Community Health Workers: Meeting the Unmet Need for Family Planning in West and Central Africa

A recent New York Times article featured an updated United Nations forecast that projects the world’s population will reach 10.1 billion by the end of the century, rather than stabilizing at nine billion midcentury as previously predicted.

Only Human: The Challenge of Intentional Knowledge Management

All organizations and projects use, capture, and share knowledge, but without prioritizing knowledge management, KM doesn’t happen systematically.

Proud to be a Nurse

Years ago, at a workshop on shaping health policy for nurse leaders, I heard a speaker say, “Nurses are this country’s best kept secret, and we need to wake up.”

Asking Smart Questions: Where Are Health Workers within Service Integration?

I was struck by the extent to which the health worker as input or output in the evaluation of service integration models is conceptually absent.

Making Work Safe for Health Workers

During my medical residency, several of my friends stuck themselves with used needles while caring for patients. I remember their anxiety as they waited for the blood tests to arrive that indicated whether they were at risk for HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C.

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

The ‘Fatal Flow’ of Health Worker Migration

More than a year after its devastating earthquake, Haiti is still struggling to recover and rebuild its health system.

A Shout Out to 29 Amazing Zambian Women and 1 Man Caring for Their Community

I met an amazing group of people in Zambia: the Chishilano Home-Based Care Group at the Shelazi Centre. They are a group of about 30 volunteers, who care for people in their community living with HIV/AIDS.

Without the User, There Is No System: Harnessing Technology through the eHealth Workforce

When we talk about building strong health systems and the health workers needed to run these systems, we often think about doctors or nurses or community health workers. Just as crucial to health...

An Imperative to Act: Family Planning in West Africa

Earlier this month, I was in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso with delegates from eight French-speaking West African countries* for the conference, “Family Planning in the context of Population and Development: the Urgency to Act.”