UNICEF has an interesting story about some of the work they’re doing in collaboration with Columbia University to aid nutrition surveillance with the assistance of RapidSMS. You can read the full story here.
David Banda is a health extension worker who—thanks to the project—now uses his mobile phone to record and transmit nutrition information on the 70 or more under-five children he monitors every month.
“I have no other means of sending the information,” he said. “We have no fax machine in this remote village.”
Before the RapidSMS system was introduced, Banda used to cycle 19 miles every month to deliver the completed surveillance questionnaires to the district health office, and he would receive no feedback. In his 20-year career, he never imagined the day would come when data transmission would be done at the click of a button.
When his health center was chosen to be part of the RapidSMS pilot, Banda and his fellow surveillance assistants were trained on-site for about three hours on how to register and send the information. A poster and sheet-card containing instructions was also provided for quick reference.
UNICEF has a fascinating report today looking at the life of a 15-year-old named John from Uganda. John is just one of many children confronting the dangers of migration in Uganda. UNICEF-supported transit centers aim to address the problem.
UNICEF recently issued their fourth stocktaking report examining the devastating impact that the AIDS epidemic has on children. The report, which focuses a lot on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, underscores the urgency in “establishing early infant diagnosis and preventing HIV transmission to babies.”
You can read the full report here, and watch UNICEF’s video report here:
Check out this post from our partner organization UNICEF.
Food security is a huge issue for UNICEF. But UNICEF is painfully aware that food security is not just about food—it’s also about nutrition. UNICEF’s recent report “Tracking Progress On Child and Maternal Nutrition,” highlights both progress and challenges in ensuring adequate nutrition for mothers and children.
Maternal and child undernutrition is the underlying cause of death in more than a third of children under the age of five. An estimated 200 million children under five also suffer from stunting. Stunted children are too short for their ages, reflecting nutritional deficiencies and illnesses that occur during the most critical growth and development periods in their lives. Once stunting occurs, it is very difficult to reverse—prevention is the only solution.
To prevent child undernutrition, we must focus on the first one thousand days in a child’s life—from conception to his or her second birthday. This is the most critical period for ensuring that children develop properly both physically and mentally. There are simple interventions that can make a big difference. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continued breastfeeding until the age of two has a big impact. Providing essential vitamins and minerals (in particular Vitamin A, iodine, iron, zinc, and folate), either through supplementation or food fortification, is a proven solution that costs just a few cents per child.
There are major successes that we can celebrate in addressing child undernutrition. UNICEF’s partnership with Kiwanis to make iodized salt available in even the poorest countries has protected millions of children from iodine deficiency disorders, which affect brain development. Coverage of life-saving Vitamin A supplements has increased to close to 90 per cent in the least developed countries. But there is still much to do. With your continued support and focus, we will make a difference. So keep up your fight for food and nutrition security for people everywhere.
-Mark Engman, Director, Public Policy and Advocacy, U.S. Fund for UNICEF
UNICEF USA’s Fieldnotes Blog has a great report from a rural health clinic in Zambia– specifically post-natal and prevention of mother-to-child treatment (PMTCT) care.
Rolina is HIV positive and is enrolled in the clinic’s PMTCT program. She and her husband Terrance married in 2002 and they have three children; Terrance is also HIV positive. Both Rolina and Terrance are doing everything in their power to ensure that little Brenda stays safe and healthy which is not the case for Brenda’s older sister Constance. Constance is 4 years old and HIV positive. Constance is on pediatric treatment which is keeping her strong. Their older brother Clayton does what he can at 7 years old to look after his two younger sisters.
Mother to child transmission (children from HIV positive mothers being infected during pregnancy or delivery) in Zambia is the second most important factor of transmission. PMTCT provides parents with hope but more importantly if the treatment is followed correctly it provides parents with a healthy child.
Terrance and Rolina are leaders in their community. They are open about their status in hopes of making a difference in other people lives. Terrance runs an HIV/AIDS couples support group in Keemba and sees 20-25 couples each week. Rolina adhering to the PMTCT program stopped breastfeeding Brenda at 6 months despite the statement this makes to the community. Mothers who bottle feed their child are questioned and sometimes frowned upon. But Rolina does not get discouraged because she knows that breastfeeding past 6 months increases the risk of her child becoming infected.
In Zambia, a rainy season has raised fears of a cholera outbreak. To help prevent a cholera outbreak, UNICEF and its partners have launched a new advocacy campaign called “Your Life is in Your Hands.”
The key to the campaign’s effectiveness, according to UNICEF, is that it relies on peer-to-peer advocacy, meaning that children and young people become effective ambassadors in spreading the importance of good hygiene to their peers. The campaign is being rolled out “through town–hall meetings for school children, follow-up events in schools, radio public service announcements and a UNICEF cartoon character named SOPO.”
You can read more about “Your Life is in Your Hands” here.
Child advocates from around the world are gathering in New York City to hear the latest on how we can raise the profile of child pneumonia and get policymakers everywhere to act.
Speakers include:
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to the United Nations’ Secretary-General
Singer-songwriter and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo
ABC News’ senior health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser
WHO and UNICEF present a new report, the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia, which provides a road map for preventing and treat child pneumonia in the world’s poorest countries.
And leading global health experts, philanthropists, faith-based leaders, corporate representatives and child advocates to begin to change the way the world responds to the #1 killer of children—pneumonia.
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
