The info hub for the hub of global health
Triple threat
Remember the last good idea you hatched around a real conference table? Back in that day, WGHA members Malaria Partners International, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and World Vision connected in WGHA’s conference room to find the next meaningful investment in the fight against malaria. Now, that idea is becoming reality with the launch of Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia, a program that will train 2,500 community health workers to test, treat, and educate over one million Zambians about malaria. That’s an investment we’ll bet on.
The power of community
Neonatal deaths account for over 60% of the total infant deaths in Uganda. Adara Development is working to change those stats through direct maternal, newborn, and child health services. Their secret sauce? The Hospital to Home program, which provides follow-up at-home care for families with high-risk newborns led by a network of community health workers. It’s true what they say: “it takes a village.”
Trusted messengers
Meet Vicky Navarro and Thyda Ros—community navigators partnering with Public Health – Seattle King County to help build trust, educate, and empower communities hit hardest by COVID-19. They’ve been so effective bridging the gaps between BIPOC communities and civic leaders that the county is already exploring how to continue the program post-pandemic.
Game changer for NCDs
Almost three-quarters (71%) of all deaths are due to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), leading the World Health Organization to launch an NCD Lab in hopes of closing in on Sustainable Development Goals Target 3.4—reducing premature mortality of people between 30 and 70 years of age from NCDs by 2030. The lab will focus on innovative solutions in three categories: NCDs and the next generation, involvement of people living with NCDs, and women and girls (it’s only fitting PATH’s Helen McGuire was tapped to join this steering committee).
Speaking of innovation
RTI International is doing its own call for innovative solutions with Forethought, a $5M research collaboration challenge hosted by RTI and its neighboring universities in North Carolina. The goal is to crowdsource research projects that combine science and technology to solve the world’s most critical problems. Are you up for the challenge?
Cyber sight
Last year, SightLife partnered with Orbis International—an organization that builds quality eye health capacity in-country—to bring innovative new corneal care trainings and workshops to the virtual world using the Orbis CyberSight Platform. Since then, the power couple has trained more than 3,600 corneal care professionals from over 120 countries and announced they’re expanding their insightful distance learning curriculum to include more eye care professionals around the world, from Argentina, to Nigeria, the Philippines, and beyond.
We’re hiring!
Do you love planning events and all the details that make them work? If so, we might have the job for you! WGHA is looking for a programs coordinator to help bring our 2021 events calendar to life. If this sounds like you or someone you know, apply to join our small but mighty team.
Zoomin’ around town
March 23–24: Celebrate World TB Day by joining UW for its 5th Annual TB Symposium.
March 24: Sign up to hear Partners in Health leaders discuss lessons learned while delivering vaccines during global crises, from cholera to COVID-19.
March 25: Join Malaria Partners International for a webinar on Community Health Workers and their role in preventing and treating malaria in Africa.
March 25: Save your seat for our STEM Global Public Engagement Training, hosted in partnership with Northwest Association for Biomedical Research.
March 26: Pack your bags for The Max Foundation’s Maximize Life Gala, a virtual journey around the world.
March 30–31: Register to join for Life Science Washington’s Life Science Innovation NW—a conference to explore some of the most compelling life science breakthroughs of our time.
April 5: Check out Cambia Grove’s roundtable discussion about launching, running, scaling, and exiting an interoperability business in health IT.
Anytime:
Meet the 10 women and BIPOC led organizations who stood out among the 500+ proposals submitted for Melinda Gates’ and MacKenzie Scott’s Equality Can’t Wait Challenge.
Add to your reading list: Bring Back Our Girls: The Untold Story of the Global Search for Nigeria’s Missing Schoolgirls. It’s been 7 years since the world called for the safe return of 276 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists. Now, two Wall Street Journal reporters recount the stories of 20 of the returned girls through in-depth interviews about their harrowing experience.
Revel in Washington’s renewed status, voted the best state (again!) by US News & World Report—the first state to top the list two years in a row.
“Flagging of bias and naming of power involves risk, particularly for people who are underrepresented. It is important for leadership to develop competency in hearing insights that are uncomfortable.”
—Dr. Paul Buckley, VP, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Fred Hutch, speaking at WGH Seattle’s Q1 Gathering