Sustained Financing for Adolescents’ Sexual and Reproductive Health is Good for Africa’s Economies

By Professor Myriam Sidibe and Serah Malaba Without a concerted effort to support integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), we are unlikely to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Good Health and Well-being or Gender Equality. Health systems in Sub-Saharan Africa are failing to meet the needs of adolescent girls and…

Global UN fund awards USD 250,000 grant for the development and adoption of global menstrual product standards

 The UN’s Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) has announced a grant of USD 250,000 to the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) to support the participation of Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) in the development of global quality standards for menstrual products. As the secretariat of the technical committee of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) – ISO/TC…

WHO and TikTok to collaborate on more science-based information on health and well-being

The World Health Organization (WHO) and TikTok, a platform for short-form mobile videos, announced a year-long collaboration aimed at providing people with reliable, science-based health information. This reflects WHO’s commitment to leveraging multiple digital communication platforms to increase outreach to people globally, to promote health literacy, healthy behaviours and actions in an increasingly digitized world. Social media…

“It is a risk someone has to take”: the Catholic nun helping vaccinate thousands in Uganda’s Karamoja

Karamoja has faced intracommunal violence for decades, and as climate change exacerbates water scarcity, it’s getting worse. But vaccinator Sister Virginia Virgo is not backing down.  18 September 2024 by John Agaba When Virginia Virgo packed her bags to join a monastery in northern Uganda in the 1980s, she had one thing in mind: to leave…

Gates Foundation Report Urges Targeted Global Health Investments to Combat Child Malnutrition and Disease

Coletta Kemboi, a dairy farmer from Maili Nne, Kenya, is proof of how innovative farming practices can combat malnutrition. After receiving training from the MoreMilk program, she has seen her milk production improve significantly, and her family’s income has grown. “The extra money we are earning goes to the farm and paying my children’s school…