CIHD News http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/news/rss CIHD main web site Neil I Martin 2007-04-13T08:59:27Z Professor Zef Ebrahim http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/ZEF We have been deeply saddened to learn that Zef has died.  For all who knew him Zef was admired for his tremendous contribution to international child health.  He made a huge contribution to education and research, with several of his books becoming classics and being widely distributed and read in the developing world through his connection with Teaching Aids at Low Cost . UCL Centre for International Health and Development Madeleine E Green 2012-04-04T10:57:06Z MOYO Weight for Height Chart http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/MOYO The MOYO chart (named after the nutrition centre in Blantyre, Malawi where it was developed) is a low cost job aid to help front line health workers correctly assess acute malnutrition. The chart minimises the misdiagnosis associated with traditional weight-for-height tables by offering a simple step-by-step guide to weight-for-height assessment and interpretation. Both boy/girl and joint sex versions of the chart use the 2006 WHO growth standards. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Madeleine E Green 2012-02-07T11:47:38Z Child Maltreatment: A six-country comparison of trends and policy http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/child_maltreatment Professor Ruth Gilbert (UCL Institute of Child Health) will present results of a study of child maltreatment trends and policies across six countries/states: England, USA, Sweden, New Zealand, Western Australia (Australia) and Manitoba (Canada). The study found that, after the mid-1990s, the rates of violent deaths and maltreatment-related injuries remained stable in most settings. Only in Sweden and Manitoba did decreases in violent deaths coincide with decreases in hospital admissions due to injury related to maltreatment. Officially recognised physical abuse or neglect mostly remained stable across the six nations, but other indicators of agency notification, investigation or placement in out-of-home care increased, particularly in infants. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Guler Eroglu 2011-12-16T16:29:44Z Transformative Education for Global Health - Preparing Health Professionals for an Interdependent World http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/call_for_abstracts A joint conference between UCL, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine , the London International Development Centre and the Institute of Education (with support from the Lancet) UCL Centre for International Health and Development Guler Eroglu 2011-12-14T11:03:52Z CIHD awarded £394k for research on inequalities in MNCH in Asia and Africa http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/equinam CIHD's Dr Tanja AJ Houweling has been awarded £393,551 by the ESRC-DFID Joint Scheme for Research on International Development to lead a project entitled Socio-economic inequalities and the MDGs: building evidence to support equitable improvement in maternal and newborn health in Asia & Africa . Progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been highly uneven. Poor and otherwise disadvantaged groups lag behind their more fortunate compatriots for most MDGs. To make things worse, effective interventions are known, but rarely reach those who need them most. Unfortunately, little is known about how to effectively reach poor and otherwise disadvantaged groups, and how to address socio-economic inequalities in mortality. Together with research partners in Asia and Africa, Dr. Houweling aims to fill these gaps by generating evidence on (1) how socio-economic inequalities translate into inequalities in maternal and newborn mortality within countries, (2) how to address the exclusion of poor and otherwise marginalised groups from efforts to achieve the MDGs, and (3) how to reduce socio-economic inequalities in maternal and newborn mortality. Data will be obtained from six surveillance sites, in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Malawi, where a combined population of over 2 million is prospectively followed-up. Information on birth outcomes, socio-economic position, health care use and home care practices will be used to describe and explain mortality inequalities. Data from randomized controlled trials of participatory women’s group interventions in these sites will be used to evaluate the differential reach of these interventions across socio-economic groups and the impact of these interventions on socio-economic inequalities in mortality. The three year project will actively engage with and learn from stakeholders to support the uptake of the newly generated evidence. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-12-01T17:25:56Z Read the event blog for Population and Climate Change in a World of 7 Billion http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/7billion The UCL Institute for Global Health and Population and Sustainability Network co-hosted a high profile reception at the House of Commons with the All Party Parliamentary Group for Population, Development and Reproductive Health to discuss Population and Climate Change in a World of 7 Billion. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-11-17T15:24:58Z Read the event blog for the CMAM Conference 2011 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/cmam-conference-blog The event blog for the CMAM Conference 2011 is now available UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-11-17T15:14:21Z The DIFFER Project launch http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/differproject Drs Jolene Skordis-Worrall and Anni Pulkki-Brannstrom are involved in a new project which aims to improve sexual and reproductive health for all women by expanding and strengthening sexual and reproductive health services, and providing and testing targeted interventions for female sex workers (FSW) in the context of existing health systems. The Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Enhanced Reproductive health (DIFFER) project is led by Universiteit Gent - International Centre for Reproductive Health (UG-ICRH) , with research taking place in 3 sub-Saharan African countries and in India.  UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-11-17T12:43:27Z 24 November: Launch event of Global Health Watch 3 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/global-health-watch3 Mike Rowson is chairing the London launch event of Global Health Watch 3 , an alternative world health report. The event is taking place on 24th November, from 6-8pm at UCL's Chadwick Lecture Theatre. Speakers include David Woodward ( The New Economics Foundation ), Marion Birch ( Medact ) and Gill Walt ( LSHTM ) Full details can be found below: UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-11-03T14:58:04Z Call for urgent action on climate change http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/CC On 17 October leading health professionals, including Professor Anthony Costello , and experts in international security met at a BMJ conference in London on the health and security implications of climate change. They issued a statement calling on governments around the world to prioritise efforts to tackle the causes and effects of climate change. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Madeleine E Green 2011-10-24T15:23:51Z The Guardian: UK aid 2010-15- Get the data http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/UK-aid-2010-15 Find out which countries and which kinds of projects will benefit from UK aid support over the next five years: see The Guardian article. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-10-20T11:11:51Z NHS reforms: A medical student's view http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/rita-issa-nhs-reforms Rita Issa, IBSc student in 2008-9, has recently talked to the Guardian about her fears of where the UK Coalition Government's reforms are leading . UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-10-17T16:20:26Z From hookworms to bookworms: Read Prof Costello and Dr Prost's article http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/hookworm-to-bookworm Prof Anthony Costello and Dr Audrey Prost have written an article which explores improving children's development by preventing and treating parastitic worms. The article is featured in the September 2011 edition of the UBS Optimus World Magazine. This can be downloaded from the UBS Optimus Foundation website . Alternatively, a hardcopy is in the communal area at CIHD. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-10-05T10:33:21Z Public health experts warn Lords to reject health reforms http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/david-mccoy-health-reforms A letter coordinated by CIHD's Dr David McCoy and signed by nearly 400 public health experts warns that the government's NHS reforms will put patient safety at risk, waste money and damage the medical profession. Read The Letter: Daily Telegraph Read The Article: Daily Telegraph Read Dr McCoy's comments: Daily Telegraph Dr David McCoy is an honorary consultant at CIHD. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-10-05T08:42:15Z Violence against health workers in conflict zones: CNN interview with CIHD Alumna, Sohur Mire http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/sohur-mire Somali born doctor, Sohur Mire, completed the iBSc in International Health at CIHD in 2005/6. She is involved in a documentary highlighting violence against healthcare workers in conflict zones, who are increasingly becoming a target. Her concern started with the Somalia killings and kidnapping of healthcare workers. Watch her interview on CNN below and read the accompanying article. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-09-16T12:26:35Z China's high sex ratio: Read Prof Hesketh's comments in The Guardian http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/chinas-sex-ratio-in-the-guardian Read the recent Guardian article on China's village of the bachelors: no wives in sight in remote settlement, featuring comments by CIHD's Prof Therese Hesketh . Further reading about our work exploring the effects of high sex ratio in urban and rural China . UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-09-15T15:11:59Z UK Community Based Rehabilitation Guidelines http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/Dis Mary Wickenden was involved in organising the UK launch of the groundbreaking new Guidelines on Community Based Rehabilitation ( CBR) , published by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) , the International Labour Organization ( ILO) and the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC ) .  This new document provides an overview of CBR, the recommended approach to developing inclusive approaches to providing services for and ensuring the rights of disabled people, especially in low resourced contexts. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Madeleine E Green 2011-09-15T13:08:27Z Head to Head: Should UK membership exams be held overseas?  Yes or No? http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/DD While membership exams from UK medical colleges and faculties are an integral part of training for UK doctors, some believe that they are rarely appropriate and may be damaging in the long term when taken overseas. However, others believe that rather than undermining local programmes, the provision of a UK postgraduate qualification can provide a springboard for further development of local postgraduate training and that our exam and subsequent award of an internationally recognised qualification can contribute to improving standards of clinical care. Read the debate here and here . UCL Centre for International Health and Development Madeleine E Green 2011-08-01T10:35:54Z World Bank Blog about our work with Women's Groups http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/world-bank-blog Jed Friedman , a senior economist in the Poverty and Inequality Unit of the Development Research Group for the World Bank , has blogged about our work with participatory women's groups as a means to reduce maternal, infant and neonatal mortality. This follows on from our participation at the International Health Economics Association 8th World Congress in Toronto where findings from our women's group studies in India, Nepal and Malawi were presented. Read Jed Friedman's blog about our participatory women's groups in South Asia. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-08-01T10:34:17Z A lens on our lives: a women's group participatory film in rural Nepal http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/mira-film Women's groups in rural Makwanpur District have been working to improve maternal and newborn health in their local areas with the support of MIRA and Dr Jo Morrison from CIHD . One of these groups selected four women's group members to receive training on how to plan and shoot a film about their experience of being in a women's group. This is their film... UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-07-28T08:21:48Z Perinatal Care Project Film http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/pcp-film The Perinatal Care Project (PCP) , Bangladesh, has produced a film.  UCL Centre for International Health and Development Helen F Allwood 2011-07-22T09:56:21Z First prize awarded to CIHD researcher http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/NS Nadine Seward was awarded the first prize at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's Annual Student Symposium on Global Health on 4th July.  Her talk entitled 'Impact of clean delivery kit use and clean delivery practices on neonatal mortality among home births in rural South Asia' described the current situation of improved hygiene and its associations with increased survival in the neonatal period.   UCL Centre for International Health and Development Madeleine E Green 2011-07-14T12:01:42Z Listen to Us http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/LTU Read about the outcome of a public engagement project with teenagers with disabilities.  These important messages are from a study about the lives of disabled teenagers who use Alternative and Augmentative Communication.  UCL Centre for International Health and Development Madeleine E Green 2011-07-13T15:01:51Z Congenital syphilis screening 'cuts baby deaths' http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/syph A new study on 41,000 women, carried out by UCL researcher Sarah Hawkes , and published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases , has shown that hundreds of thousands of babies' lives could be saved each year if pregnant women were screened for syphilis.  Read the BBC's report. UCL Centre for International Health and Development Madeleine E Green 2011-06-16T10:48:37Z MaiMwana Project Film http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/library/mande The MaiMwana Project is a collaboration between the Malawi Ministry of   Health and UCL Centre for International Health and Development.  The   project seeks to improve mother and child health and reduce mortality   in Malawi by implementing low cost and sustainable community based   interventions and evaluating the impact of these on morbidity,   mortality and behaviour change.  m+e= explores the monitoring and   evaluation system implemented by MaiMwana Project through the   perspectives of its staff to shed light on its scope, rigour and the   context in which it is operating.  The film was made by Mikey Rosato in collaboration with MaiMwana Project and was funded by the   UCL Institute of Global Health . UCL Centre for International Health and Development Madeleine E Green 2011-06-15T09:41:13Z