'Women Deliver' Conference Kicks Off with $1.5 Billion Pledge from the Gates Foundation to Tackle MDG5
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 9:28AM 
“The greatest unsolved public health issue of our time is the death of women due to pregnancy and childbirth complications. Each year there are over half a million maternal deaths around the globe, with 99% occurring in developing nations. In fact, maternal mortality is the health indicator that demonstrates the greatest difference between developed and developing countries,” says Anne Foster-Rosales, MD, MPH, FACOG in the book, Women’s Global Health and Human Rights.
This week, nearly 3,000 people from around the world are convening at the 2010 Women Deliver conference to tackle this and other critical issues in maternal and child health. The conference hopes to build political commitment and financial investment for fulfilling Millennium Development Goal #5 (MDG5) — to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to reproductive health.
The meeting kicked off yesterday with a pledge from the Gates Foundation of $1.5 billion over the next five years to support programs promoting maternal and child health, family planning, and nutrition in developing countries.
“We said AIDS is important, we said malaria is important, we’re saying now maternal and child deaths are important — and guess what? It’s actually possible to fix them,” said Melinda Gates in an interview yesterday with NPR.
An understanding of the health and human rights challenges women face around the world is essential to anyone working toward becoming a professional in the field of Public Health, especially those who strive to reach MDG5.
Women’s Global Health and Human Rights, edited by Padmini Murthy and Clyde Lanford Smith goes a long way towards establishing a solid foundation for Public Health students in these critical topic areas. The book is a collection of writings from renowned authorities around the world. “…we hope and expect our readers will surprise us with their diversity of action and potential, i.e. with the breadth of what and how they are engaging diverse actors toward our one goal of making women’s health and human rights a reality recognized and cherished by everyone everywhere,” said the book’s chief editor, Padmini Murthy.
Dr. Yasmina Katsulis, Assistant Professor of the Women and Gender Studies Program at Arizona State University praised the book for course use: “You will not find a more comprehensive collection of articles that hit on the primary issues in the field. Perfect for teaching an undergraduate audience."
Instructors who want to consider this book for course can preview the book through Google at http://www.jblearning.com/catalog/9780763756314/preview/
More praise for Women’s Global Health and Human Rights:
“As a scholar in the area of women’s health, I highly recommend this book as an excellent resource for a variety of professionals, students, consumers, and policy makers in the various domains of women’s health.”
—Memoona Hasnain, MD, MHPE, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine (For Doody’s Book Review Service, July 24, 2009)
“Women’s Global Health and Human Rights is a treasure trove for activists, academics and practitioners struggling to understand the dynamics of globalization and how it affects the everyday lives and health of women around the world. Driven by a social justice framework, the collection demonstrates how health and well-being are shaped by the political, cultural and economic structures of our world. At a time of global financial crisis when governments are finally rejecting neo-liberalism and searching for alternative development paths this book provides much needed illumination. It will be an essential handbook for all those involved in the global struggle for health and justice.”
—Fran Baum, Co-Chair, Global Steering Council People’s Health Movement, Commissioner, Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, Director Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity, Flinders University Adelaide, Australia
“Padmini Murthy’s exploration of the right to health challenges and enriches our understanding of rights and freedoms and provides a critical gender perspective to the literature on economic, social and cultural rights.”
—Rangita de Silva de Alwis, Director of International Human Rights Policy, Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College
“This book is a vital resource for those who believe in and advocate for improved access to health and education for women and girls throughout the world.”
—Alison Overseth, President, Board of Directors, Partnership for After School Education, Vice chair Board of Directors, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
“This impressive work by some of the greatest thinkers of our time makes an overall compelling argument that the cure lies in the recognition and protection of basic human rights, in particular economic and social rights. The right to health, and all other rights upon which it depends such as housing, food and security, carries a demand that we build rational and effective social systems centered on human development and human dignity. We can afford to ask no less of ourselves.”
—Cathy Albisa, Executive Director, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
“Shockingly women still suffer so much, from violence, trafficking, sexual abuse and exploitation, war, and avoidable illness. Their rights to health are often ignored. This book explains what can and must be done. It is essential reading for all those who want to see women’s rights respected, in health, in peace and in development, and who have a vision of that goal finally being achieved”
—Richard Alderslade, Chief Executive of the Children’s High Level Group, London, Adjunct Professor of Public and Health Administration at the Robert F Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, Former Senior External Relations Officer at the WHO Office at the United Nations in New York
“Drs. Murthy and Smith, along with an impressive cast of international professionals, are the authors of a true movement. Their work finally makes the fifth Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality a moral global commitment and a reachable reality. “This book is a must read for politicians, health providers, students and all who believe in justice and fairness for all independent of race, gender, origin or economic status.”
—Elvira Beracochea, MD, MPH, Author, Speaker and Global Health Expert, President, MIDEGO, Inc., Chair of the Board, Health for All NOW Foundation, Member, International Human Rights Committee of the American Public Health Association
“The authors of this book frame the fight for the basic human right of every woman to a life of health, dignity and respect. I expect readers to be inspired to take action to ensure that globally, everywoman is guaranteed a life of health and dignity.”
—Anika Rahman, President, Americans for UNFPA
“The transnational discourse this book presents is a critical piece of scholarship for all public health advocates concerned about how the global and local affect women.”
—Mehret Mandefro, MD, MSc, Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar, University of Pennsylvania, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, Senior Fellow, www.truthaids.org, Managing Editor, Featured in documentary film “All of Us”
“Murthy & Smith’s Women’s Global Health and Human Rights reinforces the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that everyone has the right to quality health care.”
—Kathleen Durham, Executive Director, Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill
“This book by Dr. Murthy and Dr. Smith will go a long way in bringing understanding and solutions to ensure that women and girls have access to the health care that is their human right.”
—Shelley Ross, MD, Secretary-General,, Medical Women’s International Association