[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":2362},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f3rEk4njT2qcFkQ5zKP60gRfWKGaxN2a1Yfnr0FYtSOo":3,"$fBgIxsGqNHUG_u-1vryhBzV6JO3pxvfUGxz2OSqb93f0":9,"$fX6yHrO9apMtlZK526Odt6kaezdmv8lC-Pzdp6DcMMB0":511,"$fnVrj0yUZvUmnD1emXK8WBnxZjXKQVtkMNtw6jCiBjDM":584,"$fuKbcfQgjnFCvnTGuKOoiKBXfdv7jk-ovBpAEBxowloI":731,"$fomsE7hpBTqOwPvC0N2Sk5W31cAfY9vOdyqhY8Cmx7Mg":756,"$fUXVxh1hywbAuIYJct9m8dOubroo3213rwqIumkYhzzE":808,"$fCcODxP1M_-xB2TwFkLR8zKTRARcgNt4svELU7rkY8YM":849,"$fxqfo24YCwJ9-UYMQTc8cIoztlNyo3YgyL6-8DuMKuq4":890,"$fhWteoqTFr0Bu5KrXFg9adv1vRDSU9p9rn3d0AyhK6TQ":991},{"title":4,"description":5,"backendUrl":6,"frontendUrl":7,"themeScreenshotUrl":8},"Jhpiego","We start with women's health, but we don't stop there.","https://api.jhpiego.org","https://jhpiego.org","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/themes/fuxt-backend/screenshot.png",{"googleAnalytics":10,"socialSharedImage":15,"footerText":108,"footerEmail":109,"footerPhone":110,"footerImage":111,"introVideoBg":192,"searchHeaderImage":247,"":314,"hideFeaturedNewsPost":315,"featuredNewsPost":316,"menuFeaturedNews":373,"showCustomMenuItem":387,"menuFeaturedItem":388,"featuredBanner":454},[11,13],{"code":12},"G-MN8NG7QBCQ",{"code":14},"G-RNH48Z0R08",{"id":16,"src":17,"width":18,"height":19,"alt":20,"caption":21,"title":22,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":24,"srcset":25,"sizes":26,"meta":27,"acf":103},1113,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chad-CountryLandingPage.jpeg",2048,1367,"","Met the health volunteer Mamadjibeye Sarah, 26, at the Miandoum ACT health clinic to follow her home to work with Sarah who is hoping to go to college and be a nurse. She studies when she can for her exams...though no schedule yet for that.  Meanwhile she is helping with the family farm where they grow peanuts, maze as well as other stuff.  But she had two children, baby, Denelelem Prudence, 1 and a half and Carla Nekouanodi, 8.  She is separated from her husband who is in N'Djamena.  Her father is the village chief.  She has to walk back and forth to the farm from the village.","Chad-CountryLandingPage","image/jpeg","\u003Cimg width=\"2048\" height=\"1367\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chad-CountryLandingPage.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chad-CountryLandingPage.jpeg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chad-CountryLandingPage-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chad-CountryLandingPage-1024x684.jpeg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chad-CountryLandingPage-768x513.jpeg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chad-CountryLandingPage-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chad-CountryLandingPage-809x540.jpeg 809w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chad-CountryLandingPage-375x250.jpeg 375w, 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Kasmauski","NIKON D750","1473510651","2016 Karen Kasmauski","24","800","0.003125",[95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102],"Bebedja","Chad","clinic nurse","farming","health volunteer","malaria","village","water",{"primaryColor":104,"blurhash":105,"videoUrl":20,"focalPointX":106,"focalPointY":107},"#423f2b","UYD0JtWBWUoJ_4R*axay-=azjGay%MWCaxof","53.4","17.6","\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Johns Hopkins\u003Cbr />\nUniversity Affiliate\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https://maps.app.goo.gl/oSrmwL2C1hKzPDuEA\" target=\"_blank\">1615 Thames Street\u003Cbr />\nBaltimore, Maryland 21231, USA\u003C/a>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https://maps.app.goo.gl/5dbU6KnxynaKwqnk8\" target=\"_blank\">1875 I St NW, 6th Floor\u003Cbr />\nWashington, DC 20006, USA\u003C/a>\u003C/p>\n","info@jhpiego.org","410-537-1800",{"id":33,"src":112,"width":113,"height":114,"alt":20,"caption":115,"title":116,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":117,"srcset":118,"sizes":119,"meta":120,"acf":188},"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/80b63f8648129e2500d8baebd7036984.jpeg",4000,2670,"Maichew Town, Lemlem Karl Hospital (built 1991)in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. 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Elyse says ÒI have four children with these two, the others are 11 and 8. My children are spaced because I am using family planning. Before I started using family planning I had two children very close together and both died because I couln't look after them. The midwife in the Health Centre explained to my husband and I then benefits of using family planning so we stared. I am happy that we can now look after the four children we have properlyÓJhpiego has been working in Burkina Faso for the last 22 years, transforming maternal and child healthcare for women and children.","JHPIEGO_BURKINA FASO","\u003Cimg width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header.jpeg 2560w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-810x540.jpeg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-375x250.jpeg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-960x640.jpeg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-1280x854.jpeg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-1920x1280.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header.jpeg 2560w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-810x540.jpeg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-375x250.jpeg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-960x640.jpeg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-1280x854.jpeg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Search-Header-1920x1280.jpeg 1920w","(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px",{"width":162,"height":250,"file":257,"filesize":258,"sizes":259,"imageMeta":301},"2025/04/Search-Header.jpeg",652939,{"medium":260,"large":263,"thumbnail":267,"mediumLarge":270,"1536x1536":274,"2048x2048":277,"postThumbnail":281,"socialPreview":285,"smallPreview":288,"mediumPreview":291,"largePreview":295,"fullscreenSmall":298},{"file":261,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":262},"Search-Header-300x200.jpeg",40805,{"file":264,"width":38,"height":265,"mimeType":23,"filesize":266},"Search-Header-1024x683.jpeg",683,164502,{"file":268,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":269},"Search-Header-150x150.jpeg",31471,{"file":271,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":273},"Search-Header-768x512.jpeg",512,110463,{"file":275,"width":52,"height":38,"mimeType":23,"filesize":276},"Search-Header-1536x1024.jpeg",295479,{"file":278,"width":18,"height":279,"mimeType":23,"filesize":280},"Search-Header-2048x1366.jpeg",1366,451818,{"file":282,"width":283,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":284},"Search-Header-810x540.jpeg",810,119505,{"file":286,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":287},"Search-Header-1200x630.jpeg",167119,{"file":289,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":290},"Search-Header-375x250.jpeg",49537,{"file":292,"width":72,"height":293,"mimeType":23,"filesize":294},"Search-Header-960x640.jpeg",640,149615,{"file":296,"width":77,"height":78,"mimeType":23,"filesize":297},"Search-Header-1280x854.jpeg",225514,{"file":299,"width":82,"height":77,"mimeType":23,"filesize":300},"Search-Header-1920x1280.jpeg",410619,{"aperture":302,"credit":303,"camera":304,"caption":251,"createdTimestamp":305,"copyright":303,"focalLength":306,"iso":307,"shutterSpeed":308,"title":252,"orientation":309,"keywords":310},"4.5","KATE HOLT","Canon EOS 5D Mark III","1519805981","35","250","0.033333333333333","1",[],{"primaryColor":312,"blurhash":313},"#997c55","UNIgu,9a?bMy~UR,NfoLx@NfE2%Lt5E2M|Se",null,"true",{"id":317,"guid":318,"title":319,"content":320,"excerpt":321,"excerptRaw":321,"slug":322,"url":323,"uri":324,"to":324,"status":325,"date":326,"modified":327,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":330},8406,"https://jhpiego.org/?p=8406","Dr. Allyson Bear to Lead Jhpiego as New President and CEO","\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Baltimore, MD\u003C/strong> – Johns Hopkins University has announced that Dr. Allyson Bear will be Jhpiego’s next president and CEO. She will assume the role on April 1, 2026.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Dr. Bear joins Jhpiego with 25 years of experience in the global health sector, most recently serving as founder and CEO of the Baltimore-based public health consultancy Vennhealth. Throughout her career, she has led strategic and evaluative initiatives that have shaped major global health programs and investments. Notable achievements include revising USAID’s maternal and child health investment frameworks to align with the Sustainable Development Goals, evaluating USAID’s flagship maternal and child health program, and designing a $1 billion successor strategy. In addition, she led the evaluation of the $3.5 billion Feed the Future nutrition portfolio, providing evidence that informed its Congressional reauthorization.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“The throughline of Allyson’s professional trajectory has been a profound commitment to alleviating human suffering and promoting human dignity and health for all—a background that aligns deeply with Jhpiego’s longstanding mission to provide access to lifesaving health care where it is needed most,” said Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels in an email to the Johns Hopkins University community. “She brings a proven track record in strategic growth, innovation, and resource mobilization across the global health, economic development, and humanitarian sectors.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Dr. Bear began her career focused on global market shaping and scale-up efforts, starting with Gavi’s PneumoADIP and Hib Initiative, where she provided technical assistance to Ministries of Health for vaccine rollout and impact evaluations. From 2009 to 2015, she worked at USAID, leading the development of flagship U.S. Government health initiatives. She has also held leadership positions at Corus International and Abt Associates, managing global health and economic development portfolios across West Africa, francophone Central Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East. Dr. Bear has worked in more than 45 countries worldwide, including 11 years of residence in multiple countries throughout Africa and Asia.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“It has been a privilege to lead Jhpiego over the last 25 years, and I could not be more confident as I pass the baton to Dr. Allyson Bear,” said Dr. Leslie Mancuso, outgoing president and CEO of Jhpiego. “Her commitment to improving global health and her thoughtful, values-driven leadership give me great optimism for the future of the organization.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Dr. Bear will succeed Dr. Leslie Mancuso, who has led Jhpiego since 2001 and announced her planned retirement in 2024. Under Dr. Mancuso’s leadership, Jhpiego has evolved from an organization with four core programs focused on family planning and cervical cancer prevention into one of the world’s most respected global health entities, now operating in 39 countries.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To learn more about Dr. Bear, \u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https://hub.jhu.edu/2026/03/17/allyson-bear-named-jhpiego-president-ceo/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https://hub.jhu.edu/2026/03/17/allyson-bear-named-jhpiego-president-ceo/\">read the Johns Hopkins University Hub article here.\u003C/a>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Johns Hopkins University has announced that Dr. Allyson Bear will be Jhpiego’s next president and CEO. She will assume the role on April 1, 2026.\u003C/p>\n","allyson-bear-to-lead-jhpiego-as-new-president-and-ceo","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/allyson-bear-to-lead-jhpiego-as-new-president-and-ceo/","/our-stories/p/allyson-bear-to-lead-jhpiego-as-new-president-and-ceo/","publish","2026-03-23T12:01:00","2026-04-20T20:35:51","post",5,{"id":331,"src":332,"width":62,"height":333,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":334,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":335,"srcset":336,"sizes":337,"meta":338,"acf":368},8456,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape.jpg",627,"Allyson Bear Announcement_Landscape","\u003Cimg width=\"1200\" height=\"627\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape.jpg 1200w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape-300x157.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape-768x401.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape-960x502.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape-375x196.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape.jpg 1200w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape-300x157.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allyson-Bear-Announcement_Landscape-768x401.jpg 768w, 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Statements","1896","https://jhpiego.org/policies-and-statements/",[20],"/policies-and-statements/",[],[891],{"id":892,"guid":893,"title":894,"content":895,"excerpt":896,"excerptRaw":20,"slug":897,"url":898,"uri":899,"to":899,"status":325,"date":900,"modified":901,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":902,"terms":957,"acf":986},5531,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=5531","Gender-Transformative Leadership: A Participatory Toolkit for Health Workers","\n\u003Cp>Women make up 70% of the 200 million workers globally who contribute to the health and social sector, but women only hold 25% of leadership roles.\u003Csup>1\u003C/sup> What’s more, nearly half of women’s contribution to global health is informal or unpaid.\u003Csup>1\u003C/sup>Norms related to job choice, division of household responsibilities, working conditions, institutional policies, and the presence, or lack, of role models all contribute to gender segregation by occupation and women’s ability to advance professionally.\u003Csup>1\u003C/sup>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A lack of gender balance at every level of health leadership is detrimental—health systems lose female talent, perspectives, and knowledge because of it. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that equal representation of genders at all levels of an organization and in different health sub-sectors leads not only to an empowered workforce, but also to improved quality of care and solutions shaped by a better understanding of health systems.\u003Csup>1\u003C/sup>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The COVID-19 pandemic provides a clear example. Despite the pandemic’s disproportionate effect on women and girls, in part because of their overwhelming presence on the front lines as health care workers and caregivers, women are underrepresented in decision-making. Women comprise just 10% of the representatives of the U.S. Coronavirus Task Force and 20% of the WHO Emergency Committee on COVID-19.\u003Csup>2\u003C/sup> A global survey of 30 countries found that women represent an average of 24% of national-level decision-making bodies on COVID-19.\u003Csup>3\u003C/sup> By failing to include women’s voices, we not only lose critical technical expertise, but also increase the risk of implementing policies that fail to account for the gender dimensions of health emergencies.\u003Csup>2\u003C/sup> Losing gains in access to sexual and reproductive health services, overlooking negative consequences of epidemics on maternal and child health, failing to address the increased risk for gender-based violence—specifically intimate partner violence—due to lock-downs, and limiting conversations on economic recovery to the formal sector are just some of the consequences of gender-blind policies that do not also consider the intersectional needs of women.\u003Csup>2–4 \u003C/sup>(Intersectionality recognizes that women are not a homogenous group, and that gender interacts with other determinants like age, geographical location, sexuality, class, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, and disability to shape access to services and health outcomes.\u003Csup>5\u003C/sup>)  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Given this backdrop, there is no better time than now to invest in gender-transformative leadership to promote gender equality in health organizations and, more broadly, in the communities where they work.\u003Csup>6\u003C/sup> (Gender-transformative leadership development offers deliberate consideration of both formal and informal gender power structures and discriminatory practices.\u003Csup>6\u003C/sup>) To address factors contributing to the global gender gap in leadership, Jhpiego’s recently launched \u003Cem>Gender Transformation for Health: A Toolkit for Health Workers\u003C/em> covers topics like global disparities in women’s leadership, gender as a determinant of career advancement, gendered patterns of communication, mentorship and sponsorship, and linkages between power, gender norms, and sexual harassment. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The toolkit reflects numerous calls to action for equitable representation of women in global health decision-making. The strategies shared in the toolkit’s modules apply an intersectional lens and complement existing leadership curricula, providing tools to health care workers and managers to advance gender equality. The approach is particularly relevant in the context of today’s pandemic, but it can also be used long-term to spur greater inclusion of women’s voices in global health. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-button\">\u003Ca class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/resources/gender-transformative-toolkit/\">See the toolkit\u003C/a>\u003C/div>\n\u003C/div>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>References:\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Col class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>World Health Organization. Delivered by women, led by men: a gender and equity analysis of the global health and social workforce. 2019. World Health Organization. \u003Ca href=\"https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/311322\">https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/311322\u003C/a>. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Women in Global Health, Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security. Operation 50/50: 90+ Women Experts Working in Health Security. \u003Ca href=\"https://www.womeningh.org/operation-50-50\">https://www.womeningh.org/operation-50-50\u003C/a>.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>CARE. Where are the Women? The Conspicuous Absence of Women in COVID-19 Response Teams and Plans, and Why We Need Them. 2020. https://www.care-international.org/files/files/CARE_COVID-19-womens-leadership-report_June-2020.pdf\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Devex. Ensuring women’s representation in COVID-19 policymaking. Gender Data Series: Mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls. June 9, 2020. \u003Ca href=\"https://pages.devex.com/gender-data-covid19#upcoming-event\">https://pages.devex.com/gender-data-covid19#upcoming-event\u003C/a>.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Davies SE, Harman S, Manjool R, Tanyag M, Wenham C. Why it must be a feminist global health agenda. The Lancet. 2019; 393 (10171): 601-603. \u003Ca href=\"https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32472-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32472-3\u003C/a>.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Keeling A, Manzoor M, Thompson K, Dhatt R. Women in Global Health Gender Transformative Leadership: A New Vision for Leadership in Global Health. 17 November 2018. \u003Ca href=\"https://c8fbe10e-fb87-47e7-844b-4e700959d2d4.filesusr.com/ugd/ffa4bc_5f193fb461714a27a87aafbf3a8828bb.pdf\">https://c8fbe10e-fb87-47e7-844b-4e700959d2d4.filesusr.com/ugd/ffa4bc_5f193fb461714a27a87aafbf3a8828bb.pdf\u003C/a>.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ol>\n","\u003Cp>Women make up 70% of the 200 million workers globally who contribute to the health and social sector, but women…\u003C/p>\n","gender-transformative-leadership-a-participatory-toolkit-for-health-workers","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/gender-transformative-leadership-a-participatory-toolkit-for-health-workers/","/our-stories/p/gender-transformative-leadership-a-participatory-toolkit-for-health-workers/","2020-07-02T17:42:00","2025-08-28T17:45:23",{"id":903,"src":904,"width":18,"height":905,"alt":20,"caption":906,"title":907,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":908,"srcset":909,"sizes":26,"meta":910,"acf":954},5536,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Ghana-Gender-Transformative-Toolkit-Feature-Photo.jpg",1365,"Third year midwifery students, who are expected to take their licensing examination later this year, take part in a practical training session at the  at the Korle Bu Nursing and Midwifery Training School   Accra, Ghana Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. 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Johnstone",[992,1046,1108,1136,1196,1239,1277,1338,1410,1469,1534,1594,1653,1712,1776,1816,1870,1941,1981,2021,2084,2145,2204,2243,2284,2344],{"id":993,"guid":994,"title":995,"content":996,"excerpt":997,"excerptRaw":997,"slug":998,"url":999,"uri":1000,"to":1000,"status":325,"date":1001,"modified":1002,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1003},9189,"https://jhpiego.org/?p=9189","How to give more than a vaccine","\n\u003Cp>Making sure HPV vaccination reaches more girls in Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9193\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">VMS Nurse Diby Felicité on a community visit in Niakara, Cote d’Ivoire. Credit: Jean Jacques SOHA\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The vaccine works. \u003Ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/11-04-2022-one-dose-human-papillomavirus-(hpv)-vaccine-offers-solid-protection-against-cervical-cancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Single-dose HPV vaccination\u003C/a> dramatically reduces the lifetime risk of cervical cancer, a disease that kills around 350,000 women a year, most of them in low- and middle-income countries. For the first time, cervical cancer elimination is mathematically achievable.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The challenges lie in delivery.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In many Gavi-supported countries, HPV vaccination coverage still sits well below the global 90% target. The issue is usually \u003Cem>where\u003C/em> the vaccine is delivered, in that adolescent girls, particularly those who are not in school, or who live in remote areas or mobile communities, do not reliably encounter the health system. When they do, the short interaction enabled by a vaccination often on its own does not generate enough trust, value or convenience to overcome the various barriers they face.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A first-of-its-kind initiative called Strengthening HPV Vaccination and Adolescent Health Research Programme (SHARP), commissioned by Gavi and led by Jhpiego along with national governments, tested a different proposition across three countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Tanzania. The idea was to meet adolescents where they are, by pairing HPV vaccination with a broader package of adolescent health services.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"784\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SHARP_TZ_Integrated_Education_h2-1024x784.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9195\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SHARP_TZ_Integrated_Education_h2-1024x784.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SHARP_TZ_Integrated_Education_h2-300x230.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SHARP_TZ_Integrated_Education_h2-768x588.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SHARP_TZ_Integrated_Education_h2-705x540.jpg 705w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SHARP_TZ_Integrated_Education_h2-375x287.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SHARP_TZ_Integrated_Education_h2-960x735.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SHARP_TZ_Integrated_Education_h2.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">SHARP Tanzania Integrated Education session in Arusha. Credit: Radhia Davis Luoga\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>While the three implementation approaches look different, the lessons are starting to converge.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tanzania: meeting the girls outside of school\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In the Mbeya and Arusha regions of Tanzania, the programme focused on the adolescents Tanzania’s school-based HPV delivery had been least likely to reach: out-of-school girls, pastoralist communities and remote villages. Working in Karatu and Mbarali districts, the project co-designed an integrated outreach with adolescents, parents, teachers, community leaders and local government.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In a single visit, adolescents could receive the single-dose HPV vaccine, vision screening, nutrition checks and age-appropriate health education. Staffed by trained health professionals and community health workers, these visits were often held where families already gather – village meeting points or at their homes.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Over the course of six months, the programme had impressive reach: more than 3,500 adolescents received integrated services, and HPV vaccination coverage among girls reached 92.5% in programme areas (compared to 84.6% in other areas), with the largest gap among out-of-school girls. Of vaccinated girls, nearly 80% also received at least one additional health service.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“I liked all the services overall, personally… First is the vaccine for girls, second is the eye screening, and then nutrition… I like it because they guided us, it helps girls to be protected from various diseases.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp> – Parent, Tanzania\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Côte d’Ivoire: optimising a platform that was already there\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Côte d’Ivoire set out to tackle a different challenge. While a national school health platform, known as the Systematic Medical Visit, or by its French acronym VMS, already existed, the country struggled with execution. Coverage was uneven across districts, implementation varied widely, and girls outside the school system were largely left out.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n\u003Cp>“So we had to combine [HPV vaccination] with the VMS to raise the rate a bit. When we incorporated the checkup into the vaccination process, it actually increased the rate a little. We were able to identify eye abnormalities and all kinds of vision problems. We also prescribed medications; if there were gynaecological issues, we prescribed medications for those as well.”\u003C/p>\n\u003C/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>– Nurse, healthcare provider, Côte d’Ivoire\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Rather than replacing the platform, partners worked to optimise it. In Niakara and Abobo-Ouest health districts, the project diversified where visits happened, extending them beyond schools to health centres and community spaces. It strengthened coordination between the national immunisation programme, the adolescent health programme, and district health teams. It moved data collection from paper forms onto a digital system for increased quality of reporting. And it built community health worker capacity for door-to-door outreach.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The numbers from Côte d’Ivoire tell a striking story. Between June and November 2025, more than 15,000\u003Cstrong> \u003C/strong>adolescents passed through the integrated visit. Coverage in programme districts climbed from 9% to 49%, while coverage in comparison districts climbed from 8% to 33%. After adjusting for region, wealth and age, the increase among girls in programme districts was almost 17 times larger than the increase in comparison districts. Knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer among adolescent girls rose from 25% to 42% where the programme ran. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The visit also caught over 2,500 cases of visual impairment, poor nutritional status, and anaemia that would have been missed otherwise. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n\u003Cp>“Thanks to these examinations, we can reveal a hidden illness that may have been affecting you for a long time and that you may not be aware of.”\u003C/p>\n\u003C/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>– Out-of-school adolescent, Côte d’Ivoire\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Nigeria: building opportunities for integration\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In Nigeria, the HPV vaccine was only introduced in 2023, through large-scale campaigns targeting girls across multiple age groups, so there hasn’t been as much time or opportunity to test approaches beyond these initial efforts.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In partnership with the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Direct Consulting and Logistics, Jhpiego implemented two different models in Lagos and Kebbi states to explore what existing locations – that is, places of intersection with adolescents – could be used to provide HPV vaccination and other adolescent health services. Crucially, government partners at the state and local government area (LGA) levels were central to shaping the service package and advocating for its implementation from the start.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Nurse_Diby_Felicit_h2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9194\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Nurse_Diby_Felicit_h2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Nurse_Diby_Felicit_h2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Nurse_Diby_Felicit_h2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Nurse_Diby_Felicit_h2-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Nurse_Diby_Felicit_h2-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Nurse_Diby_Felicit_h2-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Nurse_Diby_Felicit_h2.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Nurse Diby Felicité in Niakara, Cote d’Ivoire.\nCredit: Jean Jacques SOHA\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Across both states, the models included school vaccination outreaches, community outreaches and offering integrated services at existing health facilities. In Kebbi, monthly mobile sessions brought services directly into communities. In Lagos, specialised HIV clinics and youth-friendly health centres were also used as entry points to provide integrated care.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The results speak to how much demand there is when services meet girls where they are. In just five months, 84% of eligible girls (more than 14,000 out of 17,000) were vaccinated in Kebbi, and in Lagos 172% of eligible girls were vaccinated (7,700 eligible girls turned out, while the health system had expected just 4,500). More than 25,000 girls across both states received the full integrated package of commodities, including such goods as deworming medications, sanitary pads and/or soap.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In Kebbi, over 15,000 girls in Kebbi received counselling on HPV, cervical cancer and vaccination. In Lagos, every girl who was vaccinated also received counselling and commodities as part of the integrated visit.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n\u003Cp>“With the SHARP intervention… the sanitary pads, wristbands, and deworming tablets really helped in accepting the vaccination [in] the community.” \u003C/p>\n\u003C/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>– Programme manager, Agege, Lagos\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the three countries are teaching us\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Typically, the platform exists, but it needs to be optimised.\u003C/strong> In each country, an adolescent service platform or school health system existed before the programme arrived. What changed was how it was used: extended hours, more delivery sites, joint planning across ministries, and outreach that did not end at the school gate. For countries looking to scale HPV vaccination, the implication is that the answer to the platform question is rarely to “build new”. It is almost always “optimise what’s already there”.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Community health workers are non-negotiable.\u003C/strong> Across both Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania, community health workers were the engine that reached parents and girls outside the formal system. As immunisation programmes grow to cover more adolescent services, formalising the role of these workers in HPV delivery is among the most actionable policy decisions countries can take.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Integration is what makes the visit worth the trip.\u003C/strong> A vaccine on its own often does not generate enough perceived value for a remote family to travel for it. A vaccine paired with vision screening, nutrition checks and adolescent health information becomes a full health encounter, and parents and girls respond accordingly.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Financing is the hardest piece ahead.\u003C/strong> Sustaining integration will require joint funding across various ministries. Financing models that catalyse multisectoral commitment will determine whether the integrated model scales beyond the project period.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We know the HPV vaccine works, but the existence of a good vaccine was never going to be enough. Girls that are out of school, part of pastoralist communities and live in remote villages are the people who will determine whether cervical cancer elimination is achieved in this generation or the next. The evidence from these three countries is starting to show what it takes to reach them.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This article was originally published on the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance website on June 23, 2026. \u003Ca href=\"https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/how-give-more-vaccine\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/how-give-more-vaccine\">Read the original article here.\u003C/a>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Anissa Sidibe is theTechnical Director for Immunisation, Jhpiego. Mary Rose Giattas is Project Director, SHARP TZ, Jhpiego Tanzania. Chizoba Wonodi is the Principal Investigator, SHARP NG, International Vaccine Access Center Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Séraphin Kouassi Kouakou is the Senior Technical Advisor for Immunisation, Jhpiego Côte d’Ivoire.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Making sure HPV vaccination reaches more girls in Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.\u003C/p>\n","more-than-a-vaccine","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/more-than-a-vaccine/","/our-stories/p/more-than-a-vaccine/","2026-06-24T13:26:07","2026-06-25T13:01:48",{"id":1004,"src":1005,"width":1006,"height":1007,"alt":20,"caption":1008,"title":1009,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1010,"srcset":1011,"sizes":1012,"meta":1013,"acf":1043},9193,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1.jpg",1080,720,"VMS Nurse Diby Felicité on a community visit in Niakara, Cote d'Ivoire. Credit: Jean Jacques SOHA","VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1","\u003Cimg width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1.jpg 1080w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-960x640.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1.jpg 1080w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-960x640.jpg 960w","(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px",{"width":1006,"height":1007,"file":1014,"filesize":1015,"sizes":1016,"imageMeta":1041},"2026/06/VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1.jpg",151550,{"medium":1017,"large":1020,"thumbnail":1023,"mediumLarge":1026,"postThumbnail":1029,"socialPreview":1032,"smallPreview":1035,"mediumPreview":1038},{"file":1018,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1019},"VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-300x200.jpg",20390,{"file":1021,"width":38,"height":265,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1022},"VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-1024x683.jpg",180203,{"file":1024,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1025},"VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-150x150.jpg",9140,{"file":1027,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1028},"VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-768x512.jpg",109686,{"file":1030,"width":283,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1031},"VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-810x540.jpg",121497,{"file":1033,"width":1006,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1034},"VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-1080x630.jpg",196102,{"file":1036,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1037},"VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-375x250.jpg",30614,{"file":1039,"width":72,"height":293,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1040},"VMS_Nurse_Diby_Felicit-visiting_h1-960x640.jpg",159676,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1042},[],{"primaryColor":1044,"blurhash":1045},"#c5b3ab","UGI;#J^HH[.AIu%1azInISIvEeD%%LkrN_rq",{"id":1047,"guid":1048,"title":1049,"content":1050,"excerpt":1051,"excerptRaw":1051,"slug":1052,"url":1053,"uri":1054,"to":1054,"status":325,"date":1055,"modified":1056,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1057},8571,"https://jhpiego.org/?p=8571","Kenya Is United Against Antimalarial Drug Resistance with Their Bold New Strategy to Protect Life-Saving Malaria Treatments","\n\u003Cp>Dr. Sammy Mahugu has spent most of his career trying to stay one step ahead of malaria. As head of case management for the Kenyan government’s National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), Dr. Mahugu has seen firsthand how the disease continues to take lives across the country, and how quickly the tools used to fight it can lose their edge. Malaria is an illness caused by parasites spread through mosquito bites that cause fever, chills, and fatigue. It is treatable and preventable, but if not caught in time, it can be deadly, especially for young children. So when early signals of antimalarial drug resistance began to emerge in East Africa, Dr. Mahugu knew Kenya could be next and could not afford to wait.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For decades, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have been the first-line treatment against malaria, saving millions of lives across Africa and the globe. But a silent threat has been gathering force. Across parts of the continent, partial resistance to ACTs is growing, and in Kenya, the widespread and prolonged use of a single ACT regimen—artemether-lumefantrine (AL)—poses a risk. Sustained pressure on one drug combination can accelerate the development and spread of resistance. Left unchecked, this trend could erode decades of hard-won gains in malaria treatment and place the most vulnerable communities back in danger.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8587\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thirty six weeks pregnant, Katharine Aknyi receive malaria prevention medicine at the Got Matar Health Clinic in the Bondo District, Kenya.\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Despite significant progress through insecticide-treated nets, indoor residual spraying, improved surveillance, and expanded treatment access, malaria remains a major public health concern in Kenya. With evolving mosquito patterns and early signs of insecticide resistance emerging in some regions, the country recognized that bold, preventive action was needed.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In response, the Ministry of Health, through the NMCP, developed Kenya’s Multiple First-Line Therapies (MFT) Implementation Plan (2026–2030) with the Unitaid-funded Scaling the Optimal Use of Multiple Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapies to Prevent Antimalarial Drug Resistance (STOP-AMDR) project. Implemented by Jhpiego, STOP-AMDR provides the technical and financial support that is making bold action possible.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“The collaborative engagement, technical rigor, and commitment demonstrated by the Jhpiego team have been instrumental in bringing the MFT process to this important milestone,” said Sammy Mahugu, head of case management for NMCP. “We truly value the spirit of partnership that has guided this work from concept development through validation.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Rather than continuing to rely on a single ACT regimen, the plan introduces and rotates multiple approved therapies across counties in a phased rollout. Using several different first-line antimalarial treatments at the same time puts less pressure on any one drug, helping them remain effective for longer. Slowing the emergence of resistance will preserve the long-term efficacy of available treatments and life-saving medicines for years to come.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The country will also maintain its “test-before-treat” policy, continue using multiple ACTs for uncomplicated malaria, and rely on injectable artesunate for severe cases.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>On February 5, 2026, that plan was put to the test when Jhpiego joined health leaders for a high-level external validation meeting. We joined the World Health Organization, the Global Fund, the Kenya Medical Research Institute, and the Kenya Non-Governmental Organization Alliance Against Malaria to discuss the urgent need to diversify treatment options by adopting MFTs. Together, we emphasized the importance of a well-coordinated national response and walked through each step of the implementation process, including:\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Ensuring supply chain readiness\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Planning early procurement to avoid stockouts\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Preparing health workers—including pharmacists, laboratory teams, and community health promoters—through targeted training.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We also discussed the need to integrate private providers into national reporting systems; strengthen pharmacovigilance and molecular surveillance so that the earliest signs of treatment failure can be detected quickly; and use community communication strategies to ensure that patients understand the new approach and trust the evolving system.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>By the end of the day, Kenya’s MFT Implementation Plan had been validated, refined by stakeholders’ input, and positioned for rollout.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For Jhpiego and many health leaders like Dr. Mahugu, validation of the plan is not the endpoint; it is a mandate. Concrete next steps are already in motion to launch the plan, strengthen surveillance and supply chains, mobilize sustainable financing, and roll out phased training across the country.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In the next phase, implementation will shift to the subnational level to close gaps and coordinate across public and private sectors. County leaders are ready to play their part.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“The implementation plan is comprehensive and well done,” said Dr. Patrick Boruett, county director for health in Baringo County. “Counties will be able to engage stakeholders at all levels and emphasize capacity building for health care workers, advocacy for leaders, community engagement, and involvement of the private sector.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Kenya’s proactive leadership demonstrates that containing malaria resistance is not a challenge to be addressed in the future. It is a responsibility that must be acted on now. With the MFT plan validated and partners working in alignment, the country is taking decisive steps to protect its malaria treatment arsenal, ensuring that every confirmed case can continue to be effectively treated and that progress toward malaria elimination remains firmly on course.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Ndinda Kusu is a Senior Technical Advisor for Health Systems Development, George Wadegu is Senior Technical Officer for Malaria, and Lisa Wagethi Kamau is a Communications Officer for Jhpiego Kenya.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Gladys Tetteh is Jhpiego’s Senior Technical Director for Malaria.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Despite significant progress, malaria remains a major public health concern in Kenya. With evolving mosquito patterns and early signs of insecticide resistance emerging in some regions, the country recognized that bold, preventive action was needed.\u003C/p>\n","kenya-validates-bold-new-strategy-to-protect-life-saving-malaria-treatments","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/kenya-validates-bold-new-strategy-to-protect-life-saving-malaria-treatments/","/our-stories/p/kenya-validates-bold-new-strategy-to-protect-life-saving-malaria-treatments/","2026-04-20T17:12:06","2026-04-22T18:18:40",{"id":1058,"src":1059,"width":18,"height":905,"alt":20,"caption":1060,"title":1061,"description":1062,"mimeType":23,"html":1063,"srcset":1064,"sizes":26,"meta":1065,"acf":1105},8587,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy.jpg","Thirty six week pregnant Katharine Aknyi receive malaria prevention medicine at the Got Matar Health Clinic in the Bondo district that is supported by Jhpiego in Western Kenya. Photo by Karel Prinsloo for Jhpiego.","Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy","\u003Cp>Thirty six week pregnant Katharine Aknyi receive malaria prevention medicine at the Got Matar Health Clinic in the Bondo district that is supported by Jhpiego in Western Kenya,Tuesday, April 2, 2014. In the Bondo District, malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, especially among children and pregnant women.  ARETE/ KAREL PRINSLOO.  \u003C/p>\n","\u003Cimg width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w",{"width":18,"height":905,"file":1066,"filesize":1067,"sizes":1068,"imageMeta":1102},"2026/04/Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy.jpg",521297,{"medium":1069,"large":1072,"thumbnail":1075,"mediumLarge":1078,"1536x1536":1081,"postThumbnail":1084,"socialPreview":1087,"smallPreview":1090,"mediumPreview":1093,"largePreview":1096,"fullscreenSmall":1099},{"file":1070,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1071},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-300x200.jpg",17762,{"file":1073,"width":38,"height":265,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1074},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1024x683.jpg",114207,{"file":1076,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1077},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-150x150.jpg",8312,{"file":1079,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1080},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-768x512.jpg",73506,{"file":1082,"width":52,"height":38,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1083},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1536x1024.jpg",213140,{"file":1085,"width":283,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1086},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-810x540.jpg",80257,{"file":1088,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1089},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1200x630.jpg",123397,{"file":1091,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1092},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-375x250.jpg",25105,{"file":1094,"width":72,"height":293,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1095},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-960x640.jpg",103312,{"file":1097,"width":77,"height":943,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1098},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1280x853.jpg",161209,{"file":1100,"width":82,"height":77,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1101},"Kenya_Malaria_Pregnancy-1920x1280.jpg",303464,{"aperture":86,"credit":1103,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1104},"KAREL PRINSLOO",[],{"primaryColor":1106,"blurhash":1107,"videoUrl":20,"focalPointX":20,"focalPointY":20},"#766b57","UGF$O$tSkG_N~IWF9FoeMaMwbxR3aJohozoe",{"id":1109,"guid":1110,"title":1111,"content":1112,"excerpt":1113,"excerptRaw":1113,"slug":1114,"url":1115,"uri":1116,"to":1116,"status":325,"date":1117,"modified":1118,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1119},8047,"https://jhpiego.org/?p=8047","The Broken Narrative About Nonprofit Sustainability at Scale ","\n\u003Cp>Many social innovation funders aspire to be “catalytic” in their grantmaking, supporting social enterprises to unlock future revenue streams that will allow them to be financially sustainable at scale, without an ongoing dependence on philanthropy. In a challenging fundraising environment, the imperative for nonprofits to diversify their revenues has become even more urgent than ever. However, the dominant narratives about sustainable financing at scale can leave nonprofits questioning many of their foundational decisions.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https://phr.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Physicians for Human Rights\u003C/a> (PHR) is a global nonprofit organization active in Kenya and the DRC, among other countries. It built a simple but powerful software tool, \u003Ca href=\"https://phr.org/issues/sexual-violence/medicapt/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MediCapt\u003C/a>, that helps frontline health workers document cases of sexual violence with rigor, ensuring survivors have stronger evidence in court. The theory of change was clear—better documentation would increase the likelihood of prosecution, deter future crimes, and bring survivors closer to justice. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The solution has been widely lauded and has \u003Ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0278312\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proven its ability\u003C/a> to improve data quality. But when PHR sought to take it to scale, the business model problem emerged with brutal clarity. Expecting survivors to pay was ethically indefensible. Health workers and clinics were overstretched and unwilling to take on new costs. Governments, juggling countless priorities, often treated gender-based violence as too sensitive or politically fraught—particularly in fragile and conflict settings. The solution fell between two ministries, health and justice, neither eager nor equipped to take ownership. And yet donors pressed: find a way to “wean off philanthropy” and secure a new payer at scale. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>While PHR is working hard to navigate these challenges, their situation is not unique. Another nonprofit developed an electronic medical record (EMR) for low-income primary care settings. Their donors pushed them to establish an earned revenue stream. They knew that health facilities and health workers could not pay, so their idea was to scale by partnering with other NGOs through sub-contracts. Too soon, it became all too clear that other NGOs rarely have predictable money to pay either. Worse, governments—who held the keys to long-term adoption—demanded endless customization and implementation support, consuming the nonprofit’s bandwidth without offering funding in return. Saying no risked alienating ministries and abandoning health workers already using the tool. Saying yes meant mission drift, exhausted staff, and unfunded obligations. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A third group experimented with “co-funding” alongside government: donors covered software and training, while ministries promised to fund salaries and equipment. On paper, this looked like “transitioning to government ownership,” the holy grail many donors prize. In reality, without full control over implementation (and in particular the ability to replace under-performing staff), the nonprofit’s carefully honed model broke down. Quality declined and impact data faltered. Ironically, the very donors who encouraged government adoption began to question continued funding because outcomes were slipping. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>These are not failures of vision or execution. They are symptoms of a structural bind that mission-first organizations face. They are caught in what might be called \u003Cem>the nonprofit scaling trap\u003C/em>: told that reliance on grants is unsustainable over the long term, urged to find a revenue model or encouraged to hand over ownership to governments—while the very nature of their work makes those pathways deeply fraught. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Why the Trap Persists\u003C/strong> \u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Over the past decade, landmark articles and frameworks within the social innovation literature have explored the topic of nonprofit scaling.  \u003Ca href=\"https://ssir.org/articles/entry/strategy_go_big_or_go_oh_just_go_big\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003Cem>Go Big or Go… Oh, Just Go Big\u003C/em>\u003C/a> taught us to ask who will ultimately pay. \u003Ca href=\"https://ssir.org/articles/entry/why_proven_solutions_struggle_to_scale_up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003Cem>Why Proven Solutions Struggle to Scale Up\u003C/em>\u003C/a> explored gaps in financing, talent and ecosystem coordination.  \u003Ca href=\"https://ssir.org/articles/entry/whats_your_endgame\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003Cem>What’s Your Endgame?\u003C/em>\u003C/a> posited different pathways to ‘scale’ through replication by others, government adoption or market mechanisms. The underlying ideas remain sound: scale matters, and philanthropy alone cannot sustain most interventions. But as I’ve worked with nonprofits across Africa, particularly in health and adjacent sectors, I’ve seen the disconnect between this theory and their lived reality. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Today’s nonprofits operate in a more challenging environment than ever before. Reductions in foreign aid mean that organizations are competing for the same pool of philanthropic funds, while governments in low-resource settings have even less fiscal space than usual. Nonprofits are scrambling to diversify revenue away from philanthropy, but the options are limited to three paths: i) earned revenues through a market-linked business model; ii) government adoption or contracts; or iii) sub-contracts from other nonprofits. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Each of these pathways is constrained—by low ability to pay, fiscal crises, and the fragility of peer organizations—leaving nonprofits with few viable alternatives. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Seven recurring barriers stand out: \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Mission–market tension.\u003C/strong> Many nonprofits intentionally opt to serve the poorest or most vulnerable, in contexts where ability to pay is negligible. Designing for impact, not revenue, is in their DNA. Asking them to pivot to a market-linked business model with paying customers can distort or dilute the mission by requiring them to shift away from those who need their services the most. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Open-source requirements.\u003C/strong> Grant agreements often require nonprofits to open-source their intellectual property. While laudable for diffusion, this strips away the very protections that might enable monetization. Without IP, nonprofits can only charge for set-up or consulting services, meaning a “sustainable business model” is often out of reach. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Market failures.\u003C/strong> Many nonprofits are addressing \u003Cem>market failures\u003C/em>, where the social benefits of their solutions exceed private demand, or where their solution is a public good that should be funded through the public purse. When governments can’t (or won’t) invest in these public goods, the nonprofit ends up plugging holes without a viable payer. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Capacity gaps.\u003C/strong> Commercial skills in financial planning, marketing, pricing, and customer acquisition can be foreign to organizations built in a grant-driven world. Even if opportunities exist, many teams lack the internal know-how and systems to pursue them. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Cultural resistance.\u003C/strong> Boards, staff, and communities may view “commercial” activities as mission drift, creating internal conflict. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Brand identity risk.\u003C/strong> Pursuing revenue can undermine donor, community or government trust, making organizations seem less altruistic or even exploitative and jeopardizing their seat at the table as an honest broker. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Access to capital.\u003C/strong> Nonprofits cannot raise equity. And most lack the flexible funds needed to invest in testing or scaling new models with uncertain success. \u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Together, these barriers lock nonprofits into a cycle: pressured to “transition” from catalytic grant funding towards long-term government financing or earned revenue, but without viable options to do so. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The Donor Double Bind\u003C/strong> \u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>What makes this especially pernicious is the varied messaging from donors. On one hand, funders frequently ask nonprofits how they are planning for long-term sustainability. On the other, those same funders hold expectations that keep organizations dependent and fragile. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Take the push for government adoption or procurement. For funders, this is the ultimate proof of sustainability. Yet governments in many low- and middle-income countries face fiscal crises, arrears in supplier payments, and heavy donor dependency themselves. Procurement processes are opaque, timelines long, and payment cycles erratic. Ministries often demand co-creation and customization—reasonable from their perspective—but punishing for lean nonprofits with scarce staff, especially after they have spent years honing and proving their model to be responsive to their early innovation funders. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The result is a cruel irony: the very pathway touted as “the endgame” often drains capacity, dilutes quality, and jeopardizes impact. Non-profits get trapped instead in “perpetual fundraising,” which was \u003Cem>explicitly flagged as the deadliest non-endgame.\u003C/em> The theory makes sense, but in practice, the structural conditions for an endgame simply don’t exist for many non-profits. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Toward a More Realistic Endgame\u003C/strong> \u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Many nonprofits remain trapped between idealized pathways and practical constraints. They are asked to solve market failures, but told to act like businesses. They are asked to serve the most vulnerable, but told to become self-sustaining. They are asked to hand solutions to government, but without patient subsidy to bridge the political and fiscal realities of public systems. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>If donors want NGOs to earn revenue, they must accept hard trade-offs between impact and commercial returns. To generate income, nonprofits will need to prioritize audiences with ability to pay—often not the most vulnerable. Only after establishing a revenue base might they create cross-subsidies to serve those who cannot pay. This shift can take years, require significant investment, and may involve a departure from the original mission. Pushing for revenue without acknowledging these realities risks setting nonprofits up for failure—or forcing them into compromises that erode their impact. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>If we want proven solutions to scale, we must move beyond slogans about “sustainability” and reckon with the structural barriers nonprofits face. That means funders accepting that some public goods will always require subsidy. It means creating capital vehicles designed to invest in the growth of nonprofits, not just startups. It means questioning the requirement to place all intellectual property in the public domain and considering a conversation about access pricing instead.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>A Checklist for Donors: Before You Push for “Sustainability,” Ask—\u003C/strong> \u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Is this a public good?\u003C/strong> If so, ongoing subsidy may be appropriate. Don’t force a revenue model where none can exist. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Who is the natural payer?\u003C/strong> Is there a viable customer base (individuals, institutions, governments) with both ability \u003Cem>and\u003C/em> willingness to pay? If not, be realistic. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>What’s the fiscal reality?\u003C/strong> Even if government is the logical payer, does fiscal space, procurement capacity, and payment reliability exist?  \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Does the nonprofit have monetizable assets?\u003C/strong> Is there protected IP, brand value, or a service offering that can be sold—without undermining mission? What options are you asking the organization to give up by requiring everything to be placed in the public domain? \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>What transition costs are required?\u003C/strong> Are you providing flexible risk capital for market analysis, early pilots of revenue models, and new talent acquisition to help organizations genuinely test models without jeopardizing their core mission? \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>What is a realistic timeline?\u003C/strong> Building a revenue-generating arm or transitioning to government ownership can take years. Are you prepared to provide patient capital and support during this period without penalizing the organization for slow progress? \u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Nonprofits exist because some needs are too urgent, too unprofitable, or too politically sensitive for markets and governments to meet. Yet in the rush to declare philanthropy unsustainable, we’ve forgotten why these organizations emerged in the first place. We act as if they are broken when they cannot scale through market mechanisms or government procurement—but this is precisely the gap they were created to fill. Something has to give: either we accept that certain solutions will always require subsidy, or we risk losing the very innovations designed for those who need them most. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fjoanne-peter-9b42b183%2F&data=05%7C02%7CJoanne.Peter%40jhpiego.org%7Cc5249bc0c3e84cdf3d7508de3295255b%7C26ef7fd22a7f4135a2e4de9acf168b2a%7C0%7C0%7C639003813325702196%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=o3Tehb5kZo1%2B3auv5g1ZrP36QG0FngVhG9nuUtmJkXY%3D&reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003Cem>Dr. Joanne Peter\u003C/em>\u003C/a>\u003Cem> oversees \u003C/em>\u003Ca href=\"https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjhpiego.org%2Fareas-of-expertise%2Fwish%2F&data=05%7C02%7CJoanne.Peter%40jhpiego.org%7Cc5249bc0c3e84cdf3d7508de3295255b%7C26ef7fd22a7f4135a2e4de9acf168b2a%7C0%7C0%7C639003813325727752%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=DSgFvRKuPmwBLbqXt0UhWxEp9phWd8xW9aUpyFdy%2FpM%3D&reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003Cem>Jhpiego’s Worldwide Innovation Support Hub (WISH)\u003C/em>\u003C/a>\u003Cem>, an accelerator program that harnesses Jhpiego’s know-how and networks to support local innovators to scale their solutions within public health systems. Since 2022 – in partnership with \u003C/em>\u003Ca href=\"https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthetrinitychallenge.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7CJoanne.Peter%40jhpiego.org%7Cc5249bc0c3e84cdf3d7508de3295255b%7C26ef7fd22a7f4135a2e4de9acf168b2a%7C0%7C0%7C639003813325754161%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=M6R92Q7YX0D36jEP5TZeA%2FmjE4AsIHiY%2FQDswwzb6WA%3D&reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003Cem>The Trinity Challenge\u003C/em>\u003C/a>\u003Cem>, \u003C/em>\u003Ca href=\"https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.grandchallenges.ca%2F&data=05%7C02%7CJoanne.Peter%40jhpiego.org%7Cc5249bc0c3e84cdf3d7508de3295255b%7C26ef7fd22a7f4135a2e4de9acf168b2a%7C0%7C0%7C639003813325780585%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=vaOhhRYl%2FcjCTQabtKZMRdnU%2BvRsoUDkC7ud3nz2TIA%3D&reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003Cem>Grand Challenges Canada\u003C/em>\u003C/a>\u003Cem>, and \u003C/em>\u003Ca href=\"https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehealthtech.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7CJoanne.Peter%40jhpiego.org%7Cc5249bc0c3e84cdf3d7508de3295255b%7C26ef7fd22a7f4135a2e4de9acf168b2a%7C0%7C0%7C639003813325801817%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=2p5fD%2FeXpQZGrsqjn64f22mniqYr6x282pyORNTVWIY%3D&reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003Cem>HealthTech Hub Africa\u003C/em>\u003C/a>\u003Cem> – WISH has worked with over 100 innovators across Africa, Asia and Latin America as they tackle health challenges in global health security and antimicrobial resistance, maternal and newborn health, community health and primary health care, digital health, and more.\u003C/em> \u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Joanne Peter talks about the imperative for nonprofits to diversify their revenues. However, the dominant narratives about sustainable financing at scale can leave nonprofits questioning many of their foundational decisions.  \u003C/p>\n","the-broken-narrative-about-nonprofit-sustainability-at-scale","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/the-broken-narrative-about-nonprofit-sustainability-at-scale/","/our-stories/p/the-broken-narrative-about-nonprofit-sustainability-at-scale/","2026-02-18T11:43:56","2026-02-18T19:42:15",{"id":461,"src":462,"width":18,"height":19,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":463,"description":464,"mimeType":23,"html":465,"srcset":466,"sizes":26,"meta":1120,"acf":1135},{"width":18,"height":19,"file":468,"filesize":469,"sizes":1121,"imageMeta":1133},{"medium":1122,"large":1123,"thumbnail":1124,"mediumLarge":1125,"1536x1536":1126,"postThumbnail":1127,"socialPreview":1128,"smallPreview":1129,"mediumPreview":1130,"largePreview":1131,"fullscreenSmall":1132},{"file":472,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":473},{"file":475,"width":38,"height":39,"mimeType":23,"filesize":476},{"file":478,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":479},{"file":481,"width":47,"height":48,"mimeType":23,"filesize":482},{"file":484,"width":52,"height":53,"mimeType":23,"filesize":485},{"file":487,"width":57,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":488},{"file":490,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":491},{"file":493,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":494},{"file":496,"width":72,"height":73,"mimeType":23,"filesize":497},{"file":499,"width":77,"height":78,"mimeType":23,"filesize":500},{"file":502,"width":82,"height":83,"mimeType":23,"filesize":503},{"aperture":86,"credit":87,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":90,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1134},[],{"primaryColor":507,"blurhash":508,"videoUrl":20,"focalPointX":509,"focalPointY":510},{"id":1137,"guid":1138,"title":1139,"content":1140,"excerpt":1141,"excerptRaw":1141,"slug":1142,"url":1143,"uri":1144,"to":1144,"status":325,"date":1145,"modified":1146,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1147},8082,"https://jhpiego.org/?p=8082","People-Centered Care is Key: Why Botswana’s Approach to Primary Health Care Matters Now More Than Ever","\n\u003Cp>Primary health care (PHC) is the foundation of a strong and equitable health system. Yet across many settings, PHC delivery still reflects institutional priorities over the lived realities of the people it is meant to serve. At Jhpiego, we have seen numerous examples of health care designed around institutions rather than individuals, creating gaps in trust, access, and continuity of care. When care becomes too centralized or overly technical, it risks losing its most essential ingredient: the human connection.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In Botswana, people-centered, community-driven PHC has transformed health outcomes. So much so that last May, the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/20-05-2025-botswana-advances-to-gold-tier-on-the-path-to-elimination-of-mother-to-child-transmission-of-hiv\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/20-05-2025-botswana-advances-to-gold-tier-on-the-path-to-elimination-of-mother-to-child-transmission-of-hiv\">World Health Organization awarded Botswana Gold Tier Status\u003C/a> for its work eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV. This marked the first time any country received this status (Botswana also became the first nation to meet the criteria for silver tier status in 2021 due to significant reductions in pediatric HIV infections).\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8085\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This recognition highlights a health system in Botswana that combines decentralized care, strong antenatal programs, accessible treatment, and meaningful community engagement to deliver high-quality results at scale. The Botswana approach is rooted in local leadership, community participation, and service delivery that responds to real-world needs. When communities, health workers, and partners work together, PHC can deliver excellence, equity, and progress for generations.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Here are key lessons that Botswana has learned in its commitment to PHC and the reduction of mother-to-child transmission of HIV:\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Col class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Innovation starts at the community level\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>Innovation is not only about new technology; it often begins with doing things differently. Rethinking structures, strengthening communication, and giving local health workers the skills and tools they need to transform care are essential. In Botswana, reviving village health committees and giving them decision-making roles has helped communities tackle challenges early and seek care sooner. Communities understand their realities best; our responsibility is to listen, support, and amplify their voices. When innovation begins at the community level, solutions are more sustainable, trusted, and effective.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Partnerships must be rooted in empowerment\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>Sustainable PHC requires partnerships rooted in empowerment rather than dependency. Approaches such as embedding technical mentors within district health teams strengthen leadership, transfer skills, and align priorities across the system. When governments, technical partners like Jhpiego, and communities co-design solutions, they create systems that are stronger, more adaptable, and self-sustaining. This aligns with Botswana’s broader health vision that local ownership and community engagement drive national progress.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Focus on action, not just dialogue\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>Achieving universal health coverage and strong PHC requires more than policy commitment; it requires action. Progress is accelerated when communities are actively engaged, traditional silos are bridged, and leadership at every level is strengthened. Across Botswana, coordinated efforts have shown that consistent investment in people, systems, and partnerships creates measurable and lasting impacts. A people-centered PHC vision demands courage, collaboration, and continuous innovation.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ol>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8086\"/>\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Women read pamphlets at the Nkoyaphiri Clinic in Gabarone, Botswana. Photo by Kate Holt for Jhpiego.\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Botswana as Proof\u003C/strong>\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Botswana’s WHO Gold Tier Certification is not the result of isolated HIV programming. It is evidence of a robust PHC approach that integrates HIV prevention and treatment into routine facility and community services. This achievement demonstrates that when PHC systems are designed around people, not institutions or funding cycles, they produce transformative, long-term results. Botswana’s success shows that meaningful partnerships, empowered communities, and investment in health workers can create health outcomes that improve lives for generations.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>These ideas are not new, but their sustained implementation requires renewed commitment and creativity. The true strength of a PHC system is not measured solely by the facilities built or the policies drafted, but by the trust nurtured, the partnerships strengthened, and the communities empowered. Let’s continue building systems that work with the people, for the people.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>William Bapathi is a technical director in Jhpiego’s Botswana office. Clinton Warona Mogapaesi, Visual Communication Specialist in Jhpiego’s Botswana office, contributed to this blog post. \u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Chantelle Allen is a Senior Principal Technical Advisor for Jhpiego.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Read about the key lessons Botswana has learned in its commitment to PHC and the reduction of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.\u003C/p>\n","people-centered-care-is-key-why-botswanas-approach-to-primary-health-care-matters-now-more-than-ever","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/people-centered-care-is-key-why-botswanas-approach-to-primary-health-care-matters-now-more-than-ever/","/our-stories/p/people-centered-care-is-key-why-botswanas-approach-to-primary-health-care-matters-now-more-than-ever/","2026-02-12T08:12:49","2026-02-11T17:32:17",{"id":1148,"src":1149,"width":18,"height":905,"alt":20,"caption":1150,"title":1151,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1152,"srcset":1153,"sizes":26,"meta":1154,"acf":1193},8085,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3.jpg","Senyana Galeage, an outreach nurse and educator, talks to women in Botswana about their health. Photo by Kate Holt for Jhpiego.","Botswana_2019_3","\u003Cimg width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Botswana_2019_3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w",{"width":18,"height":905,"file":1155,"filesize":1156,"sizes":1157,"imageMeta":1191},"2026/02/Botswana_2019_3.jpg",693731,{"medium":1158,"large":1161,"thumbnail":1164,"mediumLarge":1167,"1536x1536":1170,"postThumbnail":1173,"socialPreview":1176,"smallPreview":1179,"mediumPreview":1182,"largePreview":1185,"fullscreenSmall":1188},{"file":1159,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1160},"Botswana_2019_3-300x200.jpg",21314,{"file":1162,"width":38,"height":265,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1163},"Botswana_2019_3-1024x683.jpg",152302,{"file":1165,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1166},"Botswana_2019_3-150x150.jpg",9627,{"file":1168,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1169},"Botswana_2019_3-768x512.jpg",96028,{"file":1171,"width":52,"height":38,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1172},"Botswana_2019_3-1536x1024.jpg",292614,{"file":1174,"width":283,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1175},"Botswana_2019_3-810x540.jpg",104839,{"file":1177,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1178},"Botswana_2019_3-1200x630.jpg",157522,{"file":1180,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1181},"Botswana_2019_3-375x250.jpg",30560,{"file":1183,"width":72,"height":293,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1184},"Botswana_2019_3-960x640.jpg",137502,{"file":1186,"width":77,"height":943,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1187},"Botswana_2019_3-1280x853.jpg",219158,{"file":1189,"width":82,"height":77,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1190},"Botswana_2019_3-1920x1280.jpg",416644,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1192},[],{"primaryColor":1194,"blurhash":1195,"videoUrl":20,"focalPointX":20,"focalPointY":20},"#1f1b22","UJCimvb0IVxu~9M{NGjZ9FWCxtV@9H%1%Lt7",{"id":1197,"guid":1198,"title":1199,"content":1200,"excerpt":1201,"excerptRaw":1201,"slug":1202,"url":1203,"uri":1204,"to":1204,"status":325,"date":1205,"modified":1206,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1207},7718,"https://jhpiego.org/?p=7718","A Digital Leap for Safer Hospitals in Pakistan  ","\n\u003Cp>Infection prevention and control (IPC) has always been a critical but often overlooked part of health care in Pakistan. Despite the dedication of frontline health workers, many facilities have lacked the systems, structures, and resources to prevent the spread of infections within hospitals. The urgency to act became even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed how quickly weak IPC systems can lead to larger health crises. From basic hand hygiene to sterilization practices, gaps across the health system put both patients and providers at risk, especially in high-traffic public hospitals. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>With support from The Global Fund, a collaborative team called a common management unit launched a national initiative in Pakistan aimed at improving IPC and establishing a system to monitor health care-associated infections. Of the 100 tertiary care hospitals assigned to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by The Global Fund for the implementation of IPC level 1 practices, Jhpiego provided technical and implementation support to 10 tertiary care hospitals in Islamabad and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Under this program, Jhpiego supported the formation of IPC committees and teams at the hospital level and trained health care providers to embed IPC practices into day-to-day operations.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But to truly drive change, health facilities needed something more—a way to measure, track, and sustain improvements over time. So Jhpiego developed an IPC Dashboard. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The IPC Dashboard is a data collection tool that has emerged as a turning point for health facilities across Pakistan. Built during the pilot phase of the program using global assessment tools such as the\u003Ca href=\"https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-HIS-SDS-2018.9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework (IPCAF)\u003C/a> and the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.emro.who.int/surveillance-forecasting-response/surveillance-infocus/electronic-assessment-tool.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Observation Tool (IPCAT),\u003C/a> the dashboard enables hospitals to assess their IPC readiness in real time and take evidence-based actions. It collects baseline data from tertiary hospitals and stores it at the National Health Data Centre, creating a single source of truth for IPC performance across provinces and serving as an integral tool to monitor and evaluate the country’s IPC program. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>What makes the dashboard truly transformative is its accessibility and ease of use. Health care staff, even in remote areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, can enter data offline using mobile-friendly forms, which automatically sync once internet access is restored. This ensures that no facility is left behind due to connectivity issues. Real-time visualization helps district and national authorities identify gaps and monitor progress. From hand hygiene stations to waste disposal practices, every detail is monitored and logged. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Perhaps the most empowering feature is the Digital Action Point Tracker\u003Cstrong>, \u003C/strong>which enables hospitals to track improvements and follow up on IPC gaps over time. Recommendations are no longer lost in reports—now, they’re tracked, monitored, and closed with accountability. The dashboard also connects to the Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) training database, aligning staff development efforts with actual facility needs and promoting smarter resource allocation. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Key features include:  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Real-time dashboard and quick reporting\u003C/strong> to empower decision makers to make timely, evidence-based decisions. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Dual data entry modes\u003C/strong> so users can input data with or without internet connectivity. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Offline mode: Mobile-friendly and functional without internet access. Data syncs automatically when connectivity is restored. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Online mode: Direct dashboard access for users at the hospital, district, provincial, and federal levels. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Digital action point tracking\u003C/strong> that allows for efficient monitoring of facility-level corrective actions and follow-ups. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Multiple data visualization modules\u003C/strong> for facilitating insights at multiple administrative levels, informing policy and operational interventions. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Integrated HRMIS training database\u003C/strong> that connects training data to human resource planning and capacity building. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Efficient information retrieval\u003C/strong> for quick access to data for audits, assessments, and strategic planning. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Paperless environment\u003C/strong> to promote eco-friendly, digital data handling and reporting. \u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The impact is already clear. Hospitals are using the dashboard not only to improve internal practices but to spark a culture shift where IPC is seen not as an extra task, but as a core responsibility. For health care workers, this tool has brought clarity, structure, and purpose to their infection control efforts. And for policymakers, it offers the data needed to make real-time decisions that protect lives. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This pilot is more than a technical milestone—it’s a step toward building a safer, smarter, and more responsive health system for all. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This article was also reviewed by Dr. Hamza Tanveer and Syed Muhammad Akbar Gardezi.\u003C/em> \u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Infection prevention and control has always been a critical but often overlooked part of health care in Pakistan. Despite the dedication of frontline health workers, many facilities have lacked the systems, structures, and resources to prevent the spread of infections within hospitals. To truly drive change, health facilities needed a way to measure, track, and sustain improvements over time. So Jhpiego developed an IPC Dashboard. \u003C/p>\n","safer-hospitals-in-pakistan","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/safer-hospitals-in-pakistan/","/our-stories/p/safer-hospitals-in-pakistan/","2025-12-05T17:20:50","2025-12-05T21:33:31",{"id":1208,"src":1209,"width":1210,"height":1211,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1212,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1213,"srcset":1214,"sizes":1215,"meta":1216,"acf":1236},7720,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c.jpg",799,533,"51868570054_43e56e4f75_c","\u003Cimg width=\"799\" height=\"533\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c.jpg 799w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c-375x250.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c.jpg 799w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c-375x250.jpg 375w","(max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px",{"width":1210,"height":1211,"file":1217,"filesize":1218,"sizes":1219,"imageMeta":1232},"2025/12/51868570054_43e56e4f75_c.jpg",78505,{"medium":1220,"thumbnail":1223,"mediumLarge":1226,"smallPreview":1229},{"file":1221,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1222},"51868570054_43e56e4f75_c-300x200.jpg",16036,{"file":1224,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1225},"51868570054_43e56e4f75_c-150x150.jpg",10158,{"file":1227,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1228},"51868570054_43e56e4f75_c-768x512.jpg",51972,{"file":1230,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1231},"51868570054_43e56e4f75_c-375x250.jpg",21104,{"aperture":86,"credit":1233,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":1234,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1235},"Arete / Saiyna Bashir / Jhpiego","Katja Kuivanen",[],{"primaryColor":1237,"blurhash":1238},"#c3beba","UmK_2mX7nMxZ~qaeM{ofVrV@f,WXxts:WBjs",{"id":1240,"guid":1241,"title":1242,"content":1243,"excerpt":1244,"excerptRaw":1244,"slug":1245,"url":1246,"uri":1247,"to":1247,"status":325,"date":1248,"modified":1249,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1250},7711,"https://jhpiego.org/?p=7711","A Stronger Cancer Care Ecosystem in Cambodia Builds a Future Where No Woman is Left Behind","\n\u003Cp>A diagnosis of stage 2 breast cancer felt like the world had collapsed under her feet, recalls 40-year-old Phal Sovichea from Kampong Chhnang province, Cambodia. “My knees nearly buckled in front of the oncology building. My husband’s face turned pale. He wanted to speak but couldn’t open his mouth. Tears just streamed down,” shared the mother of two, as she envisioned not living to see her daughters grow up. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But luckily, Sovichea had the will, the resources, and the family support to follow through with the treatment. It all started with her feeling a lump in her left breast in February 2024. She traveled to Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, to consult a gynecologist. She and her family diligently followed every step, getting an ultrasound and then a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. Several rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation followed. Today, Sovichea’s cancer is in remission. She insists that it was her family’s support and the encouragement of skilled doctors that enabled her recovery. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Sovichea recently shared her story at a multi-stakeholder consultative meeting in Phnom Penh organized by Jhpiego in partnership with the Cambodian Ministry of Health. It brought together Ministry of Health officials, provincial leaders, academic and technical experts, donor and local partners, representatives from professional associations of gynecologists and oncologists, and industry experts.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7713\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-2560x1707.jpg 2560w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-3840x2560.jpg 3840w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor-6016x4011.jpg 6016w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Breast-cancer-survivor.jpg 6796w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“I would like to request that the Royal Government, the Ministry of Health (national and sub-national), and partner organizations like Jhpiego establish breast and cervical cancer treatment programs in all provinces throughout the country,” said Sovichea in a powerful message for all in attendance. “This would create opportunities and provide easier access for all at-risk women to receive consultation and treatment.” \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Sovichea knows that not all Cambodian women have the knowledge, resources, or access to timely cancer detection and treatment. Cancer is now the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.iccp-portal.org/news/new-national-cancer-control-plan-cambodia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">second leading cause of death from non-communicable diseases in Cambodia\u003C/a>, responsible for 14% of all deaths. Women account for over half of new cases (10,624 female cases in 2022) and a similar proportion of deaths. One in every 3 Cambodian women diagnosed with cancer in 2022 had either breast or cervical cancer. Significantly, cancer incidence in Cambodia is rising: if current trends persist, the overall cancer cases are projected to roughly double by 2045 (\u003Ca href=\"https://gco.iarc.fr/tomorrow/en/dataviz/bubbles?types=0&sexes=1_2&mode=population&group_populations=0&multiple_populations=1&multiple_cancers=1&cancers=39&populations=4_31_48_50_51_64_96_104_116_144_160_268_275_356_360_364_368_376_392_398_400_408_410_414_417_418_422_458_462_496_512_524_586_608_626_634_682_702_704_760_762_764_784_792_795_860_887&apc=cat_ca20v1.5_ca23v-1.5&group_cancers=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Globocan, 2022\u003C/a>). \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“The Ministry of Health’s vision is clear: reduce the burden of cancer through prevention, early detection, timely diagnosis, and equitable treatment,” said HE Dr. Beauta Rath, Secretary of State for the Cambodian Ministry of Health. “This is captured in our National Cancer Control Plan 2025-2030, launched this year, which lays out concrete, coordinated actions across the continuum of care.”  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SOS07999.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7714\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SOS07999.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SOS07999-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SOS07999-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SOS07999-811x540.jpg 811w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SOS07999-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SOS07999-960x639.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The vision of Cambodia’s National Cancer Control Plan 2025-2030 is for the country to have a low cancer burden and high survival rates, where all people affected by cancer can live with dignity and quality of life. The Plan targets increasing the coverage of cervical cancer screening among women (30-49 years) to 70% by 2030 and improving early detection of breast cancer among high-risk women.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Jhpiego has been a strong partner to Cambodia’s Ministry of Health, supporting the health and well-being of Cambodians since 2006.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“For the last few years now, Jhpiego has had the privilege of working closely with the Ministry of Health and partners in Cambodia, particularly in areas of maternal and mental health,” said Dr. Parag Bhamare, Technical Lead for Women’s Cancer Global Programs at Jhpiego. “Throughout this journey, one lesson has consistently guided us: progress is strongest when built on partnerships, collaboration, and shared purpose.” \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The multi-stakeholder consultative meeting concluded with definitive next steps to move the country’s cancer control plan into its implementation phase, including efforts to: \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Establish a cadence of in-person and virtual follow-up meetings to sustain momentum \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Build a community of partners working on women’s cancers to continue dialogue and exchange learnings via an appropriate social media platform \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Set targets for HPV vaccination, cervical screening coverage, and early detection of breast cancer over the next 12 months \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Adopt common referral and feedback loops between primary care and hospitals to reduce waiting times and loss to follow-up \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Launch navigation pilots in selected provinces, with clear metrics for scale-up \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Standardize training and quality assurance for cervical cancer sampling, imaging, and pathology \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Consolidate a partner investment map aligned to the National Cancer Control Plan 2025-2030, highlighting gaps that need to be collectively filled. \u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Phal Sovichea is hopeful that many more women in Cambodia, like her, will now have the information and timely access to lifesaving cancer care closer to their homes. She had a special message for these women: “Please do not lose hope. You are not alone.” \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Somontha Koy is the Country Director for Jhpiego Cambodia and Indrani Kashyap is the Associate Director, Regional Communications.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>A diagnosis of stage 2 breast cancer felt like the world had collapsed under Sovichea’s feet. But luckily, she had the will, the resources, and the family support to follow through with the treatment. Sovichea recently shared her story at a multi-stakeholder consultative meeting in Phnom Penh, urging leaders and decision-makers to strengthen cancer care in Cambodia.\u003C/p>\n","cancer-care-in-cambodia","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/cancer-care-in-cambodia/","/our-stories/p/cancer-care-in-cambodia/","2025-12-04T15:27:37","2025-12-05T15:49:01",{"id":1251,"src":1252,"width":1210,"height":1211,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1253,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1254,"srcset":1255,"sizes":1215,"meta":1256,"acf":1274},7715,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024.jpg","Cambodia_Indrani Kashyap_2024","\u003Cimg width=\"799\" height=\"533\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024.jpg 799w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024-375x250.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024.jpg 799w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024-375x250.jpg 375w",{"width":1210,"height":1211,"file":1257,"filesize":1258,"sizes":1259,"imageMeta":1272},"2025/12/Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024.jpg",193500,{"medium":1260,"thumbnail":1263,"mediumLarge":1266,"smallPreview":1269},{"file":1261,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1262},"Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024-300x200.jpg",27515,{"file":1264,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1265},"Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024-150x150.jpg",13587,{"file":1267,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1268},"Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024-768x512.jpg",120322,{"file":1270,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1271},"Cambodia_Indrani-Kashyap_2024-375x250.jpg",38964,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1273},[],{"primaryColor":1275,"blurhash":1276,"videoUrl":20,"focalPointX":20,"focalPointY":20},"#424241","UOF$no~ps%t.^I-.%geSXjtSogRjxvVtIANK",{"id":1278,"guid":1279,"title":1280,"content":1281,"excerpt":1282,"excerptRaw":1282,"slug":1283,"url":1284,"uri":1285,"to":1285,"status":325,"date":1286,"modified":1287,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1288},7658,"https://jhpiego.org/?p=7658","The Silent Threat: How Antimicrobial Resistance is Putting Pakistan’s Health at Risk","\n\u003Cp>Imagine a world where simple infections become deadly because antimicrobials (medicines used to prevent and treat diseases) no longer work. This is not a distant dystopian future, it is a reality we are heading towards if we do not act now. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines, is a growing crisis worldwide, and Pakistan is among the countries most affected. But what does this mean? And what can we do to stop it?\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>What is AMR?\u003C/strong>\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health threat that occurs when infections no longer respond to the medications used to treat them, making them harder to treat and increasing the risk of severe illness, disability, and death. According to \u003Ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance#:~:text=Key%20facts,4.95%20million%20deaths%20(1).\">global estimates\u003C/a>, AMR was directly responsible for approximately \u003Cstrong>1.27 million deaths\u003C/strong> in 2019, with millions more affected by resistant infections due to limited treatment effectiveness. Tragically, one child dies every three minutes from multidrug-resistant organism sepsis—when bacteria responsible for an infection are resistant to common antibiotics. In Pakistan, \u003Ca href=\"https://asm.org/magazine/2023/fall/exploring-a-one-health-approach-to-amr-in-pakistan#:~:text=The%20Status%20of%20AMR%20in,serotype%20Typhi%20(XDR%20typhoid).\">AMR was the third leading cause of death in 2019\u003C/a>, with alarmingly high resistance levels observed in several common disease-causing organisms. These include \u003Cem>Escherichia coli\u003C/em> (E. coli), which causes gastrointestinal infections; \u003Cem>Klebsiella pneumoniae\u003C/em> (K. pneumoniae), a major cause of pneumonia and Methicillin-resistant \u003Cem>Staphylococcus aureus\u003C/em> (MRSA), for bloodstream infections.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Why Should We Care?\u003C/strong>\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As researchers, we’re dedicated to finding solutions to this growing threat. When these bacteria become resistant to treatment, even routine infections can become life-threatening.\u003Cem> \u003C/em>In the United States, over 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur annually, causing more than 35,000 deaths according to the \u003Ca href=\"https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/82532\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)\u003C/a> and in Pakistan Antimicrobial resistance contributes to 200,000 annual deaths according to the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.emro.who.int/pak/pakistan-news/antimicrobial-resistance-contributes-to-200-000-annual-deaths-in-pakistan-who-and-the-nih-call-for-action.html\">World Health Organization\u003C/a>. A \u003Ca href=\"https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/455311493396671601/pdf/executive-summary.pdf\">World Bank report\u003C/a> warns that AMR could cost up to $1 trillion to the annual global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2050. In Pakistan, surveillance efforts have expanded significantly, as seen in the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.nih.org.pk/public/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/National%20AMR%20Surveillance%20Report%20year%202021-2022.pdf\">National AMR Surveillance Report 2021–2022\u003C/a>, which covered over 229,000 bacterial isolates across 26 sentinel sites (a network of specific locations that collect detailed health data to monitor diseases and trends in a larger population). However, more inclusive approaches are still needed. For instance, the report lacks gender-disaggregated data, limiting the ability to understand how AMR affects women and children differently. Without this level of detail, targeted interventions to protect vulnerable groups will remain challenging to design and implement.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This is exactly the gap Jhpiego’s recent consultations sought to address.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Recent Momentum in Pakistan: A Gender-Responsive Approach to AMR\u003C/strong>\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Recognizing these critical gaps in gender data and surveillance, Jhpiego recently gathered experts to find a solution. A national roundtable discussion on Gender Inequalities and AMR was held, attended by policymakers, clinicians, laboratory experts, veterinarians, academics, and public health leaders. Tigistu Adamu Ashengo, Chief Medical Officer at Jhpiego, presented insights on AMR and infectious diseases, while Elizabeth Arlotti-Parish, the former Principal Technical Advisor for Gender at Jhpiego, shared a powerful expert perspective. Their contributions sparked thoughtful dialogue among stakeholders, including National Institutes of Health\u003Cstrong> \u003C/strong>(NIH) leadership, the Fleming Fund, Pathfinder, and other partners.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Building on the roundtable, Jhpiego, in collaboration with the \u003Cstrong>NIH\u003C/strong> and the \u003Cstrong>Fleming Fund,\u003C/strong> led a \u003Cstrong>Consultative Workshop\u003C/strong> to begin drafting \u003Cstrong>Pakistan’s first Gender-Specific AMR Strategy\u003C/strong>. Using WHO’s key thematic recommendations, participants worked across four thematic areas—\u003Cstrong>Human Health, Animal Health, Agriculture, and Climate\u003C/strong>—to design strategic actions, define roles, and set realistic timelines. The outcomes of these discussions are now informing the development of a national strategy that recognizes how AMR impacts women, men, and communities differently.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7662\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IPC_Pakistan.jpg 2047w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>How is AMR Affecting Pakistan?\u003C/strong>\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Several key insights emerged through discussions during the Jhpiego-hosted AMR and gender events:\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Systemic Challenges\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Col start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Health Facility Limitations\u003Cbr>\u003C/strong>Weak infection prevention and control (IPC) practices drive the spread of resistant infections. Facility upgrades and staff training are necessary to protect patients.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Surveillance Data Gaps\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>Without gender-disaggregated AMR data, the invisible burden on women cannot be addressed. Strengthening data systems is vital for equitable policy response.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs)\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>Unnecessary procedures and poor aseptic practices during childbirth and surgeries increase resistant infections. Strengthening IPC protocols can save lives.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Policy and Governance\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>Weak enforcement, limited female representation in leadership, and unregulated antibiotic use in agriculture drive resistance. Strengthening policy, updating the National Action Plan, and integrating AMR into medical and veterinary training are critical.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Private Sector Engagement\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>The private sector provides most outpatient care in Pakistan, yet it is often not integrated into AMR governance. Collaboration and incentives can close this gap.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Diagnostics and Surveillance\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>Insufficient diagnostic capacity leads to guesswork, fueling antibiotic misuse. Pakistan must expand laboratory networks and invest in rapid, affordable diagnostic tools.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ol>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Community Level Challenges\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Col start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Prevention Challenges\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>Rural populations face higher exposure due to livestock handling, caregiving roles, and limited access to health care. Women in particular are disproportionately exposed yet underrepresented in AMR decision-making. Empowering women as community educators and frontline responders is essential.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Overuse and Misuse of Antimicrobials\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>Easy, prescription-free access encourages misuse, especially among women and children who may delay formal health care due to social restrictions. Stewardship programs and dispensing regulations are needed.\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Community Engagement\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>Harmful traditional practices and low awareness perpetuate infection risks. Culturally sensitive behavior change programs must include schools, families, religious leaders, and women’s community groups.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ol>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7663\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/51868903035_804ee02c76_k.jpg 2047w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kamla Krishen fixes her protective gear while working at the civil hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Photo by Saiyna Bashir for Jhpiego.\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The Way Forward\u003C/strong>\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>AMR is a silent but deadly threat. We can still act and reverse the damage before it’s too late.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>By strengthening governance, improving prevention and surveillance, regulating antibiotic use, and spreading awareness, while advancing equality and empowering women across these approaches, we can slow the spread of AMR and protect future generations.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The fight against AMR is not just for doctors and scientists, it’s for all of us. The choices we make today will determine the health of tomorrow. Let’s work together to keep antimicrobials effective and safeguard public health for years to come!\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Dr.\u003C/em> \u003Cem>Aminah Khan is the Country Director for Jhpiego Pakistan. \u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Dr. Tigistu Ashengo is Jhpiego’s Chief Medical Officer.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Imagine a world where simple infections become deadly because antimicrobials (medicines used to prevent and treat diseases) no longer work. This is not a distant dystopian future, it is a reality we are heading towards if we do not act now. But what does this mean? And what can we do to stop it?\u003C/p>\n","amr-putting-pakistans-health-at-risk","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/amr-putting-pakistans-health-at-risk/","/our-stories/p/amr-putting-pakistans-health-at-risk/","2025-11-24T21:14:08","2025-11-25T13:05:59",{"id":1289,"src":1290,"width":1291,"height":905,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1292,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1293,"srcset":1294,"sizes":1295,"meta":1296,"acf":1335},7669,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3.jpg",2047,"Pakistan_AMR_3","\u003Cimg width=\"2047\" height=\"1365\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3.jpg 2047w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2047px) 100vw, 2047px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3.jpg 2047w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w","(max-width: 2047px) 100vw, 2047px",{"width":1291,"height":905,"file":1297,"filesize":1298,"sizes":1299,"imageMeta":1333},"2025/11/Pakistan_AMR_3.jpg",592573,{"medium":1300,"large":1303,"thumbnail":1306,"mediumLarge":1309,"1536x1536":1312,"postThumbnail":1315,"socialPreview":1318,"smallPreview":1321,"mediumPreview":1324,"largePreview":1327,"fullscreenSmall":1330},{"file":1301,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1302},"Pakistan_AMR_3-300x200.jpg",19993,{"file":1304,"width":38,"height":265,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1305},"Pakistan_AMR_3-1024x683.jpg",126580,{"file":1307,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1308},"Pakistan_AMR_3-150x150.jpg",10778,{"file":1310,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1311},"Pakistan_AMR_3-768x512.jpg",79276,{"file":1313,"width":52,"height":38,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1314},"Pakistan_AMR_3-1536x1024.jpg",241247,{"file":1316,"width":283,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1317},"Pakistan_AMR_3-810x540.jpg",87551,{"file":1319,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1320},"Pakistan_AMR_3-1200x630.jpg",133653,{"file":1322,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1323},"Pakistan_AMR_3-375x250.jpg",27492,{"file":1325,"width":72,"height":293,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1326},"Pakistan_AMR_3-960x640.jpg",113227,{"file":1328,"width":77,"height":78,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1329},"Pakistan_AMR_3-1280x854.jpg",180294,{"file":1331,"width":82,"height":77,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1332},"Pakistan_AMR_3-1920x1280.jpg",345520,{"aperture":86,"credit":1233,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":1234,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1334},[],{"primaryColor":1336,"blurhash":1337},"#cccac7","UuKUTSxvIUs-~qj]M{j[RjWAf6ogxajYj]j]",{"id":1339,"guid":1340,"title":1341,"content":1342,"excerpt":1343,"excerptRaw":1343,"slug":1344,"url":1345,"uri":1346,"to":1346,"status":325,"date":1347,"modified":1348,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1349},7617,"https://jhpiego.org/?p=7617","Early Detection and Community Power to End Preeclampsia and Eclampsia","\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>\u003Cem>Joan Nduta: Four months ago, my friend lost her sister and her sister’s unborn child to high blood pressure complications in pregnancy – it was her first baby and would have been her parents’ first granddaughter. A tragic loss for this family and community. We later heard that the condition was not detected early and therefore not managed promptly and effectively as the obstetric emergency that it was. \u003C/em>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>\u003Cem>Troubled by the news, I sought answers from my colleague Isabella Atieno (also known as Bella), an experienced midwife, public health practitioner, and clinical trainer, to understand how such tragedies can be prevented, identified, and treated.\u003C/em>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Joan Nduta (JN): Bella, why is blood pressure monitoring so crucial during pregnancy?\u003C/strong>\u003C/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Bella Atieno (BA): High blood pressure that starts in pregnancy is often silent, but it can lead to two serious conditions – preeclampsia and eclampsia. Preeclampsia develops after 20 weeks and is marked by high blood pressure and organ damage. When it worsens, it can progress to eclampsia, causing seizures and endangering both mother and baby. While the causes of preeclampsia/eclampsia are not well understood, we do know that certain girls and women are at increased risk of developing these conditions: women who are pregnant for the first time; women with twins or triplets, women with higher body weights, women with a past personal or family history of preeclampsia, and women with pre-existing conditions like hypertension, diabetes, or kidney disease.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>High blood pressure can lead to serious complications for the mother and baby and hence, consistent prenatal care is essential for monitoring and managing potential risk factors. Preeclampsia and eclampsia claim up to \u003Ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/pre-eclampsia\">25% of mothers lives in Latin America and 10% in Africa and Asia\u003C/a>, and are among the top killers of mothers and babies worldwide, hitting low- and middle-income countries the hardest (WHO pre-eclampsia fact sheet, 2025).\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7655\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53083302932_623e5f04e9_k.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pregnant women learn how to take blood pressure readings during  a Group Antenatal Care (G-ANC) session from a health worker at the Kagundo Level 4 Hospital in Machakos County, Kenya. Photo by Lameck Ododo for Jhpiego.\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">JN: \u003Cstrong>What can help mitigate these complications?\u003C/strong>\u003C/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>BA: Strong community-based actions such as early detection, prevention, and timely referrals can support effective identification and management and prevent these deaths. Evidence from Kenya shows that the prevalence of preeclampsia ranges from 5.6% to 6.5%, affecting women during antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal periods (Ndwiga et al., 2020).\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In response, Jhpiego has been working with Kenya’s Ministry of Health and prioritized strengthening provider capacity and increasing community awareness to improve the prevention, early detection, and prompt management of preeclampsia and eclampsia in Vihiga and Homa Bay Counties, together with ensuring that essential medicines to treat preeclampsia and eclampsia – like antihypertensive medications and magnesium sulfate – are available. The goal of Kenya’s community health strategy (2020-2025) is to improve public health and strengthen community-based services. It seeks to empower individuals, families, and communities to sustain resilient community health structures.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A case study conducted in Mozambique demonstrated that task-sharing with community health workers (CHWs) is feasible for early detection and referral of women with pre-eclampsia (\u003Ca href=\"https://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12978-021-01192-x\">Sevene et al. (2021)\u003C/a>. It showed that CHWs can be trained to perform blood pressure measurement and urine protein testing (measures needed to accurately diagnose pre-eclampsia), assess for dangers signs like severe headache, blurry vision, and upper abdominal pain, and initiate timely referral of women with suspected pre-eclampsia. Although definitive treatment must take place in health facilities, community-based strategies like mapping pregnant women, strengthening linkages with health facilities, and encouraging antenatal care visits increase early diagnosis, timely referral, and emergency management. With adequate support and supervision, CHWs can safely expand their roles to bridge gaps between households and health services, ultimately improving maternal and newborn outcomes.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>JN:\u003C/strong> \u003Cstrong>Are there practical steps families and communities can take?\u003C/strong>\u003C/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>BA: Health systems often focus on facility-based management, but community-level actions can be equally transformative and life-saving. They help bridge gaps in access, awareness, and care-seeking behaviors. This could be achieved through strategies such as community health education and awareness on danger signs of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (like high blood pressure, headache, blurred vision, proteinuria, etc.) and training CHWs to identify risk factors early. These community workers could be provided with simple blood pressure machines, urine dipsticks for protein screening, and the referral of suspected cases for timely management.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7656\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/53084292970_d310ad4241_k.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Nurse Winfred Mwikali Wanzuu teaches pregnant women how to take blood pressure readings during a G-ANC session at the Kagundo Level 4 Hospital in Machakos County, Kenya. Photo by Lameck Ododo for Jhpiego.\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">JN: \u003Cstrong>Sometimes antenatal visits feel rushed. Why does it matter that each one counts?\u003C/strong>\u003C/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>BA: Antenatal care is more than a checklist. It should never be rushed. Every visit is an opportunity to look deeper into a mother’s overall physical and mental health, support optimal nutrition, prevent and assess for infections and other conditions that impact a woman and baby’s health and wellbeing, and spot early warning signs. It’s not a waste of time as some would think. When health professionals take time and remain alert, conditions like preeclampsia and eclampsia can be detected and managed before they become life-threatening. Slowing down antenatal care is about giving every mother and baby the best chance to survive and thrive. Group-based models of care in pregnancy are one way to support such a comprehensive approach.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">JN: \u003Cstrong>What else can be done to prevent complications and support safe pregnancies?\u003C/strong>\u003C/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>BA: The World Health Organization recommends calcium supplementation (1.5–2.0 g/day) for pregnant women in populations with low dietary calcium to reduce preeclampsia risk (WHO 2016). Community awareness of common danger signs is also critical and families should be encouraged to develop birth preparedness and complication readiness plans. For example, identifying a skilled birth attendant, arranging transport to a health facility, saving money for emergencies, and knowing potential blood donors.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">JN: \u003Cstrong>How can families and communities work together to make a difference?\u003C/strong>\u003C/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>BA: By working together, families and community health workers can ensure that pregnant women receive timely care, reducing delays that often lead to preventable deaths. Exploring ways such as pooling resources to fund community outreach for families in hard-to-reach areas. These efforts make it possible to scale up proven responses such as integrating maternal and child health services – which has shown to reduce missed opportunities and save time for mothers. Over time, such actions improve newborn care and trust in the health system. The results: women and families feel supported throughout pregnancy and beyond.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>\u003Cem>JN: No mother or child should die from conditions we can detect early and manage effectively. Let’s work together to ensure that such losses do not happen again. Community-based responses are acts of love and duties of care. I am part of this community and hold hope that the health of mothers, their babies, and our shared legacies will continue to thrive. Rest in peace S and T, your story will continue to inspire safer beginnings for others.\u003C/em>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>High blood pressure can lead to serious complications for a mother and baby. Consistent prenatal care is essential for monitoring and managing potential risk factors. But what can the community do to help?\u003C/p>\n","early-detection-and-community-power-to-end-preeclampsia-and-eclampsia","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/early-detection-and-community-power-to-end-preeclampsia-and-eclampsia/","/our-stories/p/early-detection-and-community-power-to-end-preeclampsia-and-eclampsia/","2025-11-24T08:54:16","2025-11-25T15:48:25",{"id":1350,"src":1351,"width":1352,"height":1353,"alt":20,"caption":1354,"title":1355,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1356,"srcset":1357,"sizes":1358,"meta":1359,"acf":1407},7649,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641.jpg",1614,1153,"Mary Umbugale guides Ashedzi Wasku, 25, as she checks the blood pressure of Mercy Samuel, 29, during a GANC class at General Hospital Akwanga in Nigeria. Photo by Paul Joseph Brown for Jhpiego.","Nigeria_2017.","\u003Cimg width=\"1614\" height=\"1153\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641.jpg 1614w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-300x214.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-1024x732.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-768x549.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-756x540.jpg 756w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-375x268.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-960x686.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-1280x914.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1614px) 100vw, 1614px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641.jpg 1614w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-300x214.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-1024x732.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-768x549.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-756x540.jpg 756w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-375x268.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-960x686.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-1280x914.jpg 1280w","(max-width: 1614px) 100vw, 1614px",{"width":1352,"height":1353,"file":1360,"filesize":1361,"sizes":1362,"imageMeta":1404},"2025/11/Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641.jpg",408303,{"medium":1363,"large":1367,"thumbnail":1371,"mediumLarge":1374,"1536x1536":1378,"postThumbnail":1382,"socialPreview":1386,"smallPreview":1389,"mediumPreview":1393,"largePreview":1397,"fullscreenSmall":1401},{"file":1364,"width":33,"height":1365,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1366},"Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-300x214.jpg",214,26561,{"file":1368,"width":38,"height":1369,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1370},"Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-1024x732.jpg",732,178659,{"file":1372,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1373},"Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-150x150.jpg",12885,{"file":1375,"width":47,"height":1376,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1377},"Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-768x549.jpg",549,112765,{"file":1379,"width":52,"height":1380,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1381},"Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-1536x1097.jpg",1097,347730,{"file":1383,"width":1384,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1385},"Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-756x540.jpg",756,110547,{"file":1387,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1388},"Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-1200x630.jpg",183032,{"file":1390,"width":67,"height":1391,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1392},"Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-375x268.jpg",268,37096,{"file":1394,"width":72,"height":1395,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1396},"Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-960x686.jpg",686,160887,{"file":1398,"width":77,"height":1399,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1400},"Nigeria_2017-e1764085697641-1280x914.jpg",914,256955,{"file":1402,"width":82,"height":77,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1403},"Nigeria_2017-1920x1280.jpg",481138,{"aperture":86,"credit":1405,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1406},"paul Joseph Brown/globalhealthph",[],{"primaryColor":1408,"blurhash":1409},"#b69266","UaJtI?tSIUIA~AWER+smr:RjsSo#$dNvWBkC",{"id":1411,"guid":1412,"title":1413,"content":1414,"excerpt":1415,"excerptRaw":1415,"slug":1416,"url":1417,"uri":1418,"to":1418,"status":325,"date":1419,"modified":1420,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1421},6691,"https://jhpiego.org/?p=6691","From Pilot to Public Scale: Fixing the Missing Pathway for Digital Health Innovation ","\n\u003Cp>When we think about how new medical innovations make their way to patients, the pathways feel familiar and (relatively) well defined. A new drug molecule moves from laboratory discovery, through phased clinical trials, to regulatory approval, and eventually into public procurement mechanisms that stock hospitals and pharmacies. Vaccines and diagnostics follow similarly structured stage-gates—rigorous evidence generation, regulatory oversight, pooled procurement, and policy inclusion. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For \u003Cstrong>digital health innovations\u003C/strong>, however, the story is very different. Whether it’s a referral app connecting rural clinics to hospitals, a tele-counseling chatbot for adolescents, or an emergency transport dispatch platform, innovators often find themselves in uncharted waters. There is no universally recognized pathway to navigate from promising pilot to public sector adoption at scale. The result is a frustrating cycle: countless promising tools launch as pilots, only to stall when it comes to public sector adoption. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>At Jhpiego, we’ve seen this problem repeat in our own work over the years. Now, in our role as lead operator of the \u003Ca href=\"https://thehealthtech.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HealthTech Hub Africa\u003C/a> – along with partners \u003Ca href=\"https://villgroafrica.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Villgro Africa\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"https://helina.africa/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HELINA\u003C/a> – we’ve heard it echoed by countless startup founders. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Why does this matter?\u003C/strong> \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>African health systems are under extraordinary pressure. Adolescents need confidential and trustworthy health information. Clinicians need tools to reduce administrative burden. Patients need faster referrals, reliable emergency transport, and continuity of care. Digital solutions can and do help. But unless they scale through the public system—still the major provider of care in most African markets—they remain a patchwork of isolated pilots, duplicating effort and leaving many communities behind. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Governments, innovators, and funders all sense the potential, but governments hesitate to procure because the rules of the game are unclear. Innovators hesitate to invest in growth because they can’t see a pathway to long-term sustainability. Funders hesitate to back scale because they lack confidence in what the system will ultimately buy. Everyone is stuck. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Learning from “gold-standard” pathways\u003C/strong> \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Contrast this with traditional medical innovation. For \u003Cstrong>drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics\u003C/strong>, the journey is well defined: \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Stage-gates:\u003C/strong> Discovery → Proof of concept → Clinical trials → Regulatory approval → Policy inclusion → Procurement → Post-market monitoring. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Oversight: \u003C/strong>National drug regulators, ethics boards, Ministries of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the Global Fund. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Funding instruments: \u003C/strong>Research and development grants, trial financing, pooled procurement mechanisms. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Monitoring and accountability:\u003C/strong> Pharmacovigilance, lot testing, ongoing safety surveillance.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The clarity of this pathway allows innovators to plan, investors to support, and governments to adopt. No one would dream of rolling out a new vaccine nationally without these checks in place. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Digital health innovations, which increasingly shape patient care and population health, deserve the same predictability. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Toward a stage-gate for digital health\u003C/strong> \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Drawing inspiration from these established pathways, we can imagine a \u003Cstrong>nine-stage universal pathway\u003C/strong> for digital health solutions: \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Col start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Prototype & Concept\u003C/strong> – minimum viable product aligned with national health priorities, user needs, and local context. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Early Field Validation\u003C/strong> – small-scale pilots demonstrating usability and feasibility. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Evidence & Impact Data\u003C/strong> – outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and equity impacts. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Regulatory & Compliance\u003C/strong> – oversight from health regulators, ICT authorities, and data protection commissions. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Interoperability & Standards\u003C/strong> – readiness to integrate with national health information systems. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Policy & Clinical Endorsement\u003C/strong> – alignment with digital health strategies, inclusion in clinical workflows. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Business model & Procurement Readiness\u003C/strong> – target payers, revenue models, distribution channels, model contracts, service-level agreements, pricing, and licensing frameworks. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Operational Capacity\u003C/strong> – demonstrated ability to provide support, training, and ongoing maintenance. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Monitoring & Sustainability\u003C/strong> – dashboards, reporting mechanisms, and financial planning for long-term use. \u003C/li>\n\u003C/ol>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6694\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Pilot-to-Public-Scale-Secondary-Image.jpg 2047w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Where digital health lags behind\u003C/strong> \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When we hold digital health against this framework, several challenges and gaps become clear: \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Stakeholder alignment: \u003C/strong>Scaling digital health solutions requires buy-in from multiple different actors (patients, clinicians, health systems, insurers, employers, regulators), each with their own incentives and adoption criteria. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Regulation: \u003C/strong>Many countries have not yet defined whether digital health apps, AI-driven tools, or SMS-based interventions fall under health regulators, ICT authorities, or a hybrid. The pace of change outstrips regulators ability to keep up. Innovators face uncertainty around what sorts of evidence and analyses they need to provide, and ministries may delay decisions for fear of risk. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Procurement systems:\u003C/strong> Government procurement was designed for tangible goods—drugs, hospital beds, vehicles. Service contracts for a cloud-based chatbot don’t fit neatly into those templates. This leaves ministries improvising, often without legal comfort. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Budgeting:\u003C/strong> Few health budgets include line items for digital solutions. Even if a tool is approved, there is often no mechanism to pay for it sustainably. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Post-market monitoring:\u003C/strong> We have well-established systems for pharmacovigilance, but very few countries track algorithm drift, privacy breaches, or digital equity in uptake. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Integration and standards:\u003C/strong> While some countries have invested in national digital health architectures, many still lack robust interoperability frameworks, making it difficult to integrate new tools.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>These gaps explain why pilots flourish but scaling stalls. Unlike vaccines or diagnostics, digital solutions are often left in limbo, neither fully approved nor fully rejected. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>How do we fix it?\u003C/strong> \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Closing these gaps does not require reinventing the wheel. Much of the infrastructure already exists in other domains of health innovation. A few targeted steps could radically accelerate digital health scaling: \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Col class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Publish digital health readiness roadmaps. \u003C/strong>Ministries of Health could set out expectations for evidence, interoperability, compliance, and procurement readiness—just as drug regulators publish trial requirements. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Pilot regulatory and procurement sandboxes.\u003C/strong> Governments could create structured environments where digital solutions are trialed with clear terms, allowing risk-managed experimentation without bypassing procurement law. HealthTech Hub Africa is already creating a  Standards & Interoperability Lab for interoperability testing and certification of solutions.  \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Adapt procurement and budgeting models.\u003C/strong> Ministries could adjust templates to handle software licenses, recurring service contracts, and operational expenditure for digital services. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Invest in “bridge institutions.” \u003C/strong>Digital health units, independent evaluators, or standards-setting bodies can play the role of arbiters, much like ethics boards or pharmacopoeias in traditional health innovation. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Strengthen post-market oversight.\u003C/strong> Build mechanisms for monitoring data security, usability, and equity, so governments can have confidence in solutions even after adoption.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ol>\n\n\n\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\u003C/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>These are not radical reforms. They are practical steps—borrowed from pathways that already work for other innovations—that can bring predictability to digital health. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>A practical tool: the innovator’s checklist\u003C/strong> \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As a practical first step, here’s a \u003Cstrong>stage-gate checklist for innovators\u003C/strong>. Before approaching governments, ask: \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Strategy and policy alignment: \u003C/strong>Have we aligned with relevant strategies, policies and stated government priorities? Is our value proposition for governments clear? \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Evidence: \u003C/strong>Do we have credible data showing strong adoption, improved client and/or health system outcomes, and value for money? \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Compliance:\u003C/strong> Have we mapped and ensured compliance with regulatory, ICT, and data protection requirements? \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Integration & Interoperability: \u003C/strong>Can we integrate with existing service delivery workflows and health information systems? Are we compliant with national and international data standards? \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Procurement readiness: \u003C/strong>Do we have pricing models, service-level agreements, and contracts that a ministry could sign? \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Operational readiness:\u003C/strong> Can we deliver at scale—training, support, ongoing maintenance? Have we engaged the right local stakeholders and appointed dedicated liaisons to work with any government champions? \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Sustainability: \u003C/strong>Do we have a plan for financing maintenance, upgrades, and monitoring?\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Innovators who can confidently answer these questions will find themselves far better positioned when engaging ministries and funders. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The opportunity ahead\u003C/strong> \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>If we build this clarity, Africa’s digital health innovators can finally move beyond fragmented pilots. Governments will gain confidence to procure solutions that meet clear criteria. Funders will know precisely where their catalytic support makes a difference. And most importantly—patients, health workers, and young people will gain sustained access to digital tools that improve care and save lives. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We’ve solved this before, with drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics. It took decades to refine those pathways, but they now make possible the rapid introduction of lifesaving tools around the world. It’s time to do the same for digital health—building predictable, trusted stage-gates that allow innovation to scale safely and sustainably. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Because in the end, \u003Cstrong>innovation doesn’t save lives until it scales\u003C/strong> \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>—\u003C/em> \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Joanne Peter is Senior Advisor to the HealthTech Hub Africa, operated by Jhpiego. With thanks to Pulkit Aggrwal (Grand Challenges Canada) and Rob Beyer (Villgro Africa and Senior Advisor to HealthTech Hub Africa) for their useful contributions. \u003C/em> \u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>There is no universally recognized pathway to navigate from promising pilot to public sector adoption at scale. That’s why Jhpiego is building predictable, trusted stage-gates that allow innovation to scale safely and sustainably. \u003C/p>\n","from-pilot-to-public-scale-fixing-the-missing-pathway-for-digital-health-innovation","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/from-pilot-to-public-scale-fixing-the-missing-pathway-for-digital-health-innovation/","/our-stories/p/from-pilot-to-public-scale-fixing-the-missing-pathway-for-digital-health-innovation/","2025-09-23T16:06:22","2025-09-30T20:21:32",{"id":1422,"src":1423,"width":18,"height":905,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1424,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1425,"srcset":1426,"sizes":26,"meta":1427,"acf":1466},6693,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image.jpg","From Pilot to Public Scale Feature Image","\u003Cimg width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image-1920x1280.jpg 1920w",{"width":18,"height":905,"file":1428,"filesize":1429,"sizes":1430,"imageMeta":1464},"2025/09/Innovations-Feature-Image.jpg",392462,{"medium":1431,"large":1434,"thumbnail":1437,"mediumLarge":1440,"1536x1536":1443,"postThumbnail":1446,"socialPreview":1449,"smallPreview":1452,"mediumPreview":1455,"largePreview":1458,"fullscreenSmall":1461},{"file":1432,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1433},"Innovations-Feature-Image-300x200.jpg",13557,{"file":1435,"width":38,"height":265,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1436},"Innovations-Feature-Image-1024x683.jpg",77651,{"file":1438,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1439},"Innovations-Feature-Image-150x150.jpg",7554,{"file":1441,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1442},"Innovations-Feature-Image-768x512.jpg",50431,{"file":1444,"width":52,"height":38,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1445},"Innovations-Feature-Image-1536x1024.jpg",145922,{"file":1447,"width":283,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1448},"Innovations-Feature-Image-810x540.jpg",54899,{"file":1450,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1451},"Innovations-Feature-Image-1200x630.jpg",81938,{"file":1453,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1454},"Innovations-Feature-Image-375x250.jpg",18500,{"file":1456,"width":72,"height":293,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1457},"Innovations-Feature-Image-960x640.jpg",70337,{"file":1459,"width":77,"height":943,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1460},"Innovations-Feature-Image-1280x853.jpg",109652,{"file":1462,"width":82,"height":77,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1463},"Innovations-Feature-Image-1920x1280.jpg",210676,{"aperture":86,"credit":303,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":303,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1465},[],{"primaryColor":1467,"blurhash":1468},"#141a15","U38NhC00L4AT00_4MxFs0K?vH=-==|9tKPVY",{"id":1470,"guid":1471,"title":1472,"content":1473,"excerpt":1474,"excerptRaw":20,"slug":1475,"url":1476,"uri":1477,"to":1477,"status":325,"date":1478,"modified":1479,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1480},6088,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=6088","Building Public Sector Partnerships: Insights from African Policymakers at the HealthTech Hub Africa Policy Summit","\n\u003Cp>Last week, \u003Cstrong>HealthTech Hub Africa (HTHA)\u003C/strong> hosted its annual \u003Cstrong>Policy Summit\u003C/strong> in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia—a vibrant gathering that brought together representatives from Ministries of Health, Innovation, and ICT across 17 African countries. These policymakers form part of an Intergovernmental Working Group committed to advancing forward-looking policies and regulations that support healthtech innovation across the continent.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>I was fortunate to facilitate one of the most enriching conversations at the Summit, which focused on how innovators can build effective partnerships with the public sector to integrate and scale their solutions. Policymakers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Rwanda shared candid reflections and practical advice drawn from their own experiences. Here are some of the key themes that emerged:\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Understanding Power and Influence in Government\u003C/strong>\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>One of the first insights shared was about the importance of identifying the right people within government—those who have the influence to make things happen. These “champions” or “change agents” are not always the most senior officials. Often, they are individuals who are deeply connected to the flow of information and who understand the priorities of their ministries.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In many cases, Directors General (DGs) play a pivotal role, as they are often the custodians of ministry priorities. Innovators were encouraged to engage widely, build relationships, and be mindful of the high turnover in government staff. Relying on a single contact can be risky, especially if that person holds a political appointment. Instead, look for those who offer continuity and are embedded in the system.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As one policymaker put it, governments can sometimes feel like “structured chaos.” But it’s important to remember that they are tasked with the enormous responsibility of running a country. Their political processes deserve respect and thoughtful engagement.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Co-Creation Over Consultation\u003C/strong>\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A strong and consistent message from the Summit was the importance of \u003Cstrong>co-creating solutions with government\u003C/strong>, rather than simply presenting ready-made products. When governments are involved from the outset, they are more likely to feel ownership and commit to long-term support.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Encouragingly, many governments are actively working to create environments that welcome innovation. Ethiopia, for example, has launched a state-of-the-art innovation space within its Ministry of Health. This includes a co-working area, an ideation room, a design and prototyping lab (complete with a 3D printer), and a fully equipped meeting room. They also run an innovation accelerator program, designed to support solutions they are committed to co-funding over time.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In Malawi, the creation of a \u003Cstrong>Department of Innovation and Creativity\u003C/strong> under the Office of the President signals a high-level commitment to fostering innovation. The department offers a range of incentives, including tax benefits and guidance on intellectual property protection, all aimed at creating a conducive environment for innovators.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Aligning with Government Priorities\u003C/strong>\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Governments often have clearly articulated strategies and priorities that can serve as valuable guideposts for innovators. In Ethiopia, the Ministry of Health’s Innovation Center displays its eight strategic priorities on a whiteboard in the ideation room—an ever-present reminder of where innovators should focus their efforts.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Rwanda’s \u003Cstrong>Health Sector Strategic Plan\u003C/strong> outlines five key priorities: strengthening the health workforce, improving infrastructure, enhancing primary health care, pandemic preparedness, and promoting innovation and digitization. These priorities are not just bureaucratic documents—they are active prompts for innovators seeking to align their work with national goals.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Even if a solution hasn’t been co-created with government, it may still be considered if it aligns with these stated priorities.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"495\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/HTHA-Priority-Areas.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6090\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/HTHA-Priority-Areas.png 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/HTHA-Priority-Areas-300x145.png 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/HTHA-Priority-Areas-768x371.png 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/HTHA-Priority-Areas-960x464.png 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/HTHA-Priority-Areas-375x181.png 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Navigating Policies and Regulations\u003C/strong>\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Governments typically have a range of policies that form the framework for healthtech innovation. Innovators were encouraged to review these documents—often available on ministry websites—to understand the parameters within which they must operate.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In fast-evolving areas where formal policies may not yet exist, \u003Cstrong>technical working groups\u003C/strong> often play a key role. These groups bring together diverse experts, including innovators and academics, to shape government thinking. Participating in these groups can be a valuable way to contribute to policy development and gain credibility.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The Role of Research in Innovation\u003C/strong>\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Policymakers were adamant that “Innovation can never be separated from research”, emphasizing the need to rigorously test solutions to ensure they address the problems they were designed to solve. Partnering with academic institutions can lend credibility and open doors to technical working groups.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>While there has been some recent skepticism around pilot projects, policymakers stressed that \u003Cstrong>pilots are still necessary\u003C/strong>—provided they are designed with clear research questions and intended outcomes. As one participant noted, “…to policymakers, data speaks louder than passion.” Evidence is key to convincing governments of a solution’s value.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Enablers of Innovation: Leadership, Trust, and Regulation\u003C/strong>\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>What makes Rwanda a top performer for its level of development on the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.wipo.int/en/web/global-innovation-index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Global Innovation Index\u003C/a>? Why has Murang’a County in Kenya emerged as a champion of innovation? The answer lies in \u003Cstrong>strong leadership\u003C/strong>—leaders who are accessible, accountable, willing to listen, and committed to reducing bureaucracy.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Trust also plays a critical role. Policymakers acknowledged a common skepticism toward the private sector, rooted in concerns about profit-driven motives. But they also recognized that seeking profit isn’t inherently wrong, as all actors in the health system want to be fairly compensated. The key is to find areas of alignment, shared values, and opportunities for mutual benefit.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Regulation, often seen as a bottleneck, can also be reframed as an \u003Cstrong>enabler\u003C/strong>—a set of guardrails that allow innovation to flourish while ensuring safety and accountability to society.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The Role of Intermediaries\u003C/strong>\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Finally, the Summit highlighted the importance of intermediaries—organizations that can help broker relationships between governments and innovators. \u003Cstrong>HTHA\u003C/strong> aims to be one of these intermediaries, creating platforms for engagement, fostering trust, and facilitating conversations that lead to meaningful collaboration.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When governments and innovators come together to co-create solutions that serve health workers and communities, the result is not just a win-win—it’s a win for the continent too.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This post originally appeared on the HealthTech Hub Africa blog on August 20, 2025. \u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Joanne Peter is the Director of the Innovation Hub at Jhpiego.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Last week, HealthTech Hub Africa (HTHA) hosted its annual Policy Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia—a vibrant gathering that brought together representatives from Ministries of…\u003C/p>\n","building-public-sector-partnerships-insights-from-african-policymakers-at-the-healthtech-hub-africa-policy-summit","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/building-public-sector-partnerships-insights-from-african-policymakers-at-the-healthtech-hub-africa-policy-summit/","/our-stories/p/building-public-sector-partnerships-insights-from-african-policymakers-at-the-healthtech-hub-africa-policy-summit/","2025-08-20T15:15:00","2025-09-04T15:22:09",{"id":1481,"src":1482,"width":1483,"height":1484,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1485,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1486,"srcset":1487,"sizes":1488,"meta":1489,"acf":1531},6089,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo.jpg",1847,1020,"Building Public Sector Partnerships Feature Photo","\u003Cimg width=\"1847\" height=\"1020\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo.jpg 1847w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-300x166.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-1024x566.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-768x424.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-1536x848.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-960x530.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-375x207.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-1280x707.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1847px) 100vw, 1847px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo.jpg 1847w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-300x166.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-1024x566.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-768x424.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-1536x848.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-960x530.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-375x207.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-1280x707.jpg 1280w","(max-width: 1847px) 100vw, 1847px",{"width":1483,"height":1484,"file":1490,"filesize":1491,"sizes":1492,"imageMeta":1528},"2025/09/Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo.jpg",452111,{"medium":1493,"large":1497,"thumbnail":1501,"mediumLarge":1504,"1536x1536":1508,"postThumbnail":1512,"socialPreview":1516,"smallPreview":1519,"mediumPreview":1523,"largePreview":1524},{"file":1494,"width":33,"height":1495,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1496},"Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-300x166.jpg",166,20700,{"file":1498,"width":38,"height":1499,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1500},"Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-1024x566.jpg",566,114717,{"file":1502,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1503},"Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-150x150.jpg",14290,{"file":1505,"width":47,"height":1506,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1507},"Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-768x424.jpg",424,72911,{"file":1509,"width":52,"height":1510,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1511},"Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-1536x848.jpg",848,220227,{"file":1513,"width":72,"height":1514,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1515},"Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-960x530.jpg",530,104015,{"file":1517,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1518},"Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-1200x630.jpg",143471,{"file":1520,"width":67,"height":1521,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1522},"Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-375x207.jpg",207,26791,{"file":1513,"width":72,"height":1514,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1515},{"file":1525,"width":77,"height":1526,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1527},"Building-Public-Sector-Partnerships-Feature-Photo-1280x707.jpg",707,164613,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":1529,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1530},"1755084759",[],{"primaryColor":1532,"blurhash":1533},"#8d6244","UcHnmR.6kWtl~Bx[tlx^Z$ogx]kCn#tRn+Io",{"id":1535,"guid":1536,"title":1537,"content":1538,"excerpt":1539,"excerptRaw":1539,"slug":1540,"url":1541,"uri":1542,"to":1542,"status":325,"date":1543,"modified":1544,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":1545},3310,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3310","Tuberculosis: An Overlooked Threat to Pregnant Women","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3311\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This post originally appeared on \u003Ca href=\"https://www.alignmnh.org/2025/06/17/tuberculosis-an-overlooked-threat-to-pregnant-women/\">AlignMNH’s website\u003C/a> on June 16, 2025.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The arrival of a baby is often described as life’s most profound transformation. Yet, for many women and families, this experience is threatened by a silent killer: tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Each year, over \u003Ca href=\"https://www.who.int/health-topics/maternal-health#tab=tab_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">200 million women become pregnant\u003C/a> globally. It is estimated that more than 200,000 of them develop TB during pregnancy, but this is likely an undercount. In many parts of the world, TB remains hidden, undetected, and under-diagnosed, especially among pregnant and postpartum women. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Take Lesotho, for example. With a population of just over 2 million, many of whom are under 29 years of age, Lesotho faces intersecting health crises. TB and HIV are the top causes of death in a country that also has a shockingly high rate \u003Ca href=\"https://data.who.int/countries/426\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">of maternal mortality\u003C/a> (478 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023). Overall, \u003Ca href=\"https://data.who.int/countries/426#hid-f3ab4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">54.2% of shared causes of deaths\u003C/a> are due to communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A hidden danger during and after pregnancy\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7083553/pdf/ERJ-01886-2019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The risk of active TB is up to two times higher among pregnant and postpartum women\u003C/a> in high burden countries. That risk increases even further for those with other co-morbidities such as HIV or gestational diabetes.  Pregnant women living with HIV who develop TB are \u003Ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36558815/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">twice as likely to die during the year following the birth compared to women who did not develop TB.\u003C/a> Their babies are also at increased risk— three times more likely to die during their first year of life and a higher risk of HIV infection themselves.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>While the exact reasons for increased TB susceptibility during pregnancy are not fully understood, some potential factors include immune system changes coupled with hormonal variations that occur during pregnancy and postpartum. Pregnancy naturally suppresses parts of the immune response to protect the fetus, but this immune suppression can also increase the risk and severity of certain infections including TB.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>TB in pregnant and postpartum women is frequently overlooked. One reason is symptom overlap: fatigue, weight loss, shortness of breath, and cough are common in both TB and pregnancy, making it difficult to distinguish one from the other. In some cases, TB presents without any symptoms at all. In others, health providers simply may not ‘think TB,’ delaying appropriate diagnostic investigations. And women themselves may not consider TB to be a risk—we once met a woman in Lesotho who told us, “Of all the things that could happen to me and my baby during pregnancy, TB did not even cross my mind. That’s not the type of thing we heard of.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Even when TB is diagnosed, reporting of this data and outcomes are often not recorded systematically by national TB programs. As a result, the true burden of TB in pregnancy is hidden, and care remains fragmented.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WHO Guidance: REACH, Diagnose, Treat, Prevent \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that pregnant and postpartum women in high TB burden settings—especially those living with HIV—receive routine TB screening, diagnosis, treatment and preventive care. These guidelines include: \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/340255/9789240022676-eng.pdf?sequence=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003Cstrong>Systematic screening\u003C/strong>\u003C/a>\u003Cstrong> for TB: \u003C/strong>All pregnant and postpartum women in high TB burden countries and all pregnant and post-partum women living with HIV should be screened for TB at every visit to a healthcare facility using a four-symptom checklist (cough, night sweats, fever, weight loss) combined with additional tests, including chest X-rays when appropriate. Unexplained failure to gain weight during pregnancy should also be considered together with weight loss.  \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Diagnosis using WHO-recommended tests:\u003C/strong> Women with presumptive TB should be offered rapid molecular testing as the first step for diagnosis.  \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Safe treatment: \u003C/strong>Standard drug-susceptible TB treatments are safe during pregnancy and should be started immediately upon diagnosis\u003Cstrong>. \u003C/strong> \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/331170\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003Cstrong>TB Preventive Treatment (TPT)\u003C/strong>\u003C/a>: Pregnant women living with HIV without active TB should receive TPT regardless of stage of pregnancy. This improves pregnancy outcomes for both mothers and their infants.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Implementation gaps and challenges \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Despite clear guidance, implementation remains inconsistent. Key challenges include:  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Symptom-based screening alone is insufficient: Many pregnant women with TB do not show typical TB symptoms or do not have symptoms at all. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Difficulties with diagnosis: TB diagnosis is still primarily based on sputum-based tests. Even when TB is suspected, pregnant women often struggle to produce sputum samples for testing.  \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Inadequate tracking: Many countries do not systematically track data on TB screening, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment in pregnant or postpartum women. This makes it hard to evaluate program performance or improve care.  \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Limited uptake of preventive treatment: Only 64% of countries have policies supporting TPT for pregnant women living with HIV. Even when policies exist, implementation is frequently undermined  by insufficient funding, supply chain issues, shortages of healthcare staff, overburdened providers, and lack of adequate training, making it difficult to scale up TB screening and treatment effectively.  \u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The stakes are high, and the clock is ticking\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>TB is both preventable and curable, yet it remains the world’s leading infectious diseases killer worldwide, causing an estimated 1.25 million deaths globally in 2023, including 161,000 people with HIV. Women of reproductive age account for roughly 20% of the global TB burden. In countries like Lesotho, where maternal deaths and TB deaths are high, failing to address these issues together means lives are needlessly lost.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We are now only five years away from the global target of\u003Cem> \u003C/em>ending TB by 2030.\u003Cem> \u003C/em>While the goal is ambitious, it is achievable. Since 2000, an estimated 79 million lives have been saved, and the possibility of ending TB is now within reach. Today, we have better tools than ever, including new diagnostics, preventive therapies, effective treatments, and a promising vaccine candidate on the horizon  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But success depends on continued commitment, smarter strategies, and sustained investment.  We must integrate TB and maternal health efforts – and within the broader primary health care approach – and reach those most at risk, including pregnant and breastfeeding women and their infants. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rethinking care \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Too often, healthcare systems treat diseases in silos.  Pregnant women face an intersection of risks from both maternal health complications and TB, yet these two crises are often treated separately.  We need to refocus the health and wellbeing of a person as a whole across every stage of life. This is particularly true for women navigating pregnancy in high TB burden settings. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>What does that look like in practice? \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Raise awareness and spur action:\u003C/strong> TB is a social disease and as such it should no longer be viewed as a health condition in isolation. It must be understood in the context of social determinants of health, primary health care, maternal and child health, HIV, and nutrition.  \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Center care on people, not diseases: \u003C/strong>Person-centered care starts with recognizing the whole individual, not just their disease. We must ensure that care is tailored to individual needs across life stages and epidemiological contexts. For pregnant women living in high TB burden countries, this includes accounting for TB risk and ensuring services are coordinated. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Engage communities:\u003C/strong> Women are more likely to seek care when they trust the health system. Community engagement helps co-design health care that works for people, reduce stigma, builds understanding, and improves service uptake. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Invest in health systems: \u003C/strong>Stronger TB responses require more and consistent funding investments, leak-proof supply chains solutions, and well-trained healthcare workers. Advocacy efforts at all levels is essential. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Strengthen data collection and use:\u003C/strong> Without data, we can’t see the true impact of TB on pregnant women and address gaps in access and quality in care.  Countries must continue investing in data systems to track TB services across maternal health care. \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Include pregnant women in research: \u003C/strong>Pregnant and postpartum women have historically been excluded from TB trials and treatment studies. This must change. Without evidence, they remain locked out of innovations that could save their lives.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">We can and must do better \u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>There is no going back. Ending TB isn’t just a goal—it’s a necessity. It requires us all—policymakers, researchers, health workers, advocates, and communities—to break down silos, rethink how care is delivered, and expand our vision of what’s possible.   \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The path ahead is clear. The tools are available. The evidence is strong. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The only question is: Will we act? \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Tuberculosis is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, and a hidden threat to pregnant women. In countries like Lesotho, where TB and maternal deaths intersect, failure to act costs lives. Discover why integrated, person-centered care is essential to ending TB.\u003C/p>\n","tuberculosis-threat-to-pregnant-women","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/tuberculosis-threat-to-pregnant-women/","/our-stories/p/tuberculosis-threat-to-pregnant-women/","2025-06-20T19:40:00","2025-08-13T19:46:14",{"id":1546,"src":1547,"width":18,"height":905,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1548,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1549,"srcset":1550,"sizes":26,"meta":1551,"acf":1591},3311,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025.jpg","Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025","\u003Cimg width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-TB-6-20-2025.jpg 2048w, 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/ Karel Prinsloo / Jhpiego",[],{"primaryColor":1592,"blurhash":1593,"videoUrl":20,"focalPointX":20,"focalPointY":20},"#8ca4c5","U:F$^xs:WYW?%%ofRkbIRRj[RijrRPWCWBae",{"id":1595,"guid":1596,"title":1597,"content":1598,"excerpt":1599,"excerptRaw":1599,"slug":1600,"url":1601,"uri":1602,"to":1602,"status":325,"date":1603,"modified":1604,"type":328,"authorId":329,"featuredMedia":1605},2420,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=2420","PrEP in 2025: Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Access","\n\u003Cp>The global HIV response stands at a crossroads. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)—one of the most effective tools in HIV prevention—has achieved remarkable scientific progress, yet access remains deeply inequitable and is now at a heightened threat to further be underfunded or not funded at all. By the end of 2024, approximately 8 million people had initiated PrEP. While this is a significant milestone, it still falls short of the UNAIDS target of 10 million person-years of PrEP use. Modeling suggests that \u003Ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/79/5/1223/7657721\">40 million more initiations are needed to reach epidemic control in sub-Saharan Africa\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>PrEP refers to the use of antiretroviral medication by HIV-negative individuals to prevent HIV infection. When taken consistently, PrEP reduces the risk of sexual transmission by about 99 percent. PrEP is the result of decades of progress in HIV prevention science and is a cornerstone of modern HIV prevention because it fills gaps where other methods fall short, empowers individuals at substantial risk, and reduces stigma associated with HIV prevention by offering a discreet, proactive method. In high-prevalence settings, PrEP also relieves pressure on overburdened health systems by preventing new infections, thus reducing long-term treatment costs.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Oral PrEP has saved countless lives, but real-world impact has been constrained by implementation challenges including poor adherence, limited access, and complex delivery models resulting in low coverage. Studies show that 30–50% of oral PrEP users discontinue within six months. Meanwhile, unused medication expires on pharmacy shelves and in households—a costly inefficiency in an era of shrinking public health budgets.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2421\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques-768x513.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques-809x540.jpg 809w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques-960x641.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques-1920x1282.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Vivian-Achieng-begins-taking-PrEP_MoniqueJacques.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Long-acting injectable PrEP (LA-PrEP) has the potential to transform this landscape. With better adherence, greater convenience, and prospects for long-term cost-effectiveness, LA-PrEP represents a major advancement. Yet its rollout in low- and middle-income countries has been slow. Recent shifts in U.S. global health funding—particularly the decision by PEPFAR to review PrEP programs—further complicate access. But the reality is clear: we cannot afford to wait.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Today, the question is no longer whether we have the tools to end HIV—it’s whether we will deploy them quickly and equitably in a world of constrained resources. The most effective prevention tools mean little if people cannot access them.\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Traditional clinic-based PrEP delivery continues to exclude many: individuals who face stigma, those unable to take time off work, and people living far from health facilities. It is time to embrace and rapidly scale alternative models that meet people where they are.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Pharmacy-based PrEP delivery is an underutilized opportunity. In many low- and middle-income countries, up to 60% of people first seek care at pharmacies. Pharmacies offer discreet, convenient, no-appointment-needed services and extended hours.\u003Ca href=\"https://www.jhpiego.org/story/private-convenient-and-effective-tailoring-hiv-prevention-with-eprep/\"> A pilot program delivering PrEP through pharmacies in Kenya\u003C/a> reached more individuals with behaviors associated with HIV risk who rarely visit public health facilities. Peer-led and community-based PrEP delivery has also proven feasible, and acceptable. These approaches bring services directly into communities, especially reaching populations at risk and underserved groups. Telehealth is another promising avenue. Both PrEP users and providers report high satisfaction with virtual consultations, highlighting its potential for expanding access, particularly in rural or hard-to-reach areas.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Our guiding principle should be that PrEP delivery fits into people’s lives—not the other way around.\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>At the same time, the financing landscape is shifting. Every country must urgently rethink HIV prevention financing. Increased domestic investment, engagement of the private sector, and integration of HIV services into broader health systems are all strategies that must be pursued. The era of vertical, siloed HIV funding may be ending—and with it comes an opportunity to improve efficiency and sustainability.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>PrEP represents one of the most powerful tools we have to end HIV as a public health threat. But for it to realize its full potential, we have triple task ahead of us: accelerate the rollout of long-acting PrEP, decentralize PrEP delivery through pharmacies, community platforms, and telehealth, and mobilize sustainable financing for cost-effective, high-impact strategies.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The HIV epidemic will not end with yesterday’s tools and today’s budgets. Innovation is no longer optional—it is imperative.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>(PrEP) has achieved remarkable scientific progress, yet access remains deeply inequitable and is now at a heightened threat to further be underfunded or not funded at all.\u003C/p>\n","prep-in-2025","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/prep-in-2025/","/our-stories/p/prep-in-2025/","2025-06-16T19:57:31","2025-08-14T17:43:32",{"id":1606,"src":1607,"width":18,"height":905,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1608,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1609,"srcset":1610,"sizes":26,"meta":1611,"acf":1650},2423,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo.jpg","Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo","\u003Cimg width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1920x1280.jpg 1920w",{"width":18,"height":905,"file":1612,"filesize":1613,"sizes":1614,"imageMeta":1648},"2025/06/Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo.jpg",286399,{"medium":1615,"large":1618,"thumbnail":1621,"mediumLarge":1624,"1536x1536":1627,"postThumbnail":1630,"socialPreview":1633,"smallPreview":1636,"mediumPreview":1639,"largePreview":1642,"fullscreenSmall":1645},{"file":1616,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1617},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-300x200.jpg",15231,{"file":1619,"width":38,"height":265,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1620},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1024x683.jpg",69578,{"file":1622,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1623},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-150x150.jpg",9359,{"file":1625,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1626},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-768x512.jpg",47425,{"file":1628,"width":52,"height":38,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1629},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1536x1024.jpg",123087,{"file":1631,"width":283,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1632},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-810x540.jpg",51139,{"file":1634,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1635},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1200x630.jpg",69568,{"file":1637,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1638},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-375x250.jpg",19652,{"file":1640,"width":72,"height":293,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1641},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-960x640.jpg",63428,{"file":1643,"width":77,"height":943,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1644},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1280x853.jpg",94954,{"file":1646,"width":82,"height":77,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1647},"Kenya_PrEP_2021_Ododo-1920x1280.jpg",171359,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1649},[],{"primaryColor":1651,"blurhash":1652},"#61959b","UAB=9e00PD#r_MVXa#H=xwIBMJcEtmemVsV]",{"id":1654,"guid":1655,"title":1656,"content":1657,"excerpt":1658,"excerptRaw":1658,"slug":1659,"url":1660,"uri":1661,"to":1661,"status":325,"date":1662,"modified":1663,"type":328,"authorId":516,"featuredMedia":1664},1346,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=1346","A New Tool to Keep Breastfeeding Moms Safe from HIV Infection","\n\u003Cp>A recent article in \u003Cem>The Lancet HIV\u003C/em> describes results of a study on the safety of the dapivirine vaginal ring for preventing HIV in breastfeeding mothers—and consequently protecting their babies, as well. We recently spoke with lead author \u003Ca href=\"https://www.jhpiego.org/blog/authors/lisa-noguchi/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dr. Lisa Noguchi\u003C/a>, Jhpiego’s Director for Maternal and Newborn Health, about the real-life implications of these findings.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is HIV prevention important for breastfeeding mothers and their babies?\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The world has made incredible progress in preventing vertical transmission of HIV—meaning from the mother to her child during pregnancy, labor and delivery, or breastfeeding. Unfortunately, progress has slowed recently. In West and Central Africa, for example, vertical HIV transmission elimination programs probably only reach about half of pregnant or breastfeeding women living with HIV.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We know from previous research that pregnancy and the postpartum period are critical times for HIV prevention. The chance of acquiring HIV per sex act is probably as much as four times higher for a postpartum woman compared to times when she is not pregnant. We also know that if a postpartum mother gets an acute HIV infection, the chance of passing it to her breastfeeding baby is higher than if she’d acquired an HIV infection prior to her pregnancy.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>So, while oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)—HIV-negative individuals taking oral medication to reduce their chance of acquiring HIV—is a safe and effective option for many people including breastfeeding women, we need a range of options, because different strategies work for different people.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the current recommendations for breastfeeding?\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The World Health Organization (WHO) universally recommends exclusive breastfeeding (i.e., providing only breast milk as their source of nutrition) for infants younger than 6 months, and continued breastfeeding plus appropriate complementary foods until age 2 years or older. That’s how impactful breastfeeding is in terms of its power to save infant lives and protect them from malnutrition, ear infections, respiratory tract infection, asthma, sudden infant death, obesity, type 1 diabetes, and more. But breastfeeding doesn’t just protect babies—it protects mothers, too. Women who breastfeed have a lower risk of high blood pressure, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, diabetes, and more.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For readers who might not be familiar with the dapivirine ring, can you explain what it is?\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A dapivirine vaginal ring is a flexible ring, made of silicone elastomer, that contains 25 mg of dapivirine, an antiviral drug. The ring is designed to be inserted in the vagina and replaced monthly. Based on multiple safety and efficacy studies, WHO recommended the ring in 2021 as an additional prevention choice for women at substantial risk of HIV infection.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What did you set out to learn in this study and what did you find?\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Our study, which was a randomized trial, aimed to describe the safety of two different HIV prevention products during breastfeeding. Some women in the study used oral PrEP and some used the ring. We also measured medication levels in mothers and infants. The study was carried out at HIV research sites in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We found that the dapivirine ring was very well tolerated and safe for breastfeeding moms and their babies. We observed very few significant side effects or health issues in either the ring or the oral PrEP group. While this wasn’t a trial designed to measure effectiveness, it was reassuring that none of the study participants acquired HIV.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Because of this study, we now know that dapivirine levels in breastfeeding infants are very low and infrequent. This and the safety data underscore that a health worker should be able to prescribe the ring for a breastfeeding mom, because it looks very safe for both her and the baby.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the take-home message?\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Since breastfeeding has such powerful benefits, no one living where HIV is common should have to choose between breastfeeding and protecting themselves—and their baby—from HIV infection. They need options! Not everyone can take a PrEP pill every day. Now, the dapivirine ring is one more way that breastfeeding moms can help protect themselves from getting HIV—and give their babies all the benefits of breastfeeding.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"is-style-info\">\u003Cem>Safety and drug quantification of the dapivirine vaginal ring and oral pre-exposure prophylaxis in breastfeeding mother–infant pairs (MTN-043): a phase 3B, open-label, randomised trial\u003C/em> by Lisa Noguchi, PhD; Maxensia Owor, MMed; Nyaradzo M Mgodi, MMed; Brenda Gati Mirembe, MBChB; Sufia Dadabhai, PhD; Elizea Horne, MBChB; et al. was published in the March 2025 issue of The Lancet. Read the full article\u003Cstrong> \u003Cem>\u003Ca href=\"https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhiv/article/PIIS2352-3018(24)00306-0/abstract\">here\u003C/a> \u003C/em>\u003C/strong>and listen to the \u003Cem>\u003Ca href=\"https://www.thelancet.com/multimedia/podcasts/in-conversation-with/lanhiv\">\u003Cstrong>podcast episode\u003C/strong>\u003C/a> \u003C/em>featuring Dr. Lisa Noguchi.\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>A recent article in The Lancet HIV describes results of a study on the safety of the dapivirine vaginal ring for preventing HIV in breastfeeding mothers—and consequently protecting their babies, as well.\u003C/p>\n","a-new-tool-to-keep-breastfeeding-moms-safe-from-hiv-infection","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/a-new-tool-to-keep-breastfeeding-moms-safe-from-hiv-infection/","/our-stories/p/a-new-tool-to-keep-breastfeeding-moms-safe-from-hiv-infection/","2025-03-25T22:32:56","2025-08-08T20:19:28",{"id":1665,"src":1666,"width":18,"height":19,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1667,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1668,"srcset":1669,"sizes":26,"meta":1670,"acf":1709},1347,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2.jpeg","F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2","\u003Cimg width=\"2048\" height=\"1367\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2.jpeg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1024x684.jpeg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-768x513.jpeg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-809x540.jpeg 809w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-375x250.jpeg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-960x641.jpeg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1280x854.jpeg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1920x1282.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2.jpeg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1024x684.jpeg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-768x513.jpeg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-809x540.jpeg 809w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-375x250.jpeg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-960x641.jpeg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1280x854.jpeg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1920x1282.jpeg 1920w",{"width":18,"height":19,"file":1671,"filesize":1672,"sizes":1673,"imageMeta":1707},"2025/03/F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2.jpeg",542131,{"medium":1674,"large":1677,"thumbnail":1680,"mediumLarge":1683,"1536x1536":1686,"postThumbnail":1689,"socialPreview":1692,"smallPreview":1695,"mediumPreview":1698,"largePreview":1701,"fullscreenSmall":1704},{"file":1675,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1676},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-300x200.jpeg",16072,{"file":1678,"width":38,"height":39,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1679},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1024x684.jpeg",82896,{"file":1681,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1682},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-150x150.jpeg",9616,{"file":1684,"width":47,"height":48,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1685},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-768x513.jpeg",54947,{"file":1687,"width":52,"height":53,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1688},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1536x1025.jpeg",151790,{"file":1690,"width":57,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1691},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-809x540.jpeg",59231,{"file":1693,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1694},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1200x630.jpeg",83410,{"file":1696,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1697},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-375x250.jpeg",21310,{"file":1699,"width":72,"height":73,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1700},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-960x641.jpeg",75450,{"file":1702,"width":77,"height":78,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1703},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1280x854.jpeg",114810,{"file":1705,"width":82,"height":83,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1706},"F2w7ptIW8AMbcq2-1920x1282.jpeg",213335,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1708},[],{"primaryColor":1710,"blurhash":1711,"videoUrl":20,"focalPointX":20,"focalPointY":20},"#44443f","UbG8l:~WRjIU-Aw]RPM|NGSeR+X8xat6R*NG",{"id":1713,"guid":1714,"title":1715,"content":1716,"excerpt":1717,"excerptRaw":1717,"slug":1718,"url":1719,"uri":1720,"to":1720,"status":325,"date":1721,"modified":1722,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":1723},3316,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3316","After the Floods: Rebuilding Hope in Sindh","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3317\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-768x513.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-809x540.jpg 809w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-960x641.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1280x855.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1920x1282.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025.jpg 2560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In 2022, from April into September devastating floods swept through Sindh, Pakistan, submerging entire communities and leaving thousands grappling with the loss of their homes, livelihoods, and futures. The scale of destruction was unprecedented. In the aftermath, it became clear that the needs of these communities went far beyond our initial project, which focused on immunization. It quickly transformed into the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.gavi.org/programmes-impact/programmatic-policies/fragility-emergencies-and-displaced-populations-policy\">Fragility, Emergency, and Displaced Population\u003C/a> project, a comprehensive humanitarian effort, supported by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to address the multifaceted challenges faced by flooded communities.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Turning crisis into action\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Working with our partners, including Gavi and the Government of Pakistan, Jhpiego pivoted to provide not only health care but also psychosocial support and relief services to those in need. Together, we established 400 relief camps across Sindh, in Larkana, Dadu, Kambar, and Shikarpur districts. These camps became lifelines for families who had been cut off from basic services.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>From October 2023 to November 2024, we provided more than 17,000 individuals with outpatient health care and more than 7,000 children with immunizations. This included 1,000 children who had never received any routine vaccination and 2,000 who had started their vaccinations but missed subsequent doses. These numbers gave us hope that we were making a real difference in the lives of families.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We also knew that services for pregnant women and newborns could not wait. Our team provided over 20,000 antenatal care sessions and more than 640 postnatal care visits, ensuring that mothers and newborns received the care they needed.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Healing hidden wounds\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But the floods left more than physical scars. They left fear, uncertainty, and deep emotional trauma. Stories shared by the communities showed that the floods had a long-lasting impact. One mother said, “The flood was not just about losing our homes. It was about the fear and endless nights of wondering if we would survive.” In response, we conducted over 2,000 mental health screenings to support families to regain a sense of hope and stability.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Building resilient communities together\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>What stood out to me was the role of our community health workers and volunteers who were the backbone of the recovery effort. Local champions like Zoya Sahar, a lady health visitor in Dadu who said, “There are no hospitals or medical facilities in my village. This inspired me to become a lady health visitor. I couldn’t become a doctor, but through my work, I can still make a big difference.” Zoya and her peers tirelessly worked to raise awareness about vaccinations and to care for women and babies before, during, and after childbirth.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Collaboration with local community-based organizations ensured that our impact went beyond immediate relief. Together, we have built a robust referral system to link clients who need advanced care to higher-level health facilities and equipped local leaders with tools and training so they could continue serving their communities.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This sustainable approach is essential to nurturing a culture of health-seeking behavior that will last long after the floods. I firmly believe that by equipping local leaders, we are addressing the immediate needs and laying the groundwork for healthier communities.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hope for the future\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The physical scars of the flood are healing, but I know that our work is far from over. This effort has shown me the fortitude of individuals in the face of unimaginable loss, the strength of communities when they come together, and the power of partnerships to create change and rebuild hope.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https://youtu.be/PXvXvH6DOZs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Watch this video\u003C/a> to see where hope goes when everything familiar has been washed away.\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>After the devastating 2022 floods in Sindh, Pakistan, Jhpiego and partners transformed an immunization effort into a full-scale humanitarian response, delivering care, rebuilding trust, and restoring hope. Read how communities are healing.\u003C/p>\n","rebuilding-hope-in-sindh","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/rebuilding-hope-in-sindh/","/our-stories/p/rebuilding-hope-in-sindh/","2025-01-23T19:55:00","2025-08-14T17:46:31",{"id":1724,"src":1725,"width":162,"height":163,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1726,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1727,"srcset":1728,"sizes":255,"meta":1729,"acf":1773},3317,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025.jpg","Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025","\u003Cimg width=\"2560\" height=\"1709\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025.jpg 2560w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-768x513.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-809x540.jpg 809w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-960x641.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1280x855.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1920x1282.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025.jpg 2560w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-768x513.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-809x540.jpg 809w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-960x641.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1280x855.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Pakistan-1-23-2025-1920x1282.jpg 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for caregivers: incentivizing Ethiopia’s health workers","\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"671\" height=\"473\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3323\" style=\"width:614px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025.jpg 671w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025-300x211.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025-375x264.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 671px) 100vw, 671px\" />\u003C/figure>\u003C/div>\n\n\n\u003Cp>Ethiopia faces a critical shortage of motivated health workers amid growing demand for services. In 2020, the country needed around 580,150 health workers, a number expected to rise to 751,800 by 2030. In 2023, Ethiopia only had about 326,000 health workers. Attrition, mainly due to issues around motivation, is a key concern; it undermines the national progress toward universal health coverage.\u003Cbr> \u003Cbr>Understanding attrition patterns and providing effective incentives for health workers are crucial in order to tackle these challenges.\u003Cbr> \u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>Addressing health workers’ needs\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>In April 2020, the U.S. Agency for International Development launched the Health Workforce Improvement Program (HWIP), which is led by Jhpiego, to address motivation and other human resources for health challenges in 54 hospitals across Ethiopia. Since then, the hospitals have demonstrated progress in implementing locally feasible non-financial incentives that have boosted staff morale and improved performance.\u003Cbr> \u003Cbr>For instance,  Tirunesh Beijing General Hospital has established a daycare center, free health services, a lower-priced cafeteria, a savings and credit group, and customer associations for the staff that can help address the costs of city living, which are a source of strain for health workers.\u003Cbr> \u003Cbr>“We have a significant number [671] of health care professionals here, so we had to balance delivering quality health care and employee needs,” says Shambel Seyoum, the human resource director at Tirunesh Beijing General Hospital. “With the escalating cost of residing in the metropolis, non-financial incentives are important for improved productivity and employee engagement.”\u003Cbr> \u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>Finding effective solutions\u003C/strong>\u003Cbr>The hospital’s free outpatient clinic for employees reduces their wait times and their time away from work. Employees made 3,600 visits to the clinic from July 1, 2023, through May 30, 2024. For women health workers with children, balancing their jobs and family duties is one of the difficulties they face. To help, the hospital provided an on-site daycare facility staffed by nurses, who cared for 23 children from July 2023 through May 2024. This allowed health workers to focus on patient care. “Previously I was concerned about the well-being of my baby while at work. The daycare is a huge relief,” said Aster Erestu, a nursing professional.\u003Cbr> \u003Cbr>As a result of these incentives and other interventions, health workers’ motivation levels improved. The intention of health workers to leave their jobs fell by 31.5 percentage points (49% in 2014 to 17.5% in 2022).\u003Cbr> \u003Cbr>As demonstrated by HWIP’s interventions at Tirunesh Beijing General Hospital and the other 53 hospitals,  addressing the needs of health workers through locally feasible non-financial incentives can boost staff morale so that they can concentrate on delivering quality health care.\u003Cbr> \u003Cbr>\u003Cem>Anteneh Teshome Habtemichael is the communication and knowledge management specialist with Jhpiego Ethiopia\u003C/em>.\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>One Ethiopian hospital is proving that small, locally-driven incentives, like daycare and free staff clinics, can make a big difference. See how Jhpiego and partners are helping boost morale, reduce attrition, and strengthen Ethiopia’s health system.\u003C/p>\n","caring-for-caregivers","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/caring-for-caregivers/","/our-stories/p/caring-for-caregivers/","2025-01-08T20:03:00","2025-08-14T17:47:08",{"id":1788,"src":1789,"width":1790,"height":1791,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1792,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1793,"srcset":1794,"sizes":1795,"meta":1796,"acf":1813},3323,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025.jpg",671,473,"Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025","\u003Cimg width=\"671\" height=\"473\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025.jpg 671w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025-300x211.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025-375x264.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 671px) 100vw, 671px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025.jpg 671w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025-300x211.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025-375x264.jpg 375w","(max-width: 671px) 100vw, 671px",{"width":1790,"height":1791,"file":1797,"filesize":1798,"sizes":1799,"imageMeta":1811},"2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025.jpg",92802,{"medium":1800,"thumbnail":1804,"smallPreview":1807},{"file":1801,"width":33,"height":1802,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1803},"Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025-300x211.jpg",211,26229,{"file":1805,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1806},"Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025-150x150.jpg",18730,{"file":1808,"width":67,"height":1809,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1810},"Jhpiego-Blog-Ethiopia-1-8-2025-375x264.jpg",264,31338,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":309,"keywords":1812},[],{"primaryColor":1814,"blurhash":1815,"videoUrl":20,"focalPointX":20,"focalPointY":20},"#cbc2ba","UNIX:P00xZ~V?9rW9ZohT0%M8_xu%LWGM{xu",{"id":1817,"guid":1818,"title":1819,"content":1820,"excerpt":1821,"excerptRaw":1821,"slug":1822,"url":1823,"uri":1824,"to":1824,"status":325,"date":1825,"modified":1826,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":1827},3329,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3329","Bringing breast cancer care closer to women: India’s experience","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-1024x577.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3330\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-1024x577.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-300x169.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-768x433.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-960x541.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-375x211.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024.jpg 1051w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Today, breast cancer is the most common form of women’s cancer. In India, where I live, women suffer disproportionately from breast cancer. Though the incidence is similar to the rate in the U.S. (in both countries, it accounts for \u003Ca href=\"https://gco.iarc.who.int/media/globocan/factsheets/populations/356-india-fact-sheet.pdf\">about one in four\u003C/a> cases of cancer among women), there is a stark difference in mortality. In India, only half of the women diagnosed with breast cancer will survive. In the U.S., nine out of 10 women will reach the \u003Ca href=\"https://gis.cdc.gov/Cancer/USCS/#/Survival/\">five-year survival mark\u003C/a>. This unacceptably high death rate in India is due to limited awareness, poor access to diagnostic services, complicated management pathways and incomplete and/or delayed treatment.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Meet the need\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Health care infrastructure varies dramatically across India. While urban areas benefit from advanced hospitals and specialized care, rural and tribal areas often lack basic health services, infrastructure and trained personnel. To leapfrog these challenges, and to ensure equitable access, we need context-appropriate innovations.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To meet this need, Jhpiego is collaborating with the Government of Odisha—a state in eastern India with large rural and Scheduled Tribe populations—on multiple initiatives to decentralize care to bring care closer to women. One of our goals is to test these initiatives to see if they can be scaled up from small projects to country-wide programs.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bring care closer to women\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Because of a lack of local diagnostic services, most women with early signs of cancer rely on state or regional cancer institutions, often far from home. There are only two such institutions in Odisha, which has a population of more than 23 million women. To address this barrier, we are working with the Government of Odisha to decentralize services by increasing breast cancer diagnostic capabilities (imaging and pathology) at the district level. The aim is to establish diagnostic services in all 30 districts, so women won’t have to travel as far to receive a diagnosis.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Efforts are still ongoing, but this initiative is increasing access to breast cancer diagnostics as we speak, which is saving lives.\u003Cstrong>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Provide targeted treatments\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>If diagnosed with breast cancer, women face the hurdle of accessing treatment. Physicians can use biomarker tests to guide personalized, targeted treatments. Until recently, biomarker testing required special expertise and complex, time-consuming and costly lab work, making it less accessible in low-resource settings. These factors delay diagnosis and treatment, substantially reducing chances of survival.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, across India, recent improvements in molecular \u003Ca href=\"https://www.jhpiego.org/story/strengthening-indias-labs/\">diagnostic platforms\u003C/a> (e.g., GeneXpert used for tuberculosis and COVID-19 testing) present a remarkable opportunity to provide advanced breast cancer diagnostic solutions to underserved populations.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Be innovative\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We worked with the Government of Odisha, the state cancer institute and Cepheid, an innovative technology service provider, to pilot the use of molecular diagnostic platforms for breast cancer biomarker testing. This state-of-the-art technology has been proven in other countries, but it has not been used in public health settings in India.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Our pilot project showed the feasibility of using molecular diagnostics, which provide quick turn-around times and are cost-effective, for public health settings. Since these platforms are available at the district or subdistrict level, the pilot project showed the possibility of making biomarker-based testing available to more women, closer to their homes. This will improve access to targeted therapies that can improve survival and well-being.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We at Jhpiego are bringing powerful tools, in the form of diagnostic solutions, closer to women in their fight against cancer—regardless of where they live.\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>In India, too many women are dying from breast cancer, not because it’s untreatable, but because diagnosis and care come too late. Jhpiego is working with the Government of Odisha to change that by bringing innovative, life-saving diagnostics closer to home.\u003C/p>\n","bringing-breast-cancer-care-closer-to-women-indias-experience","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/bringing-breast-cancer-care-closer-to-women-indias-experience/","/our-stories/p/bringing-breast-cancer-care-closer-to-women-indias-experience/","2024-10-21T20:11:00","2025-08-06T20:17:12",{"id":1828,"src":1829,"width":1830,"height":1831,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1832,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1833,"srcset":1834,"sizes":1835,"meta":1836,"acf":1867},3330,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024.jpg",1051,592,"Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024","\u003Cimg width=\"1051\" height=\"592\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024.jpg 1051w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-300x169.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-1024x577.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-768x433.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-960x541.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-375x211.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1051px) 100vw, 1051px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024.jpg 1051w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-300x169.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-10-21-2024-1024x577.jpg 1024w, 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Back on Her Decades of Service, Dr. Kobbie Sees a Promising Future for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3336\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-300x225.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-768x576.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-720x540.jpg 720w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-375x281.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-960x720.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-1280x960.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024.jpg 2560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We are closer than ever to eliminating cervical cancer. The World Health Organization affirmed the likelihood that cervical cancer can be eliminated within the lifetime of today’s young girls. But this is not news or even a revelation for Dr. Khunying Kobchitt “Kobbie” Limpaphayom, who has dedicated her life’s work to improving women’s reproductive health, including reducing deaths from cervical cancer, in Thailand and beyond.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A student of Jhpiego’s founder, the late \u003Ca href=\"https://www.jhpiego.org/about/history-mission/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dr. Theodore M. King of Johns Hopkins University\u003C/a>, Dr. Kobbie spent more than four decades in Thailand’s rural communities testing and treating women to prevent cervical cancer and in classrooms at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok training generations of health workers, including today’s leaders in cervical cancer, to do the same.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Dr. Kobbie has changed the lives of many women and girls and their families. Like most countries, four decades ago Thailand was struggling to prevent, screen and treat cervical cancer. In 2000, Dr. Kobbie, in partnership with Jhpiego, the government of Thailand, the Roi Et Provincial Health Office and the Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, began implementation of the SAFE (\u003Ca href=\"https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(03)12707-9/abstract\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Safety, Acceptability, Feasibility, and program Effort\u003C/a>) study, which used a method called visual inspection of the cervix with acetic acid (VIA). VIA uses diluted acetic acid, the basic component of household vinegar, to detect precancerous lesions on the cervix, which turn white when they react with the acid. If lesions were found, patients could be treated immediately in a single visit approach (SVA) or referred for treatment of advanced lesions.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This simple, low-cost screening method does not need electricity, sophisticated labs or equipment. But it did need to catch on among rural populations. So, Dr. Kobbie and her team of clinical trainers led the charge training nurses and general practitioners. They also trained public health volunteers and community health workers to engage and mobilize the community to support and encourage women to participate in the screening campaigns and spread the word.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>One of the objectives of the SAFE study was to convince medical and public health policy stakeholders that nurses could perform SVA and meet the four criteria of safety, acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness. “Before the training and awareness campaigns, a lot of people did not believe in the way I used the vinegar,” Dr Kobbie said. “It was very difficult for both the public and the ob-gyn community themselves to accept it.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, over time, they did accept and expand SVA. Thanks to a combination of screening methods, including VIA, the incidence rate in Thailand went from \u003Ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38528826/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18.1 per 100,000 women in 2001 to 11.1 by 2018\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Other governments started to take notice. Dr. Kobbie traveled to Uganda, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and several other countries to help implement SVA. The use of this successful approach continued to grow—so much so that, in 2018, the United Nations presented its \u003Ca href=\"https://www.jhpiego.org/news/thai-health-office-receives-un-award-for-cervical-cancer-prevention-services-pioneered-by-johns-hopkins-affiliate-jhpiego/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Public Service Award\u003C/a> to the Provincial Health Office of Roi Et for its integrated approach to comprehensive cervical cancer control, the single visit, screen-and-treat approach. As Dr. Kobbie, who traveled to Morocco to receive the award, said, “\u003Ca href=\"https://www.jhpiego.org/news/thai-health-office-receives-un-award-for-cervical-cancer-prevention-services-pioneered-by-johns-hopkins-affiliate-jhpiego/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The single visit approach helped in giving women easier access to care by bringing care closer to their homes\u003C/a>,”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>At her core, Dr. Kobbie is a realist. She understands that SVA can’t eliminate cervical cancer. Primary prevention—HPV vaccination and promotion of healthy practices—must also be a priority.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In 2017, the HPV vaccine was introduced into Thailand’s national immunization program for 11- to 12-year-old schoolgirls. But a host of complexities made it hard for people to access the vaccine, especially in Thailand’s rural provinces. Because Thailand is considered an upper-middle-income country, the government must procure vaccines from the open market, rather than rely on heavily subsidized or free vaccines from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. And, it’s an age-restricted vaccine, meaning only people who fall within the right age group (females ages 9 to 26 years and males ages 13 to 21) can receive it.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For cervical cancer rates to continue to decline, the tried-and-true methods that Dr. Kobbie has worked hard to spread cannot be discounted, especially for those out of the vaccine age range.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“By the time we had a usable vaccine, there were so many women with HPV,” says Dr. Kobbie. “Those women will always have that question in their mind about if they already have the HPV strain that causes cancer. That’s why I say, ‘Don’t be shy. Go and get screened.’”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In 2001, shortly after Dr. Kobbie began using SVA, cervical cancer was the second most common cancer among women in Thailand. Two decades later, in 2022, \u003Ca href=\"https://gco.iarc.who.int/media/globocan/factsheets/populations/764-thailand-fact-sheet.pdf\">it had dropped to fourth\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“My hope is that cervical cancer will never be more prevalent than it is right now,” she says. “I’m still working. I’m still teaching because I want to inspire the younger generation to be good doctors. I want to teach them that every cervical cancer patient is a human being, just like your sister or yourself.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Ricky Lu, Senior Technical Advisor at Jhpiego, also contributed to this article.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Dr. Kobbie Limpaphayom has spent more than 40 years bringing lifesaving cervical cancer screening to women across Thailand and beyond. Her pioneering work, and relentless advocacy, continues to shape a future where elimination is not just possible, but within reach.\u003C/p>\n","looking-back-on-her-decades-of-service-dr-kobbie-sees-a-promising-future-for-the-elimination-of-cervical-cancer","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/looking-back-on-her-decades-of-service-dr-kobbie-sees-a-promising-future-for-the-elimination-of-cervical-cancer/","/our-stories/p/looking-back-on-her-decades-of-service-dr-kobbie-sees-a-promising-future-for-the-elimination-of-cervical-cancer/","2024-09-18T20:18:00","2025-08-06T20:53:06",{"id":1882,"src":1883,"width":162,"height":82,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1884,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1885,"srcset":1886,"sizes":255,"meta":1887,"acf":1938},3336,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024.jpg","Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024","\u003Cimg width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024.jpg 2560w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-300x225.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-768x576.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-720x540.jpg 720w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-375x281.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-960x720.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-1280x960.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024.jpg 2560w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-300x225.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Cervical-Cancer-9-18-2024-768x576.jpg 768w, 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PowerShot G7","1237460225","7.4","0.016666666666667",[],{"primaryColor":1939,"blurhash":1940},"#8d7f76","UIGuak%N9atl?G%MD*-;ovRPIVbF~qMxD%WU",{"id":1942,"guid":1943,"title":1944,"content":1945,"excerpt":1946,"excerptRaw":1946,"slug":1947,"url":1948,"uri":1949,"to":1949,"status":325,"date":1950,"modified":1951,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":1952},3456,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3456","Prevention Is Self-Care","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"408\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3457\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024.jpg 660w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024-300x185.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024-375x232.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>\u003Cem>Ending the HIV epidemic requires fully engaging those who are pregnant and postpartum\u003C/em>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>While global health and well-being universally stand to benefit as self-care interventions expand, to meet the goal of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030, two very special and specific types of clients must be engaged more meaningfully: those who are pregnant and postpartum.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Historically, HIV prevention efforts have focused on key populations. More recently, adolescent girls and young women have been recognized as a priority population. However, data show that women who are pregnant and postpartum are also particularly vulnerable to HIV infection. The time is past due for us to not only partner with these clients, but also offer self-care options to provide services that traditionally have been limited to health care professionals. As co-designers and contributors to their own care, these clients can help accelerate progress toward the 2030 goal of ending an epidemic that has killed over 42 million people since 1981.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We know that being pregnant increases the risk of acquiring HIV threefold, and being postpartum increases that risk fourfold, compared to other times in people’s lives. The reasons are not completely clear but may be biological, behavioral or cultural.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Research reveals that if a person acquires HIV during pregnancy or the postpartum period, there is a higher risk of vertical transmission (of the baby acquiring HIV) than if the mother acquired HIV prior to pregnancy. In fact, an estimated 23% of vertical transmissions globally are due to HIV infections that happen \u003Cem>during \u003C/em>pregnancy and the postpartum period. All this evidence points to the pregnancy and postnatal periods as critical times of opportunity for expanding access to HIV prevention services—particularly those options that increase a client’s agency and protect their privacy.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Imagine two women living in Africa. One is a single pregnant teenager who, experiencing poverty, depends on transactional sex to buy food and clothing. She was relieved when an HIV test given early in her pregnancy was negative. The other woman is a 30-year-old mother of five young children—including a breastfeeding infant. Her husband, a fisherman, doesn’t use condoms; he hides the fact that he sometimes has other sexual partners when he travels away from his village for work.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Both of these women—already facing the possibility of acquiring HIV—are much more likely to acquire HIV when they are pregnant or postpartum. It’s common around the world for women who are pregnant to get tested for HIV and be offered HIV treatment if needed to protect themselves and their babies. But it’s rare that they know about the heightened risk of HIV during pregnancy and postpartum, and that there are safe and effective HIV prevention options.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Evidence shows that oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and the dapivirine vaginal ring are safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as is post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for those who may be exposed to HIV unexpectedly. Our collective experience as clinicians, program managers and researchers working across disciplines in HIV/AIDS and reproductive health convinces us there needs to be expanded access—beyond PrEP clinics—to all these options. If we take away barriers to knowledge and care for people who are marginalized, women who are pregnant and postpartum will access what they need for themselves and their babies to be healthy.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>With 2030 looming, and the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240077065\">Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the balance\u003C/a>, the world has only around 15 percent of the number of nurses and midwives needed. The global shortage of physicians is also dire, especially in areas most impacted by the HIV epidemic. Despite efforts to expand, design, execute and incentivize an adequate health care workforce, the majority of global citizens don’t have adequate access to health care providers.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat depends on our kick-starting a radical re-shaping of client care. While the world looks to expanding primary and community-based health care, women who are pregnant and postpartum should not be left behind.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As a complement to building more comprehensive, high-quality antenatal and postnatal care services, HIV testing and a range of PrEP and PEP options that are safe during pregnancy and postpartum—including self-care methods—could be made fully available and accessible to all. Online pharmacies and local community pharmacies, which are open from dawn until almost midnight, could offer these services to those who fear being stigmatized if they seek a test or HIV prevention options. With strong alignment with local regulatory frameworks, appropriate health system linkages and community engagement, this approach holds great promise, and the feasibility and acceptability of these new options deserve to be tested and better understood.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Fostering a dramatic evolution of client-centered care requires putting HIV prevention into the hands of those who need it most, including those who are pregnant and postpartum. If prevention is the ultimate in self-care, which we believe it is, then it stands to reason that sustainable health systems and our achievement of global goals depend upon putting HIV prevention squarely and securely in the hands of all priority populations, including pregnant and postpartum women.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Nthuseng Marake, MBChB, BSc. (Hons), is the HIV Treatment and Care Officer with the Ministry of Health of Lesotho.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Rosemary Njura Njogu is a Senior Technical Advisor with Jhpiego\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Tigistu Adamu Ashengo, MD, MPH, is Jhpiego’s Chief Medical Officer.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Lisa Noguchi, PhD, CNM, FACNM, is Jhpiego’s Director for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and a member of the Guideline Development Group for the WHO guideline on self-care interventions for health and well-being, 2022 revision.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Kelly Curran, MHS, is Jhpiego’s Senior Director for HIV and Infectious Diseases. She also directs the PEPFAR/USAID-funded Reaching Impact, Saturation and Epidemic Control (RISE) Project.  \u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Pregnancy and postpartum bring a heightened, but often overlooked, risk of HIV infection. To end the epidemic by 2030, we must ensure women in these critical periods have access to safe, effective prevention options, including self-care tools that put protection in their own hands.\u003C/p>\n","prevention-is-self-care","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/prevention-is-self-care/","/our-stories/p/prevention-is-self-care/","2024-09-17T00:13:00","2025-08-08T20:20:39",{"id":1953,"src":1954,"width":1955,"height":1956,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1957,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1958,"srcset":1959,"sizes":1960,"meta":1961,"acf":1978},3457,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024.jpg",660,408,"Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024","\u003Cimg width=\"660\" height=\"408\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024.jpg 660w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024-300x185.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024-375x232.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024.jpg 660w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024-300x185.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024-375x232.jpg 375w","(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px",{"width":1955,"height":1956,"file":1962,"filesize":1963,"sizes":1964,"imageMeta":1976},"2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024.jpg",38674,{"medium":1965,"thumbnail":1969,"smallPreview":1972},{"file":1966,"width":33,"height":1967,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1968},"Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024-300x185.jpg",185,10181,{"file":1970,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1971},"Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024-150x150.jpg",5188,{"file":1973,"width":67,"height":1974,"mimeType":23,"filesize":1975},"Jhpiego-Blog-Self-Care-9-17-2024-375x232.jpg",232,13998,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":1977},[],{"primaryColor":1979,"blurhash":1980},"#c2bcbe","UCJ[3U4m01I@?Is+00ITYQ-p8wWr_NkXS4s:",{"id":1982,"guid":1983,"title":1984,"content":1985,"excerpt":1986,"excerptRaw":1986,"slug":1987,"url":1988,"uri":1989,"to":1989,"status":325,"date":1990,"modified":1991,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":1992},3461,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3461","Changing attitudes in Nigeria about what it means to be a husband, a father","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"554\" height=\"339\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3463\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01.jpg 554w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01-300x184.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01-375x229.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 554px) 100vw, 554px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Adamu and his wife Lami hold hands in a loving display of affection. Gestures such as this, along with a willingness to listen to his wife’s concerns or participate in household chores, signal a shift in attitude by the 43-year-old farmer. A recognition that wielding power like a hammer over his wife and children undermines the family he has pledged to support.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Adamu’s newfound understanding is the result of his participation in SASA! Together, a community mobilization intervention that seeks to address the drivers of gender-based violence against women and girls.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"564\" height=\"373\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3464\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-02.jpg 564w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-02-300x198.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-02-375x248.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 564px) 100vw, 564px\" />\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u003Cem>“My husband has demonstrated genuine concern for both my well-being and the health of our three children,” says Lami.\u003C/em>\u003Cbr>\u003Cem>Photo Credit: Farouk Bello, RUWOID\u003C/em>\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The Jhpiego-led MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership, which is funded by the U.S. Government, supported local partner, Rural Women and Youth Development (RUWOYD), to introduce the program in nine communities across Nigeria’s Ebonyi and Sokoto states. Once a month, Adamu and his wife joined other couples in an intense discussion session where topics such as equality, violence, and financial empowerment were addressed.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The couple is among 39,247 community members reached through MOMENTUM’s efforts to prevent gender-based violence in these states. \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>In rural Nigeria, one farmer’s journey from control to compassion is transforming his marriage and family life. See how a community program is reshaping ideas of equality, respect, and partnership among thousands of couples.\u003C/p>\n","changing-attitudes-in-nigeria-about-what-it-means-to-be-a-husband-a-father","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/changing-attitudes-in-nigeria-about-what-it-means-to-be-a-husband-a-father/","/our-stories/p/changing-attitudes-in-nigeria-about-what-it-means-to-be-a-husband-a-father/","2024-08-21T00:23:00","2025-08-08T00:29:22",{"id":1993,"src":1994,"width":1995,"height":1996,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":1997,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":1998,"srcset":1999,"sizes":2000,"meta":2001,"acf":2018},3463,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01.jpg",554,339,"Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01","\u003Cimg width=\"554\" height=\"339\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01.jpg 554w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01-300x184.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01-375x229.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 554px) 100vw, 554px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01.jpg 554w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01-300x184.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01-375x229.jpg 375w","(max-width: 554px) 100vw, 554px",{"width":1995,"height":1996,"file":2002,"filesize":2003,"sizes":2004,"imageMeta":2016},"2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01.jpg",56269,{"medium":2005,"thumbnail":2009,"smallPreview":2012},{"file":2006,"width":33,"height":2007,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2008},"Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01-300x184.jpg",184,13937,{"file":2010,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2011},"Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01-150x150.jpg",6659,{"file":2013,"width":67,"height":2014,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2015},"Jhpiego-Blog-Innovations-08-21-2024-01-375x229.jpg",229,20074,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":2017},[],{"primaryColor":2019,"blurhash":2020},"#451e22","UBG?#j_l1I389W7KkE+b9sOs#ksr=MRmo{I.",{"id":2022,"guid":2023,"title":2024,"content":2025,"excerpt":2026,"excerptRaw":2026,"slug":2027,"url":2028,"uri":2029,"to":2029,"status":325,"date":2030,"modified":2031,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":2032},3472,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3472","Biobanks: A Crucial Component to Improve Global Health Security","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"580\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-1024x580.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4140\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-1024x580.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-300x170.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-768x435.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-954x540.jpg 954w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-375x212.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-960x544.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-1280x725.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch.jpg 1471w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The biobank. It’s an essential concept for our global health security systems and preventing the next disease outbreak. Unfortunately, it’s overlooked in most health care systems as disease response has become the primary focus over the past few years.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A repository or collection of biological samples, a biobank aims to preserve biological resources—from humans, plants, animals and other aspects of nature—in optimal condition so they are available to the scientific community for the advancement of research and knowledge worldwide. This helps facilitate the development of innovative medicines, vaccines and diagnostic tests, which strengthens epidemiological surveillance and advances genomic research, such as discovering treatments for different types of cancer.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Samples donated by clients with breast cancer, for example, have been used to identify therapeutic targets and help predict which groups of people would (or would not) benefit from a particular treatment, thus providing critical information for the development of a treatment strategy. These client samples are an indispensable resource for cancer research and an unparalleled asset for the development of more effective personalized treatments for many diseases.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Biological specimens have been collected in biobanks for decades, but it was only in the 1990s that biobanks were established more systematically, predominantly in high-income countries. Today, despite being the second most populous continent with incredible biodiversity, Africa contributes very little to the advancement of research for treatment solutions. Biological data banks would help make scientific research more inclusive and wider reaching. The \u003Ca href=\"https://bbsa.org.za/\">Biodiversity Biobanks South Africa\u003C/a> project, for example, has more than half a million items in various biobanks across the country, but it is \u003Ca href=\"https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)31614-9/fulltext\">one of only a few country-based biobanks\u003C/a> on the continent, all of which contribute only \u003Ca href=\"https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.esmo.org%2Foncology-news%2Fthe-establishment-of-pan-africa-s-first-biobank&data=05%7C02%7CKatherine.Seaton%40jhpiego.org%7Cb4f086b3f8ff48ffc97908dc76958083%7C26ef7fd22a7f4135a2e4de9acf168b2a%7C0%7C0%7C638515631968696047%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=othCbg4eQhmhCuxMySSPszDhj3%2F66uXw6zfZi9b2B8g%3D&reserved=0\">2% of the data used in genome-wide studies\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In Burkina Faso, local capacity for the conservation of biological samples has been weak. It has been hard for the country to conserve biological resources at both the technical and biosecurity levels in the regions because of inadequate conditions. Burkina Faso is left to export large quantities of these samples to high-income countries with biobanks that have more diagnostic tools and meet international technical standards.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But that is about to change.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When COVID-19 spread around the world, it highlighted the importance of the biobank as a tool to prevent future public health emergencies. In February 2022, Burkina Faso initiated the creation of a national biobank using their virtual electronic pathogen registry, a database of biological resources stored in the country’s nine national reference laboratories (tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, meningitis, HIV, human papillomavirus, hemorrhagic fever, measles, rotavirus and influenza). But setting up the physical biobank has not been easy. Jhpiego has been supporting Burkina Faso’s National Lab service since 2018 through a project funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This includes training staff, conducting assessments, drafting procedures, monitoring virtual data and purchasing and installing equipment according to standards. In June 2024, Burkina Faso inaugurated a physical biobank structure on a temporary site, with plans to move it to a permanent location once funds are secured.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Successfully setting up a central biobank requires overcoming financial, infrastructural, organizational and documentation difficulties. One of the first requirements is for all academic institutions, research institutes and reference laboratories in the country to establish a centralized inventory system for samples of interest. If resources are limited, electronic pathogen registries, with a focus on supervision and the development of a virtual biobank interface, can replace a physical biobank until a permanent, physical one can be completed.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Biobanks play a crucial role in the development of many health care approaches and treatments. They inform ways to reduce behaviors that put one’s health at risk, ensure universal access to medical coverage and health services, support research and development of vaccines and medicines and improve management of health risks. This underscores the importance of biobanks to global health systems and their lifesaving potential. Their time in Africa is now.\u003Cbr>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Burkina Faso is building its first national biobank, a vital step toward strengthening global health security, advancing research, and ensuring Africa’s biodiversity contributes to lifesaving medical breakthroughs.\u003C/p>\n","biobanks-global-health-security","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/biobanks-global-health-security/","/our-stories/p/biobanks-global-health-security/","2024-06-12T00:48:00","2025-08-14T18:34:22",{"id":2033,"src":2034,"width":2035,"height":2036,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":2037,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":2038,"srcset":2039,"sizes":2040,"meta":2041,"acf":2081},4140,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch.jpg",1471,833,"Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch","\u003Cimg width=\"1471\" height=\"833\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch.jpg 1471w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-300x170.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-1024x580.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-768x435.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-954x540.jpg 954w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-375x212.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-960x544.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-1280x725.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1471px) 100vw, 1471px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch.jpg 1471w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-300x170.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-1024x580.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-768x435.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-954x540.jpg 954w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-375x212.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-960x544.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-1280x725.jpg 1280w","(max-width: 1471px) 100vw, 1471px",{"width":2035,"height":2036,"file":2042,"filesize":2043,"sizes":2044,"imageMeta":2079},"2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch.jpg",291456,{"medium":2045,"large":2049,"thumbnail":2053,"mediumLarge":2056,"postThumbnail":2060,"socialPreview":2064,"smallPreview":2067,"mediumPreview":2071,"largePreview":2075},{"file":2046,"width":33,"height":2047,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2048},"Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-300x170.jpg",170,13583,{"file":2050,"width":38,"height":2051,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2052},"Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-1024x580.jpg",580,126336,{"file":2054,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2055},"Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-150x150.jpg",6272,{"file":2057,"width":47,"height":2058,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2059},"Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-768x435.jpg",435,75451,{"file":2061,"width":2062,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2063},"Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-954x540.jpg",954,111903,{"file":2065,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2066},"Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-1200x630.jpg",155921,{"file":2068,"width":67,"height":2069,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2070},"Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-375x212.jpg",212,20197,{"file":2072,"width":72,"height":2073,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2074},"Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-960x544.jpg",544,112368,{"file":2076,"width":77,"height":2077,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2078},"Jhpiego-Blog-Burkina-Central-Reference-Laboratory-plus-Biobank_Sketch-1280x725.jpg",725,186939,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":2080},[],{"primaryColor":2082,"blurhash":2083},"#a6937a","UtJkTDawRjof.AskRjWXOaM_V?kCV@RPaes:",{"id":2085,"guid":2086,"title":2087,"content":2088,"excerpt":2089,"excerptRaw":2089,"slug":2090,"url":2091,"uri":2092,"to":2092,"status":325,"date":2093,"modified":2094,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":2095},3474,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3474","A Leader in Lifesaving Newborn Care","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3475\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>I first learned about Dr. Abhay Bang a dozen years ago, when I moved to Uttar Pradesh, India, to work on rural newborn health programs. I had just finished training in pediatrics in a tertiary academic hospital in Washington, D.C., so I had a lot to learn about rural newborn health in developing countries. \u003Ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/7211276\">Dr. Bang’s seminal papers were my compass\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Prior to Dr. Bang’s research, which he started in the 1990s, global health specialists didn’t give much thought to small and sick newborns born in rural villages—the prevailing assumption was they needed high-cost intensive care units to survive. Instead, they focused on lower-hanging fruit like vaccinations. Dr. Bang challenged this assumption. He showed that with home-based newborn care—providing support for breastfeeding, thermal care, infection detection and appropriate treatment with antibiotics—you could indeed save newborn lives. A lot of them. He lived the experience of the community, the women and families, he chose to serve.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3476\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-02.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u003Cem>Dr. Abhay Bang’s work with indigenous people in Maharashtra influenced the care of newborns in the community and saved lives.\u003C/em>\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A problem solver\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When my family planned a trip to India this year for a family reunion, I decided it was time to meet the man who changed the way the world thinks about dying newborns. The 13-hour drive from my parent’s hometown in Pune, India, on the west side of Maharashtra State, to Dr. Bang’s home in Gadchiroli, on the east side, might deter the most steadfast. But I knew in my heart that I would be missing out on an important experience and professional lesson if I didn’t go.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Dr. Abhay Bang grew up in the late Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram. His father was an economics professor and part of Gandhi’s “Quit India Movement,” which called for an end to British rule. His mother was the principal at the school Dr. Bang attended, where students primarily learned through doing and living, rather than traditional classroom methods.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>After his training, Dr. Bang forwent invitations from big institutions in Delhi. He chose instead to move to rural Gadchiroli, to immerse himself in the problems he was trying to solve and to “go to the villages of India,” as Gandhi had once instructed his followers, including Dr. Bang’s father.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"580\" height=\"770\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-03.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3477\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-03.jpg 580w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-03-226x300.jpg 226w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-03-407x540.jpg 407w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-03-375x498.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" />\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u003Cem>Dr. Bina Valsangkar with Dr. Abhay Bang: a once in a lifetime visit.\u003C/em>\u003C/figcaption>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Home-based newborn care\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>With a rich culture and tradition quite different from the rest of India, indigenous populations have historically been marginalized and denied basic rights. Even when a government hospital might be within reach, indigenous villagers tend not to go. Having lived in the community, Dr. Bang understood why.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>He built a hospital where doctors did not wear white coats (the villagers wrap their dead in white). He built a temple at the entrance (they believe god is the primary healer, not doctors). He built the hospital as a series of thatched-roof huts that resembled a hamlet (to accommodate multi-generational family members, who typically care for the sick). And because the cultural practice of confinement prevented women who had recently given birth from seeking care, Dr. Bang brought the care to them via home-based newborn care. Dr. Bang and others conducted studies to determine if low birth weight and preterm babies could be cared for at home by their mother and a trained village health worker. The result was a \u003Ca href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211276\">62% drop in the newborn mortality rate\u003C/a> in intervention villages, compared to control villages.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ground-breaking work relevant today\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp> As newborn mortality rates declined worldwide, thanks in part to Dr. Bang’s ground-breaking work, global health specialists’ attention turned to health centers and hospitals to achieve further mortality reductions for newborns. It might be tempting to think Dr. Bang’s community approaches were no longer relevant, but I discovered during my visit that this is far from the truth.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The British finally left India in 1947, leaving behind a colonial health system that had all but extirpated India’s indigenous populations’ methods of health and healing. India has recently made great strides in the provision of health services in rural areas. But the study of medicine and public health in India remains rooted in principles and standards of the Global North, creating practitioners and systems that are ill-prepared to address the health of indigenous populations, which comprise nearly 9% of India’s population and have some of the poorest health outcomes in the country.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When I went to Gadchiroli, I was excited to meet the grandfather of newborn health. But as our conversation progressed, I realized what made Gadchiroli and Dr. Bang special wasn’t necessarily what he did for newborns. It was his general approach to health and health care in vulnerable, indigenous communities—mothers and babies included. Dr. Bang showed us what potential can be unlocked with deep understanding and respect for the ethnography, psychology and history of vulnerable populations. He has since successfully applied his inclusive methods to other areas of health, including orthopedics, reproductive health and non-communicable diseases.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>During my visit, it became clear that the magic of Gadchiroli has been the call to “go to the villages”—in whatever form that may take. It is a call that has saved countless newborn lives and helped many of India’s most vulnerable live with better health and dignity.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Dr. Bina Valsangkar is Jhpiego’s Principal Technical Advisor Maternal Newborn Health.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Dr. Abhay Bang transformed newborn survival in rural India by bringing culturally respectful, home-based care to marginalized communities. His approach continues to save lives and shape community-centered health solutions today.\u003C/p>\n","a-leader-in-lifesaving-newborn-care","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/a-leader-in-lifesaving-newborn-care/","/our-stories/p/a-leader-in-lifesaving-newborn-care/","2024-06-10T00:53:00","2025-08-08T20:20:51",{"id":2096,"src":2097,"width":18,"height":279,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":2098,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":2099,"srcset":2100,"sizes":26,"meta":2101,"acf":2142},3475,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024.jpg","Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024","\u003Cimg width=\"2048\" height=\"1366\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024.jpg 2048w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1920x1281.jpg 1920w",{"width":18,"height":279,"file":2102,"filesize":2103,"sizes":2104,"imageMeta":2139},"2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024.jpg",827992,{"medium":2105,"large":2108,"thumbnail":2111,"mediumLarge":2114,"1536x1536":2117,"postThumbnail":2120,"socialPreview":2123,"smallPreview":2126,"mediumPreview":2129,"largePreview":2132,"fullscreenSmall":2135},{"file":2106,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2107},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-300x200.jpg",17536,{"file":2109,"width":38,"height":265,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2110},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1024x683.jpg",155664,{"file":2112,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2113},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-150x150.jpg",7685,{"file":2115,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2116},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-768x512.jpg",94046,{"file":2118,"width":52,"height":53,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2119},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1536x1025.jpg",318641,{"file":2121,"width":283,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2122},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-810x540.jpg",104521,{"file":2124,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2125},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1200x630.jpg",171663,{"file":2127,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2128},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-375x250.jpg",26345,{"file":2130,"width":72,"height":293,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2131},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-960x640.jpg",139937,{"file":2133,"width":77,"height":78,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2134},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1280x854.jpg",232478,{"file":2136,"width":82,"height":2137,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2138},"Jhpiego-Blog-India-06-10-2024-1920x1281.jpg",1281,470360,{"aperture":86,"credit":87,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":2140,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":2141},"© 2023 Karen Kasmauski",[],{"primaryColor":2143,"blurhash":2144},"#645b60","U8B{}+9w~80M${D*t8WB4.%fo%xt4oM^M_xv",{"id":2146,"guid":2147,"title":2148,"content":2149,"excerpt":2150,"excerptRaw":2150,"slug":2151,"url":2152,"uri":2153,"to":2153,"status":325,"date":2154,"modified":2155,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":2156},3482,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3482","Group ANC—It’s Better Together  ","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3483\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024.jpg 2047w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Let’s ensure every mother has access to the care during pregnancy that she wants and deserves, through Group ANC.\u003C/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>There are 100 million births a year in low- and middle-income countries. That means that every day, there are millions of pregnant women who need care to have a healthy pregnancy. When asked about what kind of care they want during pregnancy, women are clear. They want to survive childbirth and have a healthy baby who also survives. For women in many of the places we work, survival is not a guarantee. They also want personalized, supportive and respectful care from kind and caring health care providers, and opportunities to bond with other pregnant women for support.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>One of the simplest but most remarkable ways we’ve found to fulfill pregnant women’s needs is providing care in groups—we call it \u003Ca href=\"https://www.ganccollaborative.com/mission-2\">Group Antenatal Care (G-ANC).\u003C/a> It’s women-centered care, provided in a group with pregnant women at the same stage of pregnancy. What’s even more remarkable is that many women and providers, from conflict-affected Afghanistan to populous villages across Nigeria and the highlands of Guatemala, all love G-ANC. They love learning together, forming friendships, taking better care of themselves, and helping each other have a healthy pregnancy. The results are women come back for more care, they learn more, and have a positive pregnancy experience. Providers also enjoy G-ANC. They get to know their patients and have the time to discuss important topics and answer questions.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Since 2021, we have been working with local governments in Nigeria and Kenya to expand G-ANC into hundreds of health facilities. But the pace is not fast enough. We need exponential expansion. So we started asking, “\u003Cem>If G-ANC is better care, why isn’t it available to all pregnant women? How can we accelerate scale-up?\u003C/em> \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In February 2024, we were thrilled to organize the first-ever Global Group ANC “Catalyzer” event in Nairobi, Kenya to try and answer these questions. We gathered with 125 researchers, government officials, public health professionals, and women’s health champions from 24 countries and spent three days together to prioritize ways to collaborate and accelerate change.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>There was ample evidence and great enthusiasm for G-ANC, but it was surprising how many countries have not been able to make G-ANC widely available. Expansion has been limited by the lack of national policies, political commitment, and funding. At the Catalyzer, small groups worked to plan how best to accelerate scale-up, based on their experiences. Here are the priority actions that are needed: \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Updating global policy\u003C/strong> so the World Health Organization includes G-ANC as a recommendation and governments adopt it into national policies;  \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Prioritizing research\u003C/strong> to fill evidence gaps to learn more about how G-ANC meets adolescents’ needs or works in the private sector;\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Increasing awareness\u003C/strong> and generating interest in G-ANC by disseminating the evidence and implementation resources on G-ANC in all low- and middle-income countries at the national and sub-national levels;  \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Advocating\u003C/strong> for governments and donors to secure the political commitment and resources for G-ANC implementation at scale;   \u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Strengthening coordination and collaboration\u003C/strong> at the global and national levels to jointly plan for scale-up and share learning;\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Extending group care beyond birth for mothers and babies\u003C/strong>, which holds great potential to improve maternal, newborn and child health in the first two years of life, but requires more research and learning in low- and middle-income countries.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This month as the United States celebrates Mother’s Day, we continue to work with global partners, local champions and stakeholders to make G-ANC available to all pregnant women.  Let’s work together so every mother can have the pregnancy experience she wants and deserves, through G-ANC. \u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>Group Antenatal Care is transforming pregnancy by providing women-centered, supportive care in a group setting, improving health outcomes, building connections, and creating positive experiences for mothers and providers alike.\u003C/p>\n","group-anc-its-better-together","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/group-anc-its-better-together/","/our-stories/p/group-anc-its-better-together/","2024-05-11T01:03:00","2025-08-08T20:20:57",{"id":2157,"src":2158,"width":1291,"height":905,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":2159,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":2160,"srcset":2161,"sizes":1295,"meta":2162,"acf":2201},3483,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024.jpg","Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024","\u003Cimg width=\"2047\" height=\"1365\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024.jpg 2047w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-300x200.jpg 300w, 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1920w",{"width":1291,"height":905,"file":2163,"filesize":2164,"sizes":2165,"imageMeta":2199},"2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024.jpg",764384,{"medium":2166,"large":2169,"thumbnail":2172,"mediumLarge":2175,"1536x1536":2178,"postThumbnail":2181,"socialPreview":2184,"smallPreview":2187,"mediumPreview":2190,"largePreview":2193,"fullscreenSmall":2196},{"file":2167,"width":33,"height":34,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2168},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-300x200.jpg",26650,{"file":2170,"width":38,"height":265,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2171},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-1024x683.jpg",177277,{"file":2173,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2174},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-150x150.jpg",13480,{"file":2176,"width":47,"height":272,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2177},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-768x512.jpg",112106,{"file":2179,"width":52,"height":38,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2180},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-1536x1024.jpg",330474,{"file":2182,"width":283,"height":58,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2183},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-810x540.jpg",122953,{"file":2185,"width":62,"height":63,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2186},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-1200x630.jpg",184780,{"file":2188,"width":67,"height":68,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2189},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-375x250.jpg",37339,{"file":2191,"width":72,"height":293,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2192},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-960x640.jpg",159236,{"file":2194,"width":77,"height":78,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2195},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-1280x854.jpg",249962,{"file":2197,"width":82,"height":77,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2198},"Jhpiego-Blog-GANC-05-11-2024-1920x1280.jpg",466826,{"aperture":86,"credit":1405,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":2200},[],{"primaryColor":2202,"blurhash":2203},"#b0a798","UZH_oV-i%KNe_4s.WAWFtmWBV@a$?cadadWF",{"id":2205,"guid":2206,"title":2207,"content":2208,"excerpt":2209,"excerptRaw":2209,"slug":2210,"url":2211,"uri":2212,"to":2212,"status":325,"date":2213,"modified":2214,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":2215},3492,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3492","Jhpiego at the World Hepatitis Summit","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"648\" height=\"494\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3493\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024.jpg 648w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024-300x229.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024-375x286.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 648px) 100vw, 648px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Viral hepatitis remains a major public health challenge. According to the WHO, over 300 million people are living with hepatitis B and C globally, and over 1.3 million die each year from the complications of the disease. Despite the availability of tools and solutions to efficiently tackle viral hepatitis, most countries are far from reaching the 2030 goals to eliminate the virus-caused disease due to programmatic, policy and access barriers.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To stimulate discussions and actions from global stakeholders, share evidence and experiences, and disseminate best practices in the fight against viral hepatitis, the World Hepatitis Alliance, the World Health Organization, and the Government of Portugal hosted a Summit in April 2024 in Lisbon. Over 600 delegates from 95 countries joined in person and virtually, including Jhpiego representatives who shared their work and learnings on efforts to strengthen health services to address Hepatitis C in Nigeria.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Nigeria is one of 10 countries that bears the biggest burden of hepatitis B and C. \u003Ca href=\"https://www.afro.who.int/countries/nigeria/news/nigeria-boosting-viral-hepatitis-awareness-and-treatment-0#:~:text=More%20than%2090%20million%20people,%2C%202018%20(NAIIS%202018).\">Over 20 million people live with hepatitis B, C, or both\u003C/a> in the country but more than 80% of them do not know their status. Research conducted by the Unitaid-funded STAR Phase 3 initiative and presented by Chidinma Umebido, a senior Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning advisor for Jhpiego Nigeria, found that advocacy and awareness, implementation of simplified service delivery models, peer support and stigma reduction, and tailored health services are key components to improving hepatitis B and C health care in the country.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To strengthen these components and integrate hepatitis B and C screening into existing programs, collaboration with federal and state Ministries of Health and local communities is crucial (such as HIV, key populations and maternal and newborn health) as is expanding access to testing and treatment, specifically Hepatitis C self-testing. The study found that decentralizing Hepatitis C services to primary and secondary levels of care and community-based one-stop-shops for key populations and capacity building for general practitioners led to significant increase in Hepatitis C testing and linkage to Hepatitis C diagnosis and lifesaving treatment.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Dr. Adetiloye Oniyire is Jhpiego’s Country Director for Nigeria.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>At the World Hepatitis Summit, Jhpiego shared how simplifying services, expanding testing, and reducing stigma are transforming Hepatitis C care in Nigeria, one of the countries hardest hit by the disease.\u003C/p>\n","jhpiego-at-the-world-hepatitis-summit","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/jhpiego-at-the-world-hepatitis-summit/","/our-stories/p/jhpiego-at-the-world-hepatitis-summit/","2024-04-23T01:19:00","2025-08-08T01:22:35",{"id":2216,"src":2217,"width":2218,"height":2219,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":2220,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":2221,"srcset":2222,"sizes":2223,"meta":2224,"acf":2240},3493,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024.jpg",648,494,"Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024","\u003Cimg width=\"648\" height=\"494\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024.jpg 648w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024-300x229.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024-375x286.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 648px) 100vw, 648px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024.jpg 648w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024-300x229.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024-375x286.jpg 375w","(max-width: 648px) 100vw, 648px",{"width":2218,"height":2219,"file":2225,"filesize":2226,"sizes":2227,"imageMeta":2238},"2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024.jpg",63737,{"medium":2228,"thumbnail":2231,"smallPreview":2234},{"file":2229,"width":33,"height":2014,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2230},"Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024-300x229.jpg",17224,{"file":2232,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2233},"Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024-150x150.jpg",6930,{"file":2235,"width":67,"height":2236,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2237},"Jhpiego-Blog-World-Hepatitis-Summit-2024-04-23-2024-375x286.jpg",286,25123,{"aperture":86,"credit":20,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":20,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":2239},[],{"primaryColor":2241,"blurhash":2242},"#3b2e43","UCDk[a^0:j~CLMWTWSo#+wj]-VsAIotRXmIo",{"id":2244,"guid":2245,"title":2246,"content":2247,"excerpt":2248,"excerptRaw":2248,"slug":2249,"url":2250,"uri":2251,"to":2251,"status":325,"date":2252,"modified":2253,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":2254},3485,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3485","The Role of Gender in Health Providers’ Advancement—Why It Matters, and What We Can Do about It","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"799\" height=\"534\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3486\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024.jpg 799w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-300x201.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-768x513.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-375x251.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Public health leaders have slowly begun to understand the role of gender in the use of health services, including services for malaria prevention and treatment. Unequal power dynamics within couples and women’s lack of control of financial resources and increased household responsibilities all impact their ability to seek services for themselves and their children.  \u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This we know. But what we are still learning is how gender impacts providers–not just the quality of care they provide, but their own ability to advance professionally. A recent secondary analysis of malaria provider training data conducted by Jhpiego as part of the PMI Impact Malaria project sought to answer this question. We looked at over 23,000 data points across 11 countries to understand \u003Cem>what \u003C/em>was happening and validated our results with PMI Impact Malaria country teams to understand \u003Cem>why \u003C/em>we saw the results that we did.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>First, we found that for most training topics for most countries, training participants were more likely to be men. Sometimes this reflects the actual gender breakdown of providers in the cadres targeted for trainings. For example, in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, and Cameroon, malaria case management trainings targeted doctors and pharmacists, who are more likely to be men, as they were encouraged to go into sciences while women were encouraged to go into caring fields like nursing and midwifery. The biggest disparity was in lab diagnostics, with up to 95% of participants being men. This was not only due to social expectations sending men into sciences and women into caring fields, but also due to the demands of the job. The team in Mali noted that once a lab technician received her degree, she could be sent anywhere in the country, and many women felt unable to make this move when their husbands already had jobs in their hometowns.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Even in cases where the cadre was mostly women, training participants were mostly men. In Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire, teams noted that while nurses—the cadre targeted for malaria in pregnancy trainings—were mostly women, the managers, who selected the training participants, were mostly men, and they were more likely to select other men to participate in the trainings.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Women’s lack of participation in trainings also impacts their performance when they are able to participate. We found that women perform better when trainings have equal numbers of women and men, or more women; country teams suggested that this was because it helped women feel more comfortable in the training environment so they could more easily participate and ask questions.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Teams also noted that women made fewer gains and performed worse overall during training due to household and childcare responsibilities (such as bringing infants to trainings or leaving early to complete household tasks); having less experience in the field than male counterparts—which caused challenges due to knowledge gaps and as well as power differentials between senior men and junior women in the same room; and having only male instructors who are not aware of these gendered challenges.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Why does this matter? When woman are not selected for professional development opportunities, or are seen to be less likely to succeed in these opportunities when they are chosen, they lose out on the chance to gain new skills and make new professional connections, which impacts their ability to advance in their field. This not only impacts their income levels, but makes it harder for them to become the decision-makers who can then choose to support other women’s advancement.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>So what can we do about it? When our team in Mali became aware of the gender imbalance among participants, they began to encourage managers to make a more balanced selection, and female training participation increased by almost 40%. When our team in Ghana found midwives were having a hard time attending full day trainings because they had to leave early to be home when their children arrived from school, they changed their training plan to multiple half day trainings. When they found that many women providers traveled to attend trainings with infants and nannies, the team ensured that their catering plan and budget included food for these extra attendees and provided regular breaks to allow participants to breastfeed. These seemingly minor adaptations resulted in increased participation of female providers and greater opportunities for professional advancement.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Elizabeth Arlotti-Parish is a Principle Technical Advisor for Gender in Jhpiego’s Baltimore office.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Dr. Gladys Tetteh, Jhpiego’s Senior Technical Director for Malaria, provided technical review of this article.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"/>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5 Actions to Support Women Health Workers’ Advancement\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Revise job descriptions to remove barriers to women’s recruitment in cadres targeted for trainings\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Orient decision-makers on participation disparities, to encourage gender equitable selection of training participants\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Modify training schedules to meet women health workers’ time and responsibility constraints;\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Budget for child care, meal and lodging for child care workers, and time and space for breastfeeding breaks at trainings\u003C/li>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Hire more female instructors and orient all instructors on barriers faced by participants of different genders\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n","\u003Cp>Gender disparities don’t just affect patients; they also shape health providers’ opportunities to learn, grow, and lead. See how Jhpiego teams are tackling barriers to women’s professional advancement with practical, inclusive solutions that open doors for the next generation of health leaders.\u003C/p>\n","the-role-of-gender-in-health-providers-advancement-why-it-matters-and-what-we-can-do-about-it","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/the-role-of-gender-in-health-providers-advancement-why-it-matters-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/","/our-stories/p/the-role-of-gender-in-health-providers-advancement-why-it-matters-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/","2024-04-23T01:11:00","2025-08-08T01:18:16",{"id":2255,"src":2256,"width":1210,"height":2257,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":2258,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":2259,"srcset":2260,"sizes":1215,"meta":2261,"acf":2281},3486,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024.jpg",534,"Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024","\u003Cimg width=\"799\" height=\"534\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024.jpg 799w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-300x201.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-768x513.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-375x251.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" />","https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024.jpg 799w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-300x201.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-768x513.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-375x251.jpg 375w",{"width":1210,"height":2257,"file":2262,"filesize":2263,"sizes":2264,"imageMeta":2279},"2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024.jpg",143939,{"medium":2265,"thumbnail":2269,"mediumLarge":2272,"smallPreview":2275},{"file":2266,"width":33,"height":2267,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2268},"Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-300x201.jpg",201,19043,{"file":2270,"width":43,"height":43,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2271},"Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-150x150.jpg",8834,{"file":2273,"width":47,"height":48,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2274},"Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-768x513.jpg",87951,{"file":2276,"width":67,"height":2277,"mimeType":23,"filesize":2278},"Jhpiego-Blog-04-23-2024-375x251.jpg",251,27037,{"aperture":86,"credit":87,"camera":20,"caption":20,"createdTimestamp":86,"copyright":90,"focalLength":86,"iso":86,"shutterSpeed":86,"title":20,"orientation":86,"keywords":2280},[],{"primaryColor":2282,"blurhash":2283},"#aca6a0","UVGug#xtRjRR_NaKWBo#tlRij[RlxaRiWBRR",{"id":2285,"guid":2286,"title":2287,"content":2288,"excerpt":2289,"excerptRaw":2289,"slug":2290,"url":2291,"uri":2292,"to":2292,"status":325,"date":2293,"modified":2294,"type":328,"authorId":544,"featuredMedia":2295},3495,"https://jhpiego.netlify.app/?p=3495","Necessity Is the Mother of Invention in Kilifi County, Kenya","\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3496\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024-300x200.jpg 300w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024-810x540.jpg 810w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024-375x250.jpg 375w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024-960x640.jpg 960w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Every year, 14 million women experience postpartum hemorrhage, with one dying every six minutes, says the World Health Organization. For three years, Jhpiego staff participated in an international study that evaluated a new approach, called E-MOTIVE, to identify when a woman is losing too much blood following delivery and take action.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The approach uses a bundle of interventions to stop the bleeding, including a plastic drape that collects blood into a volume-marked pouch, so health workers can see how much blood a client has lost. However, these drapes aren’t easily available.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>That didn’t stop a group of nurses and midwives at the Malindi Sub-County Hospital – \u003Ca href=\"https://bhekisisa.org/article/2024-02-08-a-plastic-sheet-can-save-70-000-lives-a-year-heres-how/\">they invented their own version of the drape\u003C/a>, says Isabella Ochieng, a nurse midwife and maternal and newborn technical advisor for Jhpiego who has supported the health providers there.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Learn how these entrepreneurial health providers fashioned a solution to a real problem and help save lives: \u003Ca href=\"https://bhekisisa.org/article/2024-02-08-a-plastic-sheet-can-save-70-000-lives-a-year-heres-how/\">https://bhekisisa.org/article/2024-02-08-pc-e-c-v-70-000-v—-/\u003C/a>\u003C/p>\n","\u003Cp>In Kenya’s Kilifi County, innovative nurses and midwives created their own blood-collection drape to quickly detect dangerous bleeding after childbirth, proving that lifesaving solutions can start with local ingenuity.\u003C/p>\n","necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention-in-kilifi-county-kenya","https://jhpiego.org/our-stories/p/necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention-in-kilifi-county-kenya/","/our-stories/p/necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention-in-kilifi-county-kenya/","2024-03-04T01:27:00","2025-08-08T20:21:04",{"id":2296,"src":2297,"width":18,"height":905,"alt":20,"caption":20,"title":2298,"description":20,"mimeType":23,"html":2299,"srcset":2300,"sizes":26,"meta":2301,"acf":2341},3496,"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024.jpg","Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024","\u003Cimg width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" src=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://api.jhpiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jhpiego-Blog-MNH-03-04-2024.jpg 2048w, 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