Thursday, January 25, 2007
New WHO director
I just read a short article the professor posted called "New WHO Director Optimistic About Taming Global Health Threats" by Lisa Schlein. The director was quoted as saying: "When women are given a hand up in terms of household income, we see improvements in their own health and that of families and communities," she said. "When we think about the health in Africa, we must never forget the links between poverty and health. Poor health anchors large populations in poverty. Better health allows people to work their way out of poverty and spend household incomes on something other than illness." I think this sums up last weeks topic really well. The new director's great attitude and excitement at tackling many tough global health problems was refreshing to read about, and I hope she follows through on the initiatives she has promised to address.
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I too am interested to see what Margret Chan will do at the WHO. Her first speech addressing the council was an optomistic list of what she envisions for the next few years. Ill be watching to see what happens.
The recent appointment of Dr. Margaret Chan as Director of WHO until 2012 is a definite step forward for public health. Recently, I came across an article entitled A Woman’s Rights-based Approach to Climate Change from
http://www.madre.org/articles/int/climatchangte.html about an organization (MADRE) that takes into account the gender issue in an approach to climate change. It is an organization of women who respond to disasters in the poor sectors of the developing world when government organizations have failed to do so. In most communities, “women hold the most reliable knowledge about promoting food security, preserving threatened food supplies, and ensuring their families’ survival in the face of shortages.” The organization has worked successfully in Pakistan, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Kenya to name just a few.
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