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3 Ways Mothers Can Be Lifted Out of Poverty

MothersPoverty disproportionately affects women, particularly mothers. For instance, in 2017, 20% of women in the United Kingdom (U.K.) were living in poverty compared to 18% of men. Additionally, 90% of single mothers experience poverty. While the proportion of men facing poverty has decreased in recent years, the rate for women has remained stalled. Here are some of the ways mothers can be lifted out of poverty:

Better Provision for the Essential Living Costs

Governments can address poverty by improving support for essential living costs faced by families. By covering expenses for heating and electricity through targeted schemes for the most vulnerable, working families can make fewer sacrifices. Such programs would eliminate the difficulty of buying groceries and maintaining a warm home. This support would enable families to focus more on spending quality time with their children and provide mothers with much-needed respite.

Child Care Provisions

Child care provisions also provide a hopeful potential solution. High child care costs act as a key barrier for parents who work. Fees are an additional financial factor that particularly impacts lower-income parents during school holidays. Suppose countries can implement better universal child care provisions. In that case, the gap between accessibility for low- and high-income parents can be closed. Parents can focus on work and career progression, leading to better wages for their families. Children can interact with other children and develop their creativity and imagination. Creating these schemes will, therefore, benefit both the parents and the children. 

Turning to a success story, Sweden works as a model for other countries, providing hope that these solutions are attainable when put into practice. The “income packaging” approach to the welfare state adopted in Scandinavian countries promotes female involvement in the world of work. By providing children’s allowances, mothers can focus on work rather than entirely on ensuring that child care measures are in place. This enables greater career progression and mothers to work more hours rather than being confined to part-time roles due to child care commitments. 

Income Transfers and Support for Parents in Employment

Implementing schemes with more generous income transfers and support for working parents has effectively reduced poverty. In countries like the U.K., where social transfer systems are limited, support for vulnerable working families falls short, resulting in higher poverty rates. In contrast, Scandinavian countries provide more comprehensive support for single mothers. This targeted approach ensures that the assistance is more effective and beneficial. Additionally, the direct benefits can be assessed more efficiently, allowing for easier adjustments and improvements as needed.

Final Remark

The changes required to lift mothers and their children out of poverty are achievable. With a global commitment to supporting this group, effective tax redistribution and improved support schemes can help break the cycle of poverty. By implementing these measures, future generations of families can be lifted out of poverty and provided with greater opportunities for a better life.

   – Sarah Littleton

Sarah Littleton is based in London, U.K. and focuses on Good News, Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Pexels

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Better Health and Nutrition for Women and Children in Cambodia

Better Health and Nutrition for Women and Children in CambodiaSince 2019, the Cambodian government, with support from international partners, has aimed to enhance local maternal and child health and nutrition services through the Cambodia Nutrition Project. This initiative, crucial for the nation’s future, benefits from a $62.5 million investment. The project receives co-financing from the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Australian government, the German KfW Development Bank, the Global Financing Facility and the International Development Association, part of the World Bank Group. This collaborative effort seeks to significantly boost health outcomes for women and children across Cambodia, tackling essential maternal and child health issues and fostering a foundation for a healthier future.

Project Implementation and Goals

Launched in 2019 and set to conclude in 2026, the Cambodia Nutrition Project aims to improve the utilization and quality of essential maternal and child health and nutrition services, focusing on mothers and children in the first 1,000 days of life. This initiative includes specific actions such as enhancing the variety of food groups for children up to 23 months old, ensuring vaccinations for newborns, providing basic health and nutrition services to children, training public health providers and conducting community outreach sessions. The project targets major causes of child and maternal mortality in Cambodia, such as inadequate and inaccessible health services, poor quality care, substandard hygiene practices and the shortage of skilled health staff. By tackling these ongoing issues, the Cambodia Nutrition Project strives to significantly enhance and save the lives of numerous infants and children across the nation.

Community Impact and Workforce Development

Since its launch, the Cambodia Nutrition Project has effectively enhanced access to quality health and nutrition services for mothers and their children in key areas, as evidenced by numerous testimonials from participating mothers. This project has enabled significant reforms in health and nutrition systems, empowering local authorities to manage and deliver services more effectively in their communities. It has financed the recruitment and training of 4,459 village health workers, including 3,255 women, to provide higher-quality services across nine provinces in the country.

Achievements and Overachievements

The project has exceeded several key performance targets set for 2026, demonstrating significant progress in public health metrics within target provinces. These achievements include an increase in the percentage of children aged 6 to 23 months receiving foods from four or more food groups and a higher rate of children under 12 months receiving the DPT-HepB-Hib 3 vaccination, which guards against multiple diseases including diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae. Additionally, the project has successfully recruited a larger number of village health support groups than anticipated, which has enhanced community involvement and the implementation of nutrition and maternal health initiatives. The number of outreach sessions conducted has also surpassed initial expectations, effectively broadening community engagement ahead of the 2026 timeline.

Ongoing Efforts and Future Objectives

These accomplishments mark significant progress in supporting Cambodian parents, ensuring that their children begin life with the necessary nutrition and health care, which are vital for their survival and future well-being. While many targets have been successfully met, further efforts are needed to achieve all goals. Outstanding objectives include increasing the number of women and children older than 23 months receiving basic nutrition services nationwide and expanding the number of community health and nutrition events for women and children under 2 years old in targeted areas.

Looking Ahead

The Cambodia Nutrition Project has made substantial strides in improving maternal and child health since its inception. By surpassing several key performance targets ahead of schedule, the project demonstrates the effectiveness of international collaboration and local community involvement. Continued efforts could focus on expanding access to essential nutrition services and enhancing community health initiatives to ensure long-term health improvements for women and children across Cambodia.

– Mathieu Paré

Mathieu is based in Toronto, Canada and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Why Providing Accessible Childcare Services Is the Smart Thing to Do

Accessible childcareAccessible childcare is a global challenge, with nearly 350 million children below primary school age lacking the necessary support. This represents over 40% of children in this age group worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for investment in childcare.

Research and Initiatives

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in cooperation with the World Bank, launched an initiative Invest in Childcare. USAID alone pledged $50 million to support the initiative. This childcare incentive fund works with governments to provide support in creating childcare programs and improving policies. Subsequently, the initiative seeks to gather more accurate data on childcare development and its effects on economic growth.

The World Bank has already supported many countries, including Senegal, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Mongolia, through the development of country-specific programs. These encompass the creation of mobile preschools for rural areas in Mongolia which have already benefited more than 8,500 of the country’s most remote children, the enrollment of thousands of children in preschools in Senegal and the financing of early childhood schools’ construction in Liberia.

Whether government-sponsored, NGO-supported or community-grown, initiatives developing and liberalizing early childcare are a necessity. Throughout the world, NGOs of diverse sizes and recognition seek to improve childcare. The most prominent include UNICEF and Save the Children, but many other organizations on the ground make efforts to provide help specifically tailored to their community. The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India, for example, has created childcare cooperatives in an attempt to support women working in agriculture or independently in local cooperatives.

These organizations are often informal and face challenges in obtaining funding and accessing training and professional development. This struggle highlights a need for formalization, which could enable the affected organizations to unlock more investments and growth.

Childcare Closely Affects Gender Equality

Though a lack of accessible childcare hinders an entire society, data shows that women are the first to be affected and quit the labor force. World Bank data for Indonesia in 2021 revealed that 40% of women quit employment after childbirth and marriage. Another 2022 report showed that 73% of low-income respondents partaking in a survey in Bangladesh stayed at home to care for their children instead of working, and in 2018, a study “found that having a child under five years of age reduced a Sri Lankan woman’s participation in the labor force by 7.4%.” In poorer countries, when mothers cannot provide care for these children, an older sibling usually assumes responsibility. And more often than not, this older sibling is a girl. She may consequently neglect or forgo her chance at an education, which builds up stark gender inequalities for the next generation.

Improving the Economy and Children’s Health

On the other hand, the Eurasia Group has found that providing accessible childcare for women could add $3 trillion to the $45.8 trillion currently generated by women in the global economy each year. According to the Gates Foundation, this would be achieved through the creation of 43 million jobs globally. This would broaden opportunities for women, boosting economic growth and giving countries an opportunity to reclaim a productive segment of their labor force.

World Bank data has also shown that accessible childcare improved women’s financial outcomes and positively affected their families. When compared to men, women usually spend more money on their children’s education, health and nutrition. Moreover, childcare keeps children safe, with reduced mortality due to lack of supervision. For example, Bangladesh saw the mitigation of drowning risk and malnutrition reduced in Guatemala, where childcare provides up to 70% of children’s recommended energy intake.

Fostering a Foundation and a Future

The Research and Information System for Developing Countries and UNICEF have created a panel on ‘Investing in children: Investing in future’, demonstrating that early childhood care is a wise long-term investment. World Bank data shows that by prioritizing early childhood development, it is possible to pave the way for a brighter future, where children entering the labor market 15 years to 20 years later receive the abilities necessary for higher-paying, stable and innovative jobs. This positively impacts their learning, health, behavior and life opportunities. Investing in high-quality childcare not only has profound implications for individual children but also yields significant social and economic benefits. Providing children with a strong foundation in their early years can foster a generation of productive, skilled individuals. This leads to improved learning outcomes, reduced social inequalities, enhanced workforce participation and overall economic growth.

– Hanna Bernard
Photo: Flickr

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Empowering Women Improves Maternal Health

empowering women improvesIn recent years, great strides have been made in improving women’s and children’s health. Fertility rates in both low and middle-income countries have significantly declined and life expectancy has increased by more than 10 years. Despite this progress, the WHO reports that a vast majority of maternal deaths (94%) occur in low-resource settings and most could have been prevented through adequate maternal care and other factors. Political and societal efforts to mitigate these disparities as well as ground-level health interventions are key to guarantee enduring improvements in women’s and children’s health. Empowering women improves maternal and child health outcomes in several ways.

Empowering Women Improves Maternal Health

Although the role of women’s empowerment as a social determinant of maternal and child health outcomes has not been as widely acknowledged as other social determinants such as education, it is a leading opportunity to improve the well-being of women and children around the world. Women’s empowerment is positively associated with an array of positive maternal and child health outcomes,  such as improved antenatal care, contraceptive use, child mortality and nutrition levels.

Improved Maternal Health in Guinea and India

Another facet of maternal health that is linked with women’s empowerment is increased access to quality maternity care. The Republic of Guinea has committed to alleviating maternal and child health disparities by increasing women’s liberty. According to the 2018 Guinea Demographic Health Surveys, mothers who received higher quality antenatal care (ANC) also exhibited several aspects of women’s empowerment, such as having a proactive role in healthcare decisions and being employed.

In Varanasi, India, women’s autonomy and empowerment were also found to positively influence maternal health. A study of 300 women found that women with greater autonomy were more likely to deliver their baby in a clinic and employ higher levels of antenatal care.

Improved Maternal Health in Africa

Uniformly, a regional analysis of Africa revealed that dimensions of women’s empowerment impacted maternal health and utilization of health services. Researchers found that having greater control over money or household decisions correlated with higher Body Mass Index (BMI) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. This is important because low maternal weight is a risk factor for low birth weight babies and adverse infant outcomes. Additionally, facility delivery was significantly associated with positive attitudes toward gender roles in Nigeria. Delivering in a clinic plays a large role in reducing maternal mortality as the majority of fatal pregnancy complications can be prevented if intervened by a skilled clinician.

Empowering Women Improves Child Health

In addition to improving maternal health, empowering women improves and enriches the health of their children. Studies have found a nexus between women’s empowerment and good child health outcomes, including higher utilization of health care services and immunizations, improved nutritional status and lower child mortality.

Women in Nepal who own land are significantly more likely to have authority over household decisions,and similarly, children of mothers who own land are significantly more likely to be a healthy weight. The connection between land ownership and feelings of empowerment mean women are more likely to use income to contribute to the well-being of the children and the family overall.

Organizations for Women’s Empowerment

Mending educational and economic inequalities and disadvantages that women and girls face are fundamental in empowering women and marking long-term and sustained improvements in women’s health. Offering scholarships, making schools a safe environment for girls and transforming beliefs and gender-biased social norms that perpetuate discrimination and inequality are avenues to create equal education opportunities. Additionally, governments and policymakers are pertinent to allocate resources necessary for gender equity and improving female health.

Self Help Groups (SHGs) are a great example of a simple yet effective solution to empower women who live in lower-income communities. Find Your Feet is an organization based in the U.K. that is working in Malawi and rural India to end rural poverty. The organization works with families in remote areas of Asia and Africa by helping them earn incomes and expand access to vital services. A key facet of its work is geared toward women’s empowerment and it has created SHGs throughout the poorest districts in India.

The Way Forward

Empowering women is a catalyst for not only better maternal and child health outcomes, but investing in a woman’s health and empowerment has a ripple effect, helping families, communities and countries to rise out of poverty.

– Samantha Johnson
Photo: Flickr

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Pregnant Women and Children In the Yemen Crisis

Pregnant Women and Children
The Yemeni Civil War began in 2015 and has become a humanitarian crisis, devastating families and communities. The conflict between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels continues with no end in sight. More than 80 percent of the population, about 24 million people, lack food, health care and safe living conditions. Those who need assistance most are pregnant women, newborns and children.

Childcare and the Civil War

The civil war in Yemen prevents the most defenseless people in Yemeni society — pregnant women, newborns and children — from receiving life-saving medical treatment on time. At MSF’s Taiz Houban Mother and Child Hospital, the number of children and newborns dead on arrival at the location has doubled from 52 in 2016 to 103 in 2018. The most prevalent causes of death in newborns were prematurity, deprivation of oxygen known as birth asphyxia and severe infection.

Families struggle to find access to limited medical facilities and must navigate frontlines and checkpoints to receive care. Additionally, the Yemenis’ ability to access healthcare of any kind has dramatically diminished. Due to the declining economy that has devalued people’s savings, the vast majority depend on insufficient public healthcare.

Despite the conditions pregnant women and children during the Yemen Crisis are facing, several organizations aim to help these disadvantaged Yemenis receive the care they need.

Stay Safe Mama Project

The United Nations Population Fund, with help from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has launched the Stay Safe Mama project so that pregnant women in Yemen can safely deliver their babies. As a result, 300 health facilities have been enhanced with reproductive health kits, medicine and supplies for maternity units. The project also supports midwives in local communities so that pregnant women and children during the Yemen Crisis who don’t have access to a hospital can still obtain the care they deserve. Aisha, a 27-year-old, who fled the violence from her village in Hodeida and now lives in a small shack with multiple relatives and children, received healthcare through a center organized under the ‘Stay Safe Mama’ project.

“The care I received at the center was beyond what I expected,” Aisha told representatives from UNFPA. Aisha also said that she “had regular check-ups, and when it was time to give birth, [she] was not worried anymore. [She] gave birth to a healthy baby girl.”

Responsive Governance Project

The Responsive Governance Project (RGP), with the assistance of the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), provides instruction to improve the skills and knowledge of midwives. Additionally, RGP’s main priority is to provide pregnant women and children during the Yemen Crisis access to emergency obstetrical and natal care. Dr. Jamila Alraabi, the Deputy Health and Population Minister, states that the RGP has supported her agency and local health councils to improve maternal health policies.

In speaking with Jeff Baron from Counterpart International, Dr. Alraabi said that “no one can work alone, and no one can achieve success alone. It should be a partnership, and this is our hope in Yemen, that we will not have a woman die from preventable causes.”

UNICEF and Yemen

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provides Yemenis access to health treatment and access to safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. As of August 2019, UNICEF maintained over 3,700 health centers and aided around 730,000 pregnant and lactating women by providing basic health care services. Additionally, 11.8 million children were vaccinated for measles and rubella, and 200,000 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition. Going forward, UNICEF’s efforts will focus on “strengthening systems, improving access to primary health care, as well as malnutrition management and disease outbreak response, including maintaining vaccination coverage.”

These three organizations are just examples of the efforts raising awareness and providing aid toward the Yemen Crisis. Children continue to be killed and injured during the conflict. Before COVID-19, 2 million children under the age of five were dying from acute malnutrition and in need of treatment. In addition to this, around 70 percent of the arriving pregnant women experience “obstructed labor, prolonged labor, eclampsia, uterine rupture or post-partum bleeding” and other life-threatening conditions. While the conflict continues, these organizations are making efforts that have helped many women and children in Yemen. 

– Mia Mendez
Photo: Flickr

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Goals for Girls: Sports and Empowerment

Goals for Girls: Sports and Empowerment“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they can understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination,” said South African anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela. Soccer is the world’s most popular sport. More than 240 million people play soccer. At least 30 million girls participate in the sport. Goals for Girls helps young women across the globe score their own goals and celebrate empowerment.

Goals For Girls

Goals for Girls changes the world of young women. It started with a team of 16-year-old soccer players who opted to impact the world through soccer rather than compete at an international tournament. Now, Goals for Girls has teamed up with funding agencies, new partners and stars of the U.S. women’s national soccer team to teach and develop young women into agents of change through soccer. The organization aspires to give each young girl the tools to become a world changer.

Sports offer many psychological and physical benefits for girls and women. People who participate in sports benefit from a more positive body image, self-concept and overall well-being. In 2016, Saudi Arabia sent four women to compete in the Rio Olympics. This historical move represented a forward shift for women in Saudi Arabia. Before, they had faced discrimination and had restricted rights; they still do.

Maria Toorpakai, a Pakistani squash player, uses her sport to face and fight the Taliban. She gained their attention as she rose to fame. She moved to Canada to train, but she hopes to go back to Pakistan to bring sports to boys and girls. The U.S. women’s national soccer team is paid one-fourth of what their male counterparts are, but it is paving the way for the equal pay movement.

India

India hosted the first Goals for Girls program in 2014. The program tackled awareness, communication, teamwork and goal-setting. These are the four international summit pillars of Goals for Girls. The organization aimed to facilitate activities that help with issues the young girls faced on a regular basis like gender-based violence, child marriage and education inequality.

Child marriage has been practiced for centuries in India. In 2016, 27 percent of marriages were child marriages. Luckily, this is improving. Child marriage has decreased from 47 percent in 2006. Child marriage facilitates the cycle of poverty which enables malnutrition, illiteracy and gender discrimination. Child marriage also perpetuates a cycle of gender-based violence and education inequality.

Girls are more likely to be pulled from educational opportunities. Additionally, girls who marry young tend to have lower educational levels and are perceived as an economic liability to their family. UNICEF is working with the Indian government to forgo child marriage through girls’ empowerment, which aligns with the mission of Goals for Girls.

South Africa

South Africa became a country of focus after the launch of the program in 2007. In South Africa, the program centers around the aforementioned international pillars, but the activities are tailored toward issues plaguing girls in South Africa like HIV, teenage pregnancy and education inequality.

There have been strides made in recent years to combat the HIV epidemic. Despite having the largest antiretroviral treatment program globally, South Africa still has the highest prevalence of HIV in the world. Poverty, along with gender-based violence and gender inequality, perpetuates the discrepancy between gender and HIV rates. In 2016, South Africa implemented the “She Conquers” campaign to increase economic opportunities for women, prevent gender-based violence and keep girls in school.

Sports have been a platform for change for many women on a global scale. Goals for Girls is working to make that change even stronger. It is providing girls with education, teamwork building skills and important life skills. Its ultimate goal is women’s equality.

– Gwendolin Schemm
Photo: Flickr

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Pianoterra Puts Refugee Mothers and Children First

PianoterraIn Italian, “pianoterra” translates to “ground floor.” Pianoterra is also an organization based in Italy that is working to keep refugee mothers and children safe.

The Mission of Pianoterra

Pianoterra was founded by Alessia Bulgari, Flaminia Trapani and Ciro Nesci. According to the group’s website, “[the founders’] stories are intertwined by personal ties: Alessia and Flaminia are cousins, Flaminia and Ciro are husband and wife.”

The organization was founded in 2008 with the main goal of helping immigrant women get the necessary things to be able to prosper in Italy. When the organization began, 58 percent of the women seeking help from the organization was Italian while the other 50 percent was foreign. Today, 98 percent are foreign women.

Pianoterra’s Past Initiatives

Pianoterra has led several initiatives to improve the lives of refugee women and children. Two of these important projects include “Right to Feed – Support of Breastfeeding” and “From Mom to Mom.”

The project “Right to Feed – Support of Breastfeeding” began in January 2009. The project was aimed at mothers who were unable to breastfeed and did not have a sufficient amount of money to be able to feed their children. Pianoterra worked to “distribute free formula milk, according to pediatric prescriptions, and other basic necessities.”

With the “From Mom to Mom” initiative, Pianoterra helped mothers by collecting and distributing second-hand items for children. By collecting second-hand articles and connecting the women who donate with the women in need, mothers are “directly linked to a solidarity network of other women and mothers willing to support,” according to the organization’s website.

The Immigration Situation in Italy

Currently, immigration to Italy is occurring in large numbers. In 2018 alone, approximately 33,000 refugees have fled to Italy. However, the nation’s new interior minister has stated that “the country will no longer be ‘Europe’s refugee camp,’” according to TeleSur.

With the new government leaders in Italy, many refugees cannot count on staying in Italy. TeleSur reports that Italy’s “right-wing League stated that the vast majority of migrants in Italy have no right to refugee status, Italy cannot help them and by accepting low pay they worsen the working conditions of Italians.”

Although the Italian government is changing, there are still organizations working to help women and refugees prosper in the country. Pianoterra will continue to assist mothers in caring for their children and bettering their futures.

– Valeria Flores
Photo: Flickr

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Utkrisht Bond Aims to Prevent Maternal Mortality in India

Maternal Mortality in India
USAID and its partner organizations implemented the development impact Utkrisht bond in February 2018. Many believe this is an innovative and cost-effective solution to end preventable maternal and child deaths in India.

The Utkrisht bond is targeted to assist the State of Rajasthan, where 80,000 babies die annually from inadequate medical care. But proponents hope the model can be used throughout India, which accounts for 20 percent of maternal and child deaths globally.

The development impact bond was announced in November of 2017 by USAID Administrator Mark Green at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India. It is expected to provide 600,000 women with improved healthcare access and potentially save 10,000 moms and newborns.

The bond works as a public-private partnership. Investors grant providers of maternal care with upfront capital. Then, outcome funders pay back the investors their principal plus a return if pre-agreed metrics are achieved. The investor, in this case, is the UBS Optimus Foundation, which has committed about $3 million. The organization works with philanthropists to bring sustainable benefits to vulnerable children.

Up to 440 private health facilities will then be operated with assistance from Population Services International (PSI) and the Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust (HLFPPT), which also are co-investors providing 20 percent of the required capital. PSI is a global health nonprofit and the HLFPPT is an Indian nonprofit that works with maternal care.

In order to maximize success, private facilities are the focus of the Utkrisht bond. They host more than 25 percent of institutional deliveries in Rajasthan and are used by women of all socioeconomic backgrounds, yet little has been done to improve their quality of care.

USAID and Merck for Mothers, a nonprofit with the goal to end maternal mortality, have each committed up to $4.5 million that will be paid if the heath facilities meet accreditation standards. This is a highly cost-effective method to save lives according to World Health Organization standards, which is particularly exciting to USAID.

“The pay for success approach ensures appropriate stewardship of U.S. taxpayer dollars, while unlocking both private capital and government resources for health,” USAID states.

While this is the first development impact bond targeted toward health, the future of the Utkrisht bond looks promising. If it is successful, more initiatives can be implemented that involve private-public cooperation and effective use of taxpayer money to save the lives of many women and children around the world.

– Sean Newhouse

Photo: Flickr

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The Most Effective Drug for Preventing Maternal Death

most effective drug for preventing maternal death
Each year, more than 300,000 women die in childbirth. The top three causes of global maternal deaths are severe bleeding, infections and high blood pressure at the time of birth. Often, pregnant women in developing countries are faced with an impossible decision: seek affordable care from untrained/unlicensed midwives or enter hospitals without being able to pay for modern treatment. It is extremely unlikely that women in this situation will receive the most effective drug for preventing maternal death.

Deaths from infections can easily be prevented through good hygiene practices by the patient and the medical staff attending to her. As for high blood pressure, the most fundamental precautionary measure is to educate the public on adolescent pregnancies, as this is often associated with maternal mortality from high blood pressure. Severe bleeding in childbirth can kill a healthy woman within several hours if proper attention and care are not given to her by her caretakers.

Often there are complications, such as bleeding, that require costly surgical operations or blood transfusions. If the mother is unable to afford the operation, she may not survive the excessive bleeding. In Sierra Leone, many people know at least one woman who has either died in childbirth or lost a fetus due to complications. Maternal care is the comprehensive indicator of the overall development of a country; the healthcare system for maternal health reflects the level of education, infrastructure and transparency of a nation.

Well educated nations with high literacy rates can still experience a shortage of qualified medical workers. Why? They are not properly paid or paid at all. The few qualified or highly educated emigrate for better opportunities and salaries. This resulting brain drain further exacerbates the crisis of maternal mortality. Prior to childbirth, there is also a delay in pregnant women seeking proper treatment. This delay can be attributed to a lack of confidence in the competence of the local healthcare facilities.

Thanks to U.N. funding, clinics in every nation are sponsored to employ local medical staff, which not only provides them with a salary, but with training as well. In addition to improved services, many patients benefit the from donation and careful administration of drugs. Among the most notable is tranexamic acid. Also known as TXA, this drug helps to control bleeding for trauma patients. It helps to stabilize a clot at the site of bleeding by preventing it from dissolving during formation. It has proven to be the most effective drug for preventing maternal death.

TXA works by preventing the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin; this promotes the accumulation of fibrin to form a complex known as the fibrin degradation products. It should be noted that TXA is not an alternative for blood transfusion; it is merely an important addition to this treatment. In addition to trauma patients, TXA has also proven effective in treating combat casualties. It has also been proven to be safe for patients.

In April 2017, the WHO launched a clinical trial dubbed the World Maternal Antifibrinolytic Trial. It consisted of 20,000 women from 21 countries who were diagnosed with postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). It was a randomized, double-blind trial with placebos for some of the participants. The organization wanted to see if bleeding persisted 30 minutes after the first dosage, and if it restarted within 24 hours. If bleeding did persist, it determined if a second dose was necessary.

What they found was that TXA reduced deaths in the trial, and it was evident that early treatment maximized the benefit. It was the most effective drug for preventing maternal death. In their words, “safe, effective and affordable PPH treatments are critical to saving the lives of pregnant women globally, and the findings of this trial have important implications for the delivery of high-quality maternity care.”

– Awad Bin-Jawed

Photo: Flickr

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S.Res. 310: The Importance of Ending Pediatric AIDS

Pediatric AIDSHIV/AIDS is embedded in social and economic inequity and there exists a critical connection between the disease and poverty. There is strong evidence that the disease affects individuals of lower socioeconomic status and impoverished nations at a disproportionately high rate. This is also true when examining the occurrence of mother-to-child transmission, which accounts for more than 90 percent of HIV infections in children.

S. Res. 310, according to U.S. Congress, is a “resolution that recognizes the importance of a continued commitment to ending pediatric AIDS worldwide.” This is of extreme importance because, not only do children suffer the most from HIV/AIDS because of their developing immune systems, but they also are the key to eradicating the disease and breaking the cycle of infection. Without diagnosis and treatment, one-third of infected infants will die before the age of one, one-half will die before their second birthday and 80 percent will die before their fifth birthday.

As a leading cause of death among adolescents, AIDS is devastating the lives and hopes of millions of children worldwide. Pediatric HIV-related deaths have more than tripled since 2000, requiring immediate attention and resolution.

S. Res. 310 recognizes that women and children are in desperate need of HIV-related services. Data from 2016 shows that half of the 36,700,000 people worldwide who suffer from HIV are women and 2,100,000 are children. Despite the increased efforts by the U.S. and countries around the world, over 400 children were born HIV-positive every day in 2016. This legislation highlights that continued commitment is required in order to eradicate pediatric AIDS.

The resolution allows the U.S. to provide women and children with HIV counseling and testing services and to improve access to services and medicines that prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The legislation also supports expanding treatment for pediatric and adolescent HIV, including greater access to more efficacious antiretroviral drug regimens, age-appropriate services and support for the caregivers of children and adolescents.

In the words of the resolution, “every mother should have the opportunity to fight for the life of her child; and every child and adolescent should have access to medicine to lead a long and healthy life.”

– Jamie Enright

Photo: Flickr