Bitra George, India Country Director at FHI 360, discusses the role of innovation in human development.
Health
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World AIDS Day 2012: A Shared Vision of Getting to Zero
FHI 360 has been partnering toward an AIDS-free generation since the beginning of the epidemic. As we approach World AIDS Day 2012, FHI 360 experts examine next steps needed to tackle HIV/AIDS for good. We’ll discuss new enhancements in the testing and treatment of women during pregnancy and in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. We’ll also take a look at the HIV treatment cascade and how it can help people to take the initiative to learn their HIV status and close some of the gaps in treatment and service. Finally, we will share perspectives from the field with a program profile and success story.
As we look to the future, from our work in Cambodia to Kenya to the U.S., FHI 360 will continue to partner toward a shared vision of “getting to zero.”
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Cascade Helps Keep People Coming Back for HIV Treatment
Last year, we celebrated 30 years of progress in the fight against AIDS. This year, let’s celebrate World AIDS Day by looking forward.
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The road to elimination of new pediatric HIV infections: FHI 360’s contribution
We’ve been at this challenge of preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV for more than a decade, and the international community is looking for ways to measure the effectiveness of everyone’s efforts...
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One day at a time: A closer look at Zambia
FHI 360 supports Zambia’s Ministry of Health to create conditions in which newborns can enter the world HIV free. With support from USAID and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and under the Zambia Prevention Care and Treatment Partnership (ZPCT II), FHI 360 is working to...
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HIV early infant diagnostic: Opportunity and challenge to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV
The last decade has seen significant progress in the implementation of PMTCT programs. Success has been measured using process indicators, such as the number of pregnant women provided with counseling and testing services...
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Toward elimination of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Zambia: Early infant diagnosis specimen referral system
Great progress is being made toward eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Zambia...
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FHI 360 Commends PEPFAR Blueprint Release; Reinforces Commitment to Shared Vision of ‘Getting to Zero’
FHI 360 applauds today’s release of the PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-free Generation.
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Expanding access to male circumcision in Zambia: The ZPCT II experience
Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) is among the most efficacious HIV prevention tools available, reducing the risk of acquisition by as much as 60 percent according to published data from randomized clinical trials...
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Building a strong partnership with community is essential to ending AIDS
This has been a tremendous year in the fight against AIDS. One year ago, at the National Institutes of Health, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a historic speech calling for an “AIDS-free generation"...
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A version of this post originally appeared on The Huffington Post. Reposted with permission.
World Contraception Day 2012 (September 26) has come and gone, and 2012 marked the first International Day of the Girl Child. Together with the excitement from the London Summit on Family Planning this summer and the recent announcement of a major price drop for the contraceptive implant, Jadelle, it has been a banner year for media attention, political will and global resources on family planning and women’s and girls’ rights and empowerment. As part of these efforts, increasing access to safe, effective and affordable contraceptives will have a profound impact on the lives and health of women and their families throughout the world. To achieve the ambitious goals set forth by these international initiatives, however, the global health and development community must act on the current political momentum and not lose sight of the challenges that remain.
The task ahead is large. Over 220 million women living in low-resource countries do not want to become pregnant and yet are not using an effective contraceptive method. This may seem strange when we have so many contraceptive choices available to prevent unintended pregnancy. However, not only is access to contraception limited for many of these women, but also the currently available methods do not always meet their needs, preferences or budgets. Approximately two-thirds of all women with an unmet need do not use modern contraception for reasons including side effects, perceived harm to health and desire to preserve future fertility. Along with our current method mix, we need to consider new contraceptive approaches that address these concerns.
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A version of this post originally appeared on Natural Medicine. Reposted with permission.
A new study published in the on line journal Nature Medicine over the weekend brings exciting news in the race to find an AIDS vaccine. Researchers from the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) have found that a key change in the outer coating of the HIV virus allowed two HIV positive women to develop “broadly neutralizing antibodies,” which are antibodies that can be used to target and fight most strains of HIV.
The first broadly neutralizing antibodies were discovered over three years ago, and since then dozens more have been identified. But until now, researchers haven’t been able to pinpoint how they develop, which is critical to developing a vaccine. The new findings establish a link between a change in the virus after infection and the formulation of the antibodies that fight it.
According to Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the study is “an important step in trying to understand just how these broadly neutralizing antibodies evolve.”
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The past three years have seen tremendous breakthroughs in HIV prevention research. Since 2009, we have seen the first vaccine to show effectiveness, a microbicide that was found to be modestly efficacious and two studies demonstrating that an HIV medication could be used as a pre-exposure prophylaxis or could reduce new infections by treating those with HIV earlier. These advances have led many to herald a new era in our 30-year campaign to end the epidemic.
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Diarrhea and respiratory infections are responsible for the majority of all child deaths, taking the lives of millions of children in developing countries every year. Fortunately, one of the most cost-effective solutions is virtually at our fingertips: washing our hands with soap. This simple act can reduce the incidence of diarrhea and respiratory infections among children under 5 by almost 50 percent and 25 percent, respectively.
To promote this life-saving practice around the world, the Global Public–Private Partnership for Handwashing — which includes FHI 360, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and 10 other public and private organizations — launched Global Handwashing Day. The event has grown from a one-day celebration in a few cities to a worldwide movement that has mobilized significant investment in and political support for handwashing with soap.
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On Monday, September 17, the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC, hosted “Maintaining the Momentum: Highlights from the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning (FP).” This panel discussion was a virtual who’s who in family planning – with the main room full as well as two additional rooms literally overflowing – as folks gathered to hear current luminaries talk about highlights and next steps to the 2012 London FP Summit, what is now called FP2020. Panel moderator Karen Hardee, of the Futures Group, reminded us that the Summit confirmed family planning as a critical and global issue and that it set impressive goals and raised $2.6 billion dollars in pledged funding over the next eight years with the goal of expanding access to voluntary rights-based family planning for 120 million new users in poorer countries. The gathering represented a melting pot of perspectives with a mix of representation from government, civil society, and the private sector. There were lots of champagne toasts, speeches, and celebration in London, like at any wedding. Now, two months into the marriage, the hard work begins: how do we implement the summit’s lofty goals?
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During the month of July 2012, two landmark gatherings advanced global progress in sexual and reproductive health. The Family Planning Summit was held in London on July 11. Co-hosted by the UK Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Summit’s goal was to offer millions of vulnerable women around the world renewed hope that they will soon have the means to determine the timing and spacing of their pregnancies through access to modern family planning methods. Less than two weeks later, the AIDS 2012 Conference was held in Washington, D.C. Organized by the International AIDS Society, AIDS 2012 was a multitrack, week-long convention of 24,000 attendees, including heads of state, celebrities, philanthropists, researchers, activists and people living with HIV. Their optimistic vision is to attain an AIDS-free generation.
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Reflections on a Legacy of Change
Written by
As I was moderating a final panel for C-Change’s end-of-project meeting in Washington, D.C., it occurred to me that successful development programs usually raise as many questions as they answer. The Communication for Change (C-Change) project was no exception. Indeed, a project as wide-ranging and prolific as C-Change was bound to inspire thoughtful reflection well beyond the question, “Where do we go from here?” The project, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) flagship program in social and behavior change communication (SBCC) since 2007, has worked with national and local governments in nine countries, universities in five countries, many local nongovernmental organizations in 15 countries and four regional networks with 212 member organizations. All of those partnerships were crucial to embedding SBCC into the hearts, minds and institutions that they reached. But would any of these partnerships endure without a central coordinating body? Or would they even have to endure to be successful? Would it be enough that C-Change, in the words of Rafael Obregon, Chief of Communication for Development at UNICEF, “provided a space for people’s engagement and participation” in a nonprescriptive or message-driven way?
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Turning the Tide: Increasing Access to HIV Prevention and Care for Men Who Have Sex with Men in Ghana
An Interview with
Kim Green, Deputy Country Director for Ghana, FHI 360