USAID Global Health Newsletter - June 2018

USAID Global Health Newsletter - June 2018

Maternal and Child Survival

Women play invaluable roles in their families, communities and societies. Empowering women and ensuring they have access to life-saving care affords them the opportunity to transform the lives of their children, families, communities and nations.

USAID leverages new ideas, mobilizes domestic resources and accelerates global progress by uniting new partners around a common goal: ensure women have the same chance of survival, regardless of where they are born.

Announcing USAID's 2018 Acting on the Call Report The 2018 Acting on the Call reportdetails how USAID partners with 25 countries on their journey to self-reliance for preventing child and maternal deaths by enabling countries to plan, fund and manage their own continued progress. You can learn more in the Acting on the Call report, fact sheet [PDF, 2.8MB] and country stories. Read the full story. Preventing the Spread of HIV from Mother to Child The transmission of HIV from mother-to-child during pregnancy remains the leading cause of HIV infection in children. Under the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, USAID’s prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programming is helping to keep millions of babies HIV-free and ensuring mothers and their children can live healthier and more productive lives. Read the full story. How Global Health Innovations are Saving Mothers’ Lives Through the Saving Lives at Birthpartnership, USAID supports a diverse pipeline of 115 unique innovations that address critical challenges for mothers and their babies. For example, the Agency is supporting Massachusetts General Hospital to scale up their next-generation uterine balloon tamponade to tackle postpartum hemorrhage, a common cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Read the full story. Global Health Highlights World Health Organization Releases Preferred Product Characteristics for Personal Protective Equipment Guidance USAID’s Fighting Ebola Grand Challenge identified innovations for improving Ebola response efforts, including redesigning personal protective equipment (PPE). This work inspired the development of the Preferred Product Characteristics for PPE for Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers in Tropical Climates publication, which aims to provide guidance for a PPE system that increases health care workers’ comfort and safety. Read the full story. Saving Mothers, Giving Life Announces Unprecedented Results in sub-Saharan Africa We are pleased to share the unprecedented results that the Saving Mothers, Giving Life public-private partnership, of which USAID is a founding partner, achieved in reducing maternal and newborn mortality across sub-Saharan Africa in the final report [PDF, 5.4MB].  Join the conversation on social media using our resource guide and #CaringforMoms. U.S. Government Global Nutrition Coordination Plan Launches Year One Report The first annual summary report of the U.S. Government Nutrition Coordination Plan, covering June 2016 through September 2017, outlines accomplishments and challenges in the first year of implementation and reflects on how these results may inform priorities for future action. Read the full story.   Nepal, a Trailblazer in Newborn Innovation to Prevent Infection As a result of USAID’s support in Nepal to roll out chlorhexidine, a simple antiseptic gel proven to prevent infection among newborns, an estimated 9,600 newborn lives have been saved between 2012 and 2017. Read how two Nepali moms’ newborns benefited from the gel. USAID Funds New Innovations to Strengthen Health Supply Chains USAID has made the first two awards under Ensuring Effective Health Supply Chains: A Grand Challenge for Development. These two awards will develop new technology-based solutions that will support health staff at the last mile to strengthen supply chain management and improve voluntary family planning availability. Learn more about the innovations. Global Health Voices PODCAST - 2018 Acting on the Call A conversation with John Borrazzo, Deputy Director of the Office of Maternal Child Health and Nutrition at USAID about the 2018 Acting on the Call report.