Eva, age 19, was born into one of the poorest families in Kahama Town in the Shinyanga Region of Tanzania. She is the sixth of seven children. Her family survived by selling local beer. While in school, Eva had to join her mother to help with the business. Eva repeatedly experienced violence from customers, sometimes because she refused to drink alcohol or be inappropriately touched, other times because she pickpocketed the drunk men or inflated their bills, in an effort to boost the family’s income.
Continue ReadingParaguay launches first-of-its-kind digital system to track medical oxygen
“Do you remember a year ago, when all we had was a WhatsApp group to ask questions of each other and send pictures of the oxygen purities?” Rodrigo Romero, head of the Paraguay Ministry of Health´s Medical Gas Department offered this poignant reflection during the opening remarks of an event celebrating the launch, training, and validation of the country’s first digital oxygen maintenance tracking system that the Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project hosted in Paraguay in March.
Continue ReadingPEPFAR’s Contributions to Key Population Programming: Looking Back and Looking Forward
New e-Pharmacy Improves Access to Lifesaving Medicines and Creates an Innovative Business Model for a Community-Led Organization in India
In February, the Network of Maharashtra by People Living with HIV/AIDS (NMP+) launched TAAL+, the first-ever peer-led e-pharmacy platform in India. Through the e-pharmacy, people living with HIV or other chronic health conditions can order their medicines online for home delivery across India.
Continue ReadingProtecting older adults in Indonesia through COVID-19 vaccination
Older, unvaccinated adults are more likely to get severe illness or die from COVID-19. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on older adults in Indonesia—patients over the age of 60 comprise more than half of COVID-related intensive care unit admissions and suffer from the lowest recovery rate and highest mortality rate.1 Evidence shows that being fully vaccinated significantly reduces the risk of COVID-related hospitalization and death and is one of the most powerful tools we have against the pandemic.
Continue Reading