The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health's seeks to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from becoming a lasting crisis for women and children, while forging stronger primary healthcare systems as a pathway to Universal Health Coverage and fostering a more equitable world. The Partnership provides resources for governments and advocates.
Formal and informal support networks for breastfeeding moms is essential. Human milk banking is an example of how moms and health systems can work together to support moms who are unable to breastfeed.
When four-month-old Immanuel fell ill with diarrhea, Catherine knew exactly what to do. People-centered primary healthcare made it possible.
The demands of women and girls are basic. But in many of the remote communities in Nigeria, availability of water is a luxury. Advocate Tariah Adams discusses the What Women Want survey results from Nigeria.
At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Zaidi served as the director of the Vaccine Development and Surveillance program and the Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases program. Now she is first president of the newly created Gender Equality Division.
"Gender inequality holds back women and girls—that’s half the world’s population, and it’s indisputably unjust. It’s also the biggest barrier to progress in global health and development. I’ve seen this throughout my career, as a physician, as a researcher, and here at the foundation. The root cause of a lot of disease is poverty-related, and poverty is sexist. Without addressing gender inequality, progress on both health and development will be stunted."
Dr. Iturriza-Gomara is a virologist, with expertise in enteric virus infections, virus evolution, and molecular tools for diagnosing, monitoring, and tracking infections
“I am full of admiration for the many health workers who work tirelessly to bring relief to millions of disadvantaged people living the poorest and most challenging regions of the world, and without whom interventions such as vaccination campaigns would just not be possible.”
Dr. Groome is an epidemiologist and clinical researcher on vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, including rotavirus.
“South Africa is privileged to have several strong women in vaccine research, for example, Professor Helen Rees and Professor Glenda Gray. Both of them have made a significant contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa and are internationally known for their research.
I have ended up with three daughters – my eldest is now in second year studying medicine, second one in Grade 11 and thinking about software engineering, and then the little one. Grateful to have raised daughters who believe that they can be and do anything.”
Dr. Neuzil is an epidemiologist, vaccine researcher, and health policy expert.
On her favorite memory in her fight against rotavirus: “I attended the rotavirus vaccine launch in Mali in 2014. I celebrated with colleagues, mothers, and government officials as the first infants in one of the poorest countries in the world received this lifesaving vaccine.”
On her heroes: “The real heroes are the mothers of the world who nurture and care for their children sometimes in the face of amazing adversity.”
On when she realized she wanted to work on rotavirus: “Backpacking through Africa and Asia, seeing first hand how hard life can be and seeing so many children suffer from preventable and treatable conditions.”
The role of female researchers in vaccine-preventable diseases, like diarrhea, is growing each year. Dr. Kang’s expertise is on on enteric infections in children, surveillance, and modes of transmission.