Focusing on Women, Girls, and Gender Equality: Let’s Not Forget Female Health Workers

The Obama administration's Global Health Initiative has taken the bold step of putting the principle of "women, girls, and gender equality" at the top of the list.

Community Health Workers Save Lives

In places where there are no nurses or doctors or people have to travel a distance to see one, community health workers play an invaluable role of offering basic health care and information to often isolated or remote communities

Walking in Other People’s Shoes

Task shifting in low-resource settings means transferring tasks from one health care worker to another—and it comes with challenges.

Once You Drink from the Nile, You Will Come Back for More

The work we do in Southern Sudan—soon to be South Sudan—has been far more than symbolic.

Open Access: The Only Viable Option for Change

Many people do not have access to a medical or academic library that subscribes to medical journals; even a low $10 document viewing fee is a burden.

Creative Approaches to the Global Health Workforce Crisis

Five years ago the World Health Organization told us that 57 countries had a critical shortage of health workers—fewer than 2.3 service providers for every thousand people. Today, all 57 countries are still below this threshold. What’s holding us back from faster progress?

Text Messages: An Essential Tool for Reaching Remote Health Workers in the Kenyan Health System

Like many sub-Saharan African countries, Kenya has a severe shortage of health workers, especially in rural and hard-to-reach areas, which makes it difficult or impossible for people in these areas to...

Global Health and American Moral Power

My parents survived the Holocaust; they were Jewish children who spent the war in hiding in France. After the war, they received CARE packages from America. The Marshall Plan helped rebuild France. I once asked my mother what this meant to her. She said, “After all we had been through, it reminded me that there were still good people in the world.”

By Grace Alone

Transitioning “fistula work” is not easy. Treating obstetric fistula is a service by grace alone, especially if you’re a government worker.

Uganda’s Electronic Databases: From Guesswork to Real Data Management

I used to work at the Registrar of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council where I was the custodian of all information pertaining to the Ugandan nursing cadre. I often felt humbled when people, including those from high-ranking organizations, would come to me seeking data.