Vital

News & commentary about the global health workforce

Community Health Workers Make a Difference for Pediatric HIV Clients in South Sudan

Lawrence Monday links health facilities and communities to extend HIV care and treatment services.

Move Over, Unmet Need—There’s a New Family Planning Indicator in Town

Measuring “unmet need” has helped countries make great progress in family planning. But is there something better?

Health Supply Chain Capacity Development: A Must for the Sustainable Development Goals and Health Equity

Supply chains are the “arteries” of health care, delivering life-saving medicines to the clients who need them. But they don't run themselves.

Seven Tactics that Are Leading Francophone West Africa toward a Contraceptive Revolution

For decades, family planning indicators in francophone West Africa wouldn’t budge. Here’s how the Ouagadougou Partnership is moving the needle on family planning.

As Ebola Transmissions End in Guinea, What about the Heroes Left Behind?

The WHO announced today that Ebola transmissions have ended in Guinea. Now a new kind of hard work begins.

Who Keeps Health Services Running in Kokwanyo Village?

Clients come to Kokwanyo Dispensary for HIV treatment, family planning, maternal care, and more. And they all see Nurse Richard.

From Lost Boy to HIV Data Expert in South Sudan

Civil war drove him from his home when he was just a child, but now he’s back and helping the government track and manage HIV data like never before.

Read between the Lines: An Open Source Lesson from Tech Billionaires

Do we in the development community have the courage to drop flashy innovations that just don't work?

In Africa's Meningitis Belt, Health Care Is Crucial

History now records 1996 as one of West Africa’s worst meningitis outbreaks. Dr. Babacar Gueye remembers it well.

Universal Health Coverage as a Global Goal: Is Everything Old New Again?

If the global community wasn’t able to achieve health for all by the year 2000, how can we do it by 2030? Here are a few ways.