7 things you need to know about the Millennium Development Goals, with just 1000 days to go

The GAVI Alliance, which introduces life-saving vaccines to developing countries, announced yesterday that the price of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has seen a drastic cut from US$13 per dose to US$4.50 per dose (the price in high-income countries can be more than US$100 per dose). Tens of millions of women in developing countries can now be protected against cervical cancer through the vaccine, which protects against 70 percent of the strains of cervical cancer.

Whew (or should I say WIW?)—last week made for quite a busy World Immunization Week 2013!  From Abu Dhabi to Washington, D.C., we saw an impressive breadth and depth of news, activities, and accomplishments from many of our partners working to improve access to life-saving vaccines around the world. Now that we’ve had the weekend

More than half a million children still die from malaria every year. Any day a child dies of a preventable disease is not a happy day, but those working to fight malaria – and that number includes activists like you and I – should give ourselves a pat on the back for being a part of the political action that has increased funding for the work on the ground, enabling a 25 percent drop in malaria deaths globally since 2000. HBO’s Mary and Martha shows the reality of both the sickness and the activism involved.

Haiti is at the forefront of one of the most important developments in global health. On Saturday, this beautiful country – devastated by earthquake and hurricane – will become the 14th GAVI-supported country to introduce lifesaving rotavirus vaccines into its national immunization program joining four other GAVI countries in the Americas region: Bolivia, Guyana, Honduras and Nicaragua. The introduction of rotavirus vaccine is a tangible symbol of Haiti’s effort to rebuild and protect its children. It is a remarkable achievement just three years after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake demolished the Ministry of Health, destroyed or seriously damaged 30 hospitals, and took the lives of 230,000 people, including some 300 health workers.

World Health Day, this Sunday, April 7, marks a time to for us to reflect on some immense achievements that have been accomplished in global health in the past years. Coinciding with the last 1,000 days before the 2015 expiration date of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is also a time to think about where we’re heading in the years – and decades – to come.

Miles Melody, a Fellow with the President’s Malaria Initiative, writes on Uganda’s malaria surveillance systems that, despite high demands and limited staffing, perform a laboratory test on every patient suspected of having malaria and ensure all malaria deaths are reported.