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.

Why the Global Health Initiative Needs a Health Workforce Strategy

Entering a one-room health clinic in Cambodia’s Pursat Province, I saw a heavily pregnant woman suffering on the dirt floor. A midwife was the lone health worker staffing this rural post.

Going Digital: Taking the Maternal Health Community Online

The “Maternal health: digital” panel closed the conference with exciting, new, and innovative ways for using technology for global health and maternal health issues.

“What about men?”

On a recent trip to Malawi, I visited the rural community of Matapila outside of the capital, Lilongwe, where a theater group was performing a series of short plays on how couples negotiate sex and make decisions about if and when to have children.

NDM-1: A Potential Superbug Epidemic—What Does it Mean for Health Workers?

New Delhi recently joined the ranks of other metropolitan cities like Washington D.C., Berlin, Singapore, Beijing, and Moscow with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, known as a ‘superbug,’ taking its namesake.

Leaving Windhoek—The Inequality of Life and Death in Namibia

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was walking the wide roads of downtown Windhoek, Namibia.

Demanding Accountability: Key for Continuing Gains in Maternal Health

I’m really pleased to hear discussion here in Delhi at the Global Maternal Health Conference about our collective accountability. For the past several decades, we have lamented the fact that half a million women’s lives were lost every year to pregnancy-related causes.

Small Sums, Incredible Impacts: Microdonation Challenge to Support Health Worker Education in Malawi

Compared to some health interventions such as buying a bednet, educating a new health worker requires a relatively large sum of money, but it is an investment with wide-reaching and enduring impact.

Proud to be Indian and Making a Difference in Women’s Lives

Sitting here in Delhi at the Global Maternal Health Conference in the India Habitat Center, I feel proud to be Indian. Yes, in part it is that the conference is well-run, and the speakers are thoughtful and thought-provoking, but also it is the fact that India is among the countries showing steady decline in the numbers of deaths related to pregnancy.

No More Business as Usual: Strengthening Health Sector Human Resources Management

On August 18, I saw these words in front of me: “The ‘competency of HR workers’ is one of seven ‘major obstacles to building a first-class federal workforce’. [. . .] It's not that the human relations professionals are incompetent. They don't have the training or the technology needed to keep up with a quickly changing workplace.”

Local Context Matters to Women’s Lives: A Report from Delhi

To the business world, it’s location, location, location.