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Three Underrated Global Health Organizations

global health organizationsThere are many global health organizations that are widely recognized for the work they do around the world. These include organizations such as the Center for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, the United States Agency for International Development and PATH.

There are also organizations around the world who have done a lot for the health community that are not talked about as much. Here are some organizations that have made differences in local and global communities also and deserve to be recognized:

1. Pakistan Children Heart Foundation (PCHF)
The PCHF is an organization that focuses on providing heart surgeries to children born with congenital heart defect. Every year, approximately 50,000 infants are born with congenital heart defect in Pakistan. Because of a lack of a specialized children’s heart hospitals in Pakistan, PCHF works to build a research clinic as well as establish funds for children in need. Thus far, PCHF has provided 819 surgeries.

2. HealthRight Foundation
HealthRight is an organization whose goal is to provide healthcare to marginalized communities because, as their slogan states, “Health is a Human Right.” HealthRight uses global resources and works with local partners to address local health needs. HealthRight works with women and children, migrants and at-risk youth. All of these people face health discrimination, whether it involves lack of access to healthcare or lack of means to access healthcare. HealthRight works to provide healthcare for these underrepresented groups.

3. Population Services International (PSI)
PSI is an organization that focuses on promoting healthy behavior and making healthcare products more affordable. PSI originated in 1970, with a focus on reproductive health. Since then, it has expanded to helping over 50 countries with solutions to malaria, HIV, family planning, sanitation, pneumonia and diarrhea. PSI works with local governments and organizations in order to make health solutions. PSI also uses marketing strategies and analysis to keep health products affordable.

Helping impoverished people around the world have better access to healthcare is not a feat that should be ignored. These three global health organizations have made and continue to make positive changes in the world and provide hope for the future of healthcare around the globe.

– Rebekah Covey

Photo: Flickr

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Battling Disease: The World’s Leading Killer

Battling DiseaseOne of the world’s leading killers can be found, not down the barrel of a gun, but within our bodies. Preventable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, diarrheal diseases and malaria have succeeded in wiping out millions of people worldwide. But with advancements in medicine and technology on our side, prioritizing vaccinations and other preventative measures has never been more crucial. Organizations such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are taking on the role of battling disease and ending these epidemics.

According to a recent study by WHO, HIV-related deaths are still amongst the top ten leading causes of death in the world, killing on average 1.5 million people in 2012. Additionally, diseases such as malaria, although easily curable, remain a massive threat, especially to developing nations such as Southeast Asia and Africa.

In 2015, 214 million new cases of malaria were transmitted worldwide. Young children below the age of five are especially vulnerable to this disease. In the same year, approximately 306,000 children died from malaria, 292,000 of which were from Africa.

However, while such diseases remain at large, great measures are being taken not only to cure, but to prevent these global killers from winning. In regards to the malaria epidemic, one of the Millennium Development Goals, known as “target C,” is currently working on reducing malaria transmission, successfully battling disease and decreasing spread by 75 percent. Moreover, WHO’s Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030 is working to reduce malaria mortality rates by 90 percent, as well as eradicating the disease in 35 countries.

Other leading killer diseases can be prevented through basic hygienic practices, such as diarrheal diseases and dysentery. Yet, about 2.2 million people die from diarrhea, most of whom are children in developing countries that lack sufficient sanitary irrigation. However, sanitation efforts and campaigns supported by WHO, CDC, the U.N. and similar global non profits all work on bringing filtration and sanitary water accessibility to developing nations.

All in all, while disease should be recognized as a major threat, it is only as powerful as the measures taken to prevent and cure it. Global health organizations continue to instill sanitary and other preventable practices in nations to battle disease, in the hopes of ending these global killers.

– Jenna Salisbury

Photo: Flickr

 

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Task Force for Global Health: Secretariat to Global Organization

Task Force for Global Health

Beginning in 1984 as the Task Force for Child Survival, the Task Force for Global Health started as a leading secretariat for various international health organizations such as UNICEF, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the World Bank. The Task Force worked alongside these global health organizations to design and improve effective child and family wellness, healthcare and survival strategies.

Thirty years later, the Task Force for Global Health has grown into a global nonprofit organization for public health. According to Forbes Magazine, the Task Force is the fourth largest nonprofit in the U.S. Headquartered in Decatur, Georgia, and under the leadership of public health expert Dr. Mark Rosenberg since 1999, the organization stands as the biggest nonprofit in Georgia since its expansion in 2013.

The Task Force focuses on three major areas: improving the efficiency of public health systems and field epidemiology, providing accessible treatment of immunizations and vaccines and eradicating neglected tropical diseases.

However, despite the Task Force’s incredible reputation and longstanding credentials, it remains largely unknown to a majority of the world. In an interview conducted by Georgia Center for Nonprofits’ (GCN) quarterly magazine, Georgia Nonprofit NOW, Rosenberg explains that keeping the Task Force under wraps was not only an intentional but effective strategy.

Rosenberg told GCN, “From the beginning, we have always tried to build coalitions, but it’s not always easy to get organizations to work together. If you want a partnership to work, our founder Bill Foege taught us, you’ve got to shine the light on your partners, and not on yourselves. We focus attention on our partners, and as a result, we are not well known in Georgia.”

The Task Force’s decision to maintain a low-key profile has resulted in high effectivity, not only as a major collaborator to some of the world’s most well-known nonprofit organizations but also as a large scale mobilizer towards peace and health care reform.

The Task Force for Global Health has managed to cover an incredible amount of ground in improving healthcare and offering accessible vaccinations and treatments to approximately 495 million people in 149 countries. The organization provides support and professional level healthcare training programs in 43 countries around the world, which results in widespread, efficient and accessible health care globally. Having formed strong partnerships with private and public healthcare providers and programs worldwide, the Task Force for Global Health has and continues to succeed in bringing about incredible reform and is changing the lives of millions of people every day.

– Jenna Salisbury