Blog

A dispatch from Vânia Soares de Oliveira e Almeida Pinto, a physician in Brazil who works hard to combat hypertension and diabetes in her community. Today she’s using her story to advocate for policy changes that could expand access to health services in her town, and in others like it.

At IntraHealth International and the Frontline Health Workers Coalition, elevating the voices of health workers around the globe and giving them the reigns to tell their stories is the lifeblood of our mission to advocate for greater and more strategic investment in their work. After all, health workers on the frontlines of care know the ins and outs of our health systems best.

All communities deserve to have access to locally trained and supported health workers. Key to achieving this goal is greater inclusion of midwives in decision-making roles in the national government, because unless midwives voices are represented at that level, policymaking decisions and priorities risk being misaligned with the needs on the ground.

May 5th marks two important global advocacy days — Hand Hygiene Day and International Day of the Midwife. This year’s Hand Hygiene Day campaign focuses on the prevention of sepsis, and International Day of the Midwife celebrates midwives leading the way with quality care.

Vietnam, like many low- or middle-income countries, showed improvement in maternal and newborn mortality during the era of the Millennium Development Goals, but a gap remains between disadvantaged groups and more privileged groups. Poverty, education, language and geography are among the many barriers to health care.

As global health policymakers from around the world this week are discussing the financing needed to achieve universal health coverage on the sidelines of the World Bank spring meetings here in Washington – they would be wise to heed the stories and calls for investment and inclusion by the frontline health workers who spoke at the Health Heroes + Social Good Summit on April 5 during World Health Worker Week.

Tanzania continues to face a severe shortage of frontline health workers like doctors, nurse midwives and assistant medical officers. Touch’s Treat & Train program tackles this gap in Tanzania’s health system.

As we prepare to mark World Health Day on April 7, we celebrate the tremendous contributions of the United States government – and the American people – in creating a more secure world safe from disease through programs like the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Better water, sanitation, and hygiene in health facilities can help health workers protect themselves and their patients.

AIHA recently asked some of the frontline health workers trained through their projects to tell us about their work. In honor of World Health Worker Week 2018, we’re pleased to shine a spotlight on these women and the critical health services they provide to their communities.