just under 20% of births take place via caesarean section – a percentage that’s gone up over…