What is global health? It’s a big year for global health so ONE is going to be talking about it a lot. But before we jump into the nitty gritty statistics or the importance of getting funding for the world’s most innovative partnerships, let’s talk about what global health actually is! Global health is about improving people’s health worldwide, reducing inequality and, protecting societies from global threats, such as preventable diseases, that don’t stop at national borders. So why is it important? We...
Over the last decade, Bill Gates has transformed himself into an icon of philanthropy as the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Recently, he took a spot in the virtual hot seat and turned the mic over to the Reddit community for an in-depth Ask Me Anything (AMA) session. Here are five of the most intriguing questions and responses: What would you still like to achieve that you haven’t? — Swcomisac thisisbillgates: The goal of the Foundation is that all...
Thirty years ago, HIV/AIDS swept the globe largely unchecked, and a diagnosis was seen as a death sentence. Two decades later, we’ve made amazing progress – AIDS-related deaths are down by half – but the good news makes the bad news worse. The incredible progress the world has made against AIDS has created a sense of complacency that is threatening our ability to end AIDS within our lifetime. You might not know it from watching the news or listening to lawmakers,...
The fight against extreme poverty can’t be won without data. After all, we can’t find solutions if we don’t know where there are problems. Luckily, we have a new way of discovering where progress needs to be made. The highly-anticipated Human Capital Index was launched as part of the World Bank’s Human Capital Project. It compares 157 countries, based on the amount of human capital – knowledge, skills, and health – that a child born in each country today can...
What does your future hold? University, your own business, fame and fortune? Whatever your hopes, you will not have imagined a future in which you got married off as a child, were denied an education, or infected with HIV by a husband that’s twice your age. But this is the reality for millions of girls living in extreme poverty. And it’s time to call it out for what it is: Sexist. Nowhere on earth do girls and women have the...
In 2015, world leaders agreed to 17 global goals for a better world by 2030. These goals have the power to end poverty, fight inequality, and change the world for the better. Guided by these goals, it is now up to all of us –governments, businesses, civil society, and the general public – to work together to build a better future for everyone. Global Goal #3 is good health and well-being. Our health is the one thing we all take...
On one day in March dozens of people gathered in a hospital in Hargeisa, Somaliland. The bright room was decorated with flowers and banners in red, green and white, the colours of Somaliland’s flag. Doctors –foreign and Somali – ministers, medical students, former patients and journalists filed in, greeting each other, standing in little groups and talking animatedly. A man walked to the front, bowed his head, and intoned a prayer over the crackly microphone, and the murmur turned...
By Tichaona Jongwe. Photos courtesy of Role Model Caregivers. In Niger state, malaria is so endemic that, on World Malaria Day in 2016, State Commissioner of Health Dr. Jibril Mustapha revealed that the disease kills 19,500 children under the age of 5 in the state every year. But a small group of unpaid heroes is working to become a vanguard against the disease’s spread. The group, called Role Model Caregivers (RMC), are paid nothing but a small transport stipend. Together, they...
As you may know, ONE is a supporter and advocate of the Global Fund, an organization designed to accelerate the end of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as an epidemic. On a recent trip to Marrakech, Morocco, a few ONE staff members and I had the opportunity to visit the Oudaya prison, located about 20 kilometers from Marrakech. While there, we saw first-hand how the investments of the Global Fund support TB and HIV programs for prisoners, which...
Story and photos by Ray Mwareya. Expensive maternity fees in Zimbabwe are a nightmare for pregnant women. In state or church clinics, where the majority of the poor give birth, charges can rise to $50 USD per month until delivery, according to Chido Gama of the Zimbabwe Health Human Rights Forum, a local lobby network that monitors the rights of disadvantaged expectant mothers. But organizations like the United Nations Population Fund — with support from foreign assistance provided by countries...