Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

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The Top Five Jobs in Global Health

Top 5 Jobs in Global HealthThe ongoing international fight for global health employs many people around the world. Many organizations, such as the World Health Organization and Medecins Sans Frontieres, employ and dispatch medical professionals on a daily basis to crisis areas. These include doctors, nurses and paramedics.

However, many people do not realize that there is a multitude of global healthcare workers behind the scenes making sure that the proper aid reaches the people who need it the most. Many of these people spend time studying aspects of global health such as policy, law and financing. These global healthcare jobs are considered non-clinical careers. Below are the top five jobs in global health that focus on non-clinical work.

Global Health Policy Analyst

A global health policy analyst is usually a government-based job, which means that the analyst will be grounded in the country of the government or organization that is sending the aid. A worker in this field will gather data, assess healthcare initiatives, assess new developments and policies and consult with other global healthcare professionals.

Many times a global health policy analyst will deal with foreign aid and medical relief, both in receiving it and deciding how to distribute it. They will also analyze other countries’ global health policies and be an influencer in deciding when to distribute medical-based foreign aid to other countries.

Global Health Educator

Global health is an important issue around the world and to be able to help as much as possible, the public must be informed. A global health educator is a trained professional that manages and provides educational programs for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. These programs can be geared towards individuals, families or even entire communities.

An educator will collect data to identify a community’s health needs as well as the current policies and environment. Global health educators can also provide medical and financial resources to the community.

Community Health Worker

A community health worker works directly with the community they serve and are considered one of the frontline global healthcare professionals in any designated area. Many times a community health worker will serve as a link between the people of the community and health institutions, governments and aid agencies.

These global health workers also work to build strong relationships with the local community, becoming a trusted and informative person for those in need of medical assistance to lean on. Community health workers can be found in rural and urban areas and in some of the richest and poorest countries in the world.

Health Systems Planner

A health systems planner is an integral non-clinical worker in global health. Planners support the health system of individual countries through population-based planning, research and innovations. They also establish relationships with clinical and non-clinical workers, global governments and relief groups.

Though a health systems planner rarely works directly with the communities they are responsible for helping, all of the planning and research they do is in direct correlation with the community’s growth and needs.

Clinic Administrator

Administration is an important variable to the success of global health. A clinic administrator usually manages a health clinic for physicians and other medical personnel. They take care of the clinic’s financial and budgeting needs.

In addition, they are usually in charge of hiring new staff. This is particularly important in health clinics, as they need to be equipped with a whole host of doctors to deal with a variety of problems.

These are the top five jobs in global health. Every global healthcare worker is an integral part of the fight for global health, whether they are doctors or administrators. These jobs in global health outline how important each aspect of the various and complex global healthcare systems are.

– Courtney Wallace

Photo: Flickr

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Health Media Campaigns in Africa Save Children

Health Media Campaigns in Africa Save ChildrenApproximately 5.6 million children younger than five die each year, more than half from preventable causes. Development Media International (DMI) aims to lower this statistic through informative health media campaigns in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. DMI has run educational media campaigns in over 30 countries and is currently focused on large-scale campaigns in Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Mozambique.

More than 15,000 children in developing countries die each day due to conditions resulting from extreme poverty. Simple, and often free, actions like frequent handwashing, recognizing and treating illnesses sooner, breastfeeding and using bed nets would lower the child mortality rate in these developing countries.

Educational media campaigns have the potential to save one in five of these young children, or approximately 3,000 children per day. The London School of Hygiene estimates that by running campaigns in just 10 countries, DMI can save a million lives.

Development Media International produces educational media content, including radio and TV announcements, focusing on lowering the mortality rate of children under five. Informational broadcasts discuss topics like hygiene, family planning and ways to treat malaria and diarrhea. The content is chosen based on the country’s needs and is tailored to the host country’s religious and cultural norms.

Radio is still the main source of information for families in sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 59 percent of households with a radio in sub-Saharan Africa listen to programming at least once a week. DMI broadcasts the health media campaigns in Africa several times a day in the local language and partners with the most popular regional radio stations to reach the widest possible audience.

Unlike other nonprofits that focus on supplementing the “supply-side” of relief by funneling aid to hospitals, schools and infrastructure, DMI targets the “demand side” of relief. This means that DMI aims to increase the demand for relief services provided through educational media campaigns. Targeted informational campaigns, like radio announcements that clearly explain the benefits of bed nets for malaria prevention and where to collect free bed nets, can breach the cognitive gap preventing families in developing countries from utilizing available resources.

For example, 600,000 children under five died from diarrhea, pneumonia or malaria in Central and West Africa in 2015. Two-thirds of West African children displaying symptoms of these diseases are not taken to a hospital. All three of these illnesses can be easily treated by a healthcare provider. DMI’s health media campaigns in Africa — specifically in Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Mozambique — address the signs and treatments of common diseases to increase child survival rates.

Limited data exist on the effectiveness of educational media campaigns. However, findings from a randomized controlled trial of DMI’s child survival messaging in Burkina Faso had promising results. The organization found there was a 35 percent increase in the number of children under five who were brought for treatment for diarrhea, pneumonia or malaria after its educational radio messages were broadcast. This is a promising result that shows the great potential for DMI’s programs to help millions of children.

 – Katherine Parks

Photo: Flickr

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The Worst Consequences of Poverty

worst consequences of poverty

The causes and effects of poverty are often deeply interrelated. However, some consequences of poverty are so troubling that they stand out and need to be studied individually. Focusing on some of the worst consequences of poverty can unravel the causes of poverty and provide insight into how to eradicate poverty.

Some of the worst consequences of poverty include:

Increased Crime

At first glance, it might be easy to conclude that crime is a cause of poverty and not the other way around. However, poverty can render people hopeless and desperate enough to engage in criminal activities. For instance, a study done by the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime found that, even after controlling for the effects of a range of other factors such as substance misuse and poor family functioning that can influence violent behavior, “poverty had a significant and direct effect on young people’s likelihood to engage in violence at age 15.” Individuals growing up in communities with high levels of deprivation were significantly more likely to engage in violent activities.

Notably, this study found that those from low socioeconomic backgrounds had a greater likelihood of engaging in violence even if they also belonged to a “low risk” background.

Limited Access to Education

Poor children typically attend schools with inadequate facilities and receive the kind of education that hardly provides them with the tools to further their studies or seek employment, thereby restricting them and their children to poverty, which becomes a vicious cycle of poverty across generations. Additionally, geography can dictate if they even get to attend school. For instance, while a poor child in the U.S. can still attend school, a poor child in a rural area of Bangladesh might not have that opportunity. Distance, lack of transportation and financial resources often make it very difficult for poor children in developing nations to get an education.

There are stark differences between children from poor and wealthy backgrounds even in first world countries. For instance, a study done in the U.K. found that by the age of three, poorer children are estimated to be, on average, nine months behind children from wealthy households.

Health Issues

Health is perhaps the one area where poor people suffer the most. For instance, a disproportionately large percentage of diseases in low-income countries are caused by the consequences of poverty such as poor nutrition, indoor air pollution and lack of access to proper sanitation and health education. According to World Health Organization estimates, poverty-related diseases account for 45 percent of the disease burden in the poorest countries. Nearly all of these deaths are either preventable or treatable with existing medicines. For example, tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS make up nearly 18 percent of the disease burden in the poorest nations. Tuberculosis and malaria can both be prevented and treated, and education is crucial for the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Extremism

A recent study done by the United Nations Development Programme found that deprivation and marginalization along with weak governance contribute to violent extremism in young Africans. The study was based on interviews with 495 voluntary recruits to extremist organizations such as Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab and suggests that few economic prospects and little trust in the state to provide services and uphold human rights can lead an individual to partake in violent extremism. The conclusion was derived from the fact that most of the recruits reportedly came from marginalized communities, expressed frustration regarding their economic conditions, and felt an “acute sense of grievance towards the government.”

These are some of the worst consequences of poverty. These effects of poverty prove that, in order to achieve peace and safety in the world, poverty alleviation must be a focus.

– Mehruba Chowdhury

Photo: Pixabay

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Bollywood’s ‘Padman’ Tackles Issues of Women’s Health in India

Women's Health in IndiaOn Feb. 9, 2018, the Bollywood movie “Padman” was released to the largest film market in the world. “Padman” is exactly what it sounds like: a film about a man who creates pads. The Bollywood film chronicles the true story of Arunachalam Muruganantham, India’s pioneer of a revolutionary method of producing cost-effective sanitary pads for women and girls across the country.

The film is more than just a story about someone with a good idea; it is also challenging the stigma that surrounds menstruation and women’s health in India. “Period Poverty” is a global phenomenon that describes a woman’s inability to buy proper feminine hygiene products. In India in particular, the effects of period poverty hinder many girls’ abilities to stay in school. In India, one in four girls miss one day or more of school due to menstruation.

In lower and middle income countries, poor sanitation facilities are one thing that keep girls from attending school while on their period. Many schools in lower income countries also do not have the puberty education necessary to educate girls about menstruation. A recent study found that 71 percent of girls in India have no knowledge about menstruation prior to their first period.

Most cultures around the world also have a major stigma surrounding menstruation. In India in particular, a lot of taboo surrounds the topic of periods and women’s health in general. Restrictions for women on their period include not being able to enter religious shrines or come into contact with food, further keeping girls from school. Many girls are nervous about asking for help in the event of stained clothing due to improper feminine hygiene care.

Another thing keeping women from proper feminine hygiene care is cost. Until recently, 70 percent of Indian women could not afford to buy pads for their family. Instead, families resorted to using and reusing rags which quickly become unsanitary as breeding grounds for disease. In rural areas, materials other than rags were often used like sawdust or ash.

There are currently many NGOs operating around the world with the goal of creating affordable solutions for women suffering from period poverty. Many of these organizations are dedicated to solving issues of women’s health in India.

Innovator Arunachalam Muruganantham has created a machine that makes sanitary pads that are sold mostly to NGOs along with women’s self-help groups. The machine comes in two different types, a manual version and a semi-automated version. Each machine can make 200 to 250 pads a day and is designed to be user-friendly for women living in rural areas.

The pads sell for about 2.5 rupees, almost half of what it would be to buy them commercially. This system not only provides proper sanitary products for women, but also creates jobs for women living in rural areas as they learn how to use and operate the machine. Muruganatham has expanded his efforts well beyond India and is now working in 106 countries around the world.

An organization created in 2008 called Days for Girls is dedicated to improving women’s health around the world. The organization aims to provide girls with invaluable health education and provide its recipients with a Days for Girls kit. Each kit contains sanitary napkins, washcloths, soap, a menstrual chart and underwear. This is just one example of the many organizations fighting to end the stigma surrounding periods.

India is the largest film market in the world, with 2.2 billion movie tickets sold in 2016. Hopefully, the recent film, “Padman,” will reach a wide variety of audiences and bring more attention to issue of women’s health in India.

– Sonja Flancher

Photo: Flickr

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A Global Health Institute in Lebanon

A Global Health Institute in LebanonOn July 19, 2017, American University of Beirut (AUB) president Fadlo Khuri announced the development of AUB’s very own Global Health Institute, the first research and public health establishment in Lebanon and the wider region.

Under its “Health 2025 initiative,” AUB’s vision of contributing to national healthcare reform inspired the idea of establishing a Global Health Institute in Lebanon. An additional Health Sciences Complex will also be developed to complement the institute in its goal of empowering AUB’s footprint in health, for it to become a renowned medical center serving the clinical and surgical needs of the Arab population on a global scale. 

According to Khuri, the Global Health Institute in Lebanon will contribute positively to the development of a “sustainable future for health in the Arab World.” He also acknowledged his fellow board members, associate vice president for health affairs Shadi Saleh and executive vice president Dean Mohamed Sayegh. Their collaborative efforts over a period of 18 months have ultimately launched the institution. 

Donors & International Supporters

The Global Health Institute in Lebanon relies on the support of its generous donors. A five-year $1.35 million core foundational grant was given by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in recognition of the university’s ambitious healthcare mission. The IDRC leadership expressed its enthusiasm in collaborating with AUB to support new research leaders on current issues in healthcare, society, economics and the environment.

Interdisciplinary Programs

Currently, the Global Health Institute in Lebanon has launched three interdisciplinary programs directed by different health units within the university. The Conflict Medicine Program, the Refugee Health Program and the Nutrition, Obesity, and Related Disease Program have already exceeded expectations with their research projects, capacity-building events and outreach actions. New programs will be launched in the near future to broaden the range of activities and topics addressed by the institution.

Strategic Agreement with Humanitarian Leadership Academy

In August 2017, AUB’s Global Health Institute in Lebanon signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA), a global learning initiative providing people the skills needed to effectively prepare for and respond to crises. The Global Health Institute will pilot research, develop new structured learning pathways and contextualize content through advanced learning tools such as online courses to deliver necessary humanitarian capacity-building assessments to HLA.

One of the first activities organized by both parties was a workshop offered to representatives of different local and international organizations in Lebanon. The one-day workshop was focused on supporting local stakeholders responding to the Syrian Crisis.

Director of the Middle East Centre Brigitte Khair-Mountain praised the workshop for being a great opportunity to validate gaps in humanitarian learning present in the Middle East. She added that the workshop will allow stakeholders to prioritize best practices based on the region’s previous experiences in humanitarian response.

– Lea Sacca

Photo: Flickr

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Confronting Oral Health in Haiti

Oral Health in HaitiWith just over 10 million people, the Republic of Haiti has about 300 dentists serving the country’s entire population. The demand for high-quality dental care in Haiti is very great. Diseases and lack of preventative care are prevalent among Haitians because of the island’s shortage of dental healthcare providers. The topic of oral health in Haiti, like most developing countries, is given little to no attention because other health issues like cholera, TB, HIV and malnutrition are deemed more important.

Although Haiti is facing some tough times combating these major public health concerns, it is a must that dental care is provided, as it interlinks with one’s overall wellness. Infections like gum disease can heighten the chances of HIV transmission, tooth decay can contribute to poor nutrition and oral diseases can lead to bloodborne infections and ultimately cause heart attacks.

Haiti has about one dental hygienist for every 10,000 Haitians, and the majority of these dentists practice in or around the country’s capital of Port-au-Prince, leaving the remaining 48 percent living in rural Haiti with restricted access to dental care. In the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, the workforce for oral health in Haiti has faced countless challenges, mandating aid from international oral health organizations, including Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO).

HVO is a nonprofit organization committed to developing the resources and quality of healthcare in developing countries through education, training and professional development. HVO works with the American Dental Association Foundation (ADA) and the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons on international oral health programs.

To confront the issues that Haiti’s oral healthcare community is facing, HVO and ADA established the Adopt-a-Practice: Rebuilding Dental Offices in Haiti program. Through the program, the ADA and HVO have helped dentists in Haiti who were impacted by the earthquake to reconstruct their practices. The Adopt-a-Practice program has raised more than $129,000 in contributions from dentists and donors across the globe. Many of these doctors have been able to receive donations and new equipment in order to re-establish themselves and continue providing care.

HVO has also been collaborating with the Faculté d’Odontologie, Haiti’s only dental school that graduates about 15 to 20 students annually, for a training program that focuses on oral health in Haiti. A large percentage of Faculté d’Odontologie students leave the country once finished with school to practice elsewhere. The school’s goal is to graduate a group of dentists who can serve the Haitian community.

The more dentists that graduate from the Faculté d’Odontologie and are willing to stay in Haiti and serve their local community, the more they can contribute to improving dental health for Haitians that need it. Building a community of Haitian dentists all around Haiti is just the first step in the right direction.

– Zainab Adebayo

Photo: Flickr

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Major Accomplishments of Doctors Without Borders

Accomplishments of Doctors Without Borders
As poverty is addressed around the world, there is a need for people in all kinds of specialties but especially the medical field. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is an international medical humanitarian organization helping people from over 60 countries threatened by violence, conflict, neglect, natural disasters, epidemics, health emergencies and exclusion from healthcare.

They address areas where the need is greatest, unbiasedly delivering emergency medical aid. There have been many accomplishments of Doctors Without Borders, but here are three of their most recent projects:

 

1. Hospital in Tasnimarkhola 

Doctors Without Borders constructed a new hospital in Tasnimarkhola camp, Bangladesh in three weeks. The hospital has an emergency room, an intensive care unit, a pharmacy and sterilization unit. In its first month of operation, MSF staff admitted 220 patients with more than half needing treatment for measles.

 

2. Medical Assistance to Refugees

MSF provided medical assistance to refugees and migrants in the central Mediterranean. At sea, the search and rescue vessel Aquarius — run by MSF in cooperation with humanitarian organization SOS MEDITERRANEE — rescued 3,645 people and brought those rescued to ports of safety in Italy.

Doctors Without Borders also provided psychological first-aid after tragic rescues while also running several mental health and healthcare projects in Sicily. In Libya, the MSF teams provided medical assistance to refugees and migrants that were arbitrarily held in detention centers nominally under the control of the Ministry of Interior.

 

3. Treatment of War-Wounded People in Taiz 

Doctors Without Borders has a team treating war-wounded people in Taiz. Currently, Taiz is one of the most intense conflict zones in the country with extremely high humanitarian needs. Doctors Without Borders are one of the few medical organizations in Taiz who remain committed to working in Yemen.

These three specific accomplishments of Doctors Without Borders are some of many; the staff continuously works hard, laborious hours to save the lives of those affected by poverty.

War, disease and lack of resources are major contributing factors of poverty, and Doctors Without Borders have been able to impact these areas beyond its immediate activities, reaching populations or developing the use of practices in ways that have far-reaching and lasting consequences (see MSF-USA’s 2012 Annual Report). 

The accomplishments of Doctors Without Borders are so powerful because so many people are committed to addressing the great needs of poverty and bringing hope to those around the world.

– Julia Lee

Photo: Flickr

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Myanmar’s Healthcare System World’s Worst

Myanmar's healthcare system

In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked the healthcare systems of 190 countries throughout the world. In this ranking, Myanmar’s healthcare system was listed as the worst overall. Myanmar is still a grade three level of concern to the WHO, meaning multiple major events have affected public health in Myanmar.

 

Health of Mothers and Children

 

Shortly after becoming independent from Great Britain in 1948, Myanmar — formerly Burma — became the subject of a dictatorship, which lasted until November 2015. Under this dictatorship, nearly a third of the country’s budget was allocated for the military, while just over one percent of funding was set aside for Myanmar’s healthcare system. As a result, infant and maternal mortality rates and infectious illness rates were astronomical; the maternal mortality rate was listed at 380 per 100,000 live births, nearly 60 times the rate of Japan. As of 2013, the government increased healthcare spending to almost four percent, but the people of Myanmar are still struggling with overall wellness.

The Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association (MMCWA), founded to improve the health of mothers and children in Myanmar, has collaborated with various organizations like the International Planned Parenthood Federation, United Nations Population Fund and UNICEF to redesign Myanmar’s healthcare system. By providing education on disease and STI prevention, advocacy programs and family planning services, the MMCWA aims to lower maternal and infant mortality rates and help level out birth rates in Myanmar.

 

Overall Healthcare in Myanmar

 

Another organization, Medical Action Myanmar (MAM), is working from the bottom up to improve overall healthcare in Myanmar. MAM’s focus is on communities with little to no access to healthcare. The organization is working to create a network of health services and provide medical treatment and preventative education. To decrease the incidences of HIV in the country, MAM is providing safe needle exchange, condom distribution and STD treatment. The services are free for those who cannot afford them. 

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also provides public health interventions and health assistance to communities in Myanmar. USAID’s focus often lies in extending assistance to high-risk communities that wouldn’t usually have access to healthcare. By performing the country’s first-ever demographic survey, USAID was able to identify what health concerns were most prevalent and, over time, has provided treatment to those suffering from tuberculosis, malaria, diarrheal disease and other emergent health concerns.

Growth efforts in Myanmar are off to a slow start after being under a dictatorship for so long, but the government is determined to make a change. The Ministry of Health’s “Vision 2030” goal of improving nine major sectors of Myanmar’s healthcare system, although lofty, is an incredible beginning to the transformation of the country with the world’s worst healthcare.

– Anna Sheps

Photo: Pixabay

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The State of Water Quality in Nigeria

water quality in NigeriaIn Nigeria, one of the foremost necessities for survival has become a luxury reserved for a fortunate few. Clean water quality in Nigeria is essential, but for many, it is elusive if not outright unobtainable. Seventy million Nigerians lack access to safe drinking water, according to the Pulitzer Center. This means that more than 35 percent of people in the continent’s most populous nation face the daily deprivation of their basic needs.

A confluence of geographic, climatic and institutional factors contribute to their plight. Because much of Nigeria’s drinking water is unpurified groundwater, it usually contains pollutants and chemical contaminants like heavy metals responsible for debilitating diseases like dysentery, typhoid and cholera. Estimates suggest that these diseases – preventable with clean water and basic sanitation – claim the lives of about 60,000 Nigerian children under five each year.

The Nigerian government is tasked with reducing these numbers and providing potable water to their people. So far, they have been largely unsuccessful. Despite annual budgets of around $500 million for water sanitation programs, the country was unable to meet its goals for clean water access by 2015.

This is due to pervasive government corruption and ineffectual mechanisms to hold them accountable. Typically, funds are dispersed from the national government to the 36 states, which have discretion in spending and giving some of the money to localities.

According to a senior official, “There is no clear tracking for budgeted funds or expenditures…Most of the states don’t have water policies; there is no state in the federation that has a regulatory agency for water”.

To mitigate this corruption, the Pan Africa Chemistry Network suggests a national water strategy with clear roles for all institutions involved, as well as instruments to ensure better accountability. With such a framework in place, the government would be better equipped to meet the challenges of water quality in Nigeria.

Despite these setbacks, there are significant opportunities for improvement. Amid government dysfunction, optimism emanates from ingenuity. Technological innovation is enabling the purification of water across the continent.

One such invention to improve water quality in Nigeria is the EPA Compact Water Plant, which uses a process called hydraulic flocculation to clean contaminated water. One model uses a solar panel to provide the energy for the process, which can be performed by an individual. Tested in four African communities, this technology has performed well, and its proliferation across Nigeria could be an enormous improvement to current methods.

Janet Daniels, a resident of the capital city of Abuja, has an acute understanding of the impact such technology could have. Currently, she is forced to collect her water from a local borehole.

“We cannot wait for the government to do anything” she laments. “I have to boil the water [because] it has little particles of stuff in it”.

For people like Janet Daniels, gaining access to potable water is a daily toil. By emphasizing accountability and providing new technologies like the EPA Compact Water Plant, Nigeria can ensure that clean water is no longer mistaken for a luxury.

– Brendan Wade

Photo: Flickr

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Five Facts About Women’s Health in Africa

women's health in AfricaWomen’s health is of great importance to social and economic development in Africa. Representing over 50 percent of the country’s human resources, women’s health in Africa has major implications for the nation’s development. Overwhelming evidence shows that by supporting women’s health status and income levels, both households and communities are drastically improved. Therefore, women’s disempowerment must be regarded as a human rights issue. These are a few facts about women’s health in Africa today.

Maternal Deaths Are Still High

Although woman’s life expectancy at birth in more than 35 countries around the world is upwards of 80 years, in the African region, it is only 54 years, according to recent World Health Organization statistics. Sixty-six percent of maternal deaths happen in sub-Saharan Africa. One in 42 African women still dies during childbirth, as opposed to one in 2,900 in Europe.

Teenage Pregnancy Education

Due to the lack of education and healthcare, teenage mothers experience many complications and premature deaths since their young bodies are still developing and not ready for the physical and emotional trauma of childbirth. Because of this, according to the Center for Global Health and Diplomacy, teenage pregnancy needs to be at the top of the education agenda in Africa among young girls if they are going to be empowered to take control of their bodies, their futures and their health.

Improving Infrastructure Can Save Women’s Lives

Several of the major issues affecting women’s health in Africa are associated with poor living conditions. As the main gatherers of food for their households, women are exposed to particular health risks. There is ample evidence that improving infrastructure such as access to roads and providing safe and accessible water sources can considerably improve women’s health and economic well-being.

HIV Affects More Women than Men

In 2015, 20 percent of new HIV infections among adults were among women aged 15 to 24, despite this group only accounting for 11 percent of the global adult population, according to Avert.com. “In East and Southern Africa, young women will acquire HIV five to seven years earlier than their male peers. In 2015, there were on average 4,500 new HIV infections among young women every week, double the number of young men.”  In west and central Africa, 64 percent of new HIV infections among young people occurred among young women. Location has a lot to do with this, as adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 are five times more likely to be infected with HIV than boys of the same age in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea.

The Fight for Empowerment

U.N. Women, in partnership with the International Rescue Committee, puts great effort into the protection of women’s empowerment in Africa. This organization supports critical policies for social protection for women. Partnerships with national banks are expanding access to finance to make that happen, along with collaborations with regional and U.N. economic commissions. Although women’s health in Africa is in desperate need of reform, there are many organizations like this one fighting to make that possible.

Policy reform designed to improve women’s health in Africa must address the issue of women’s place in African society so that the health of women can be seen as a basic right.

– Kailey Brennan

Photo: Flickr