A March of Dimes report gave the US a grade of D+ for maternal and infant health care, highlighting that the national preterm birth rate hit 10.5% in 2021, a record 15-year high.
The provision of better health services and social grants has aided rural women’s progress in South Africa, but there are still tremendous needs to be met.
Cecília Tomori, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
Around the globe, 823,000 child deaths could be prevented annually with appropriate breastfeeding. Formula makers continue to defy a 40-year-old international code on marketing their product.
COVID-19 has overwhelmed India’s hospitals partly because decades of under-investment in public health have left the country with one of the most privatised health systems in the world.
Black Americans have worse health outcomes by many measures. To draw attention to that fact, the CDC and communities across the country have called racism a public health threat.
The health and wellbeing effects will go beyond the direct impact of war-related fatalities, and are likely to last for years after peace is fully restored.
Health surveillance assistants provide services in village clinics, mainly by assessing signs and symptoms in sick children. An electronic community case management app could make their job easier.
Children have made many sacrifices because of the country’s COVID-19 response, including social isolation, lack of education opportunities and reduced access to nutrition programmes.
In many sub-Saharan African countries, 20% of mothers have suffered the death of a child, a new study finds. In Mali, Liberia and Malawi, it’s common for mothers to lose two children.
In Eswatini, Botswana, South Africa and Lesotho more than 1 in 5 children are HIV-exposed but uninfected. A coordinated strategy is needed to ensure all children reach their developmental potential.