A study that was undertaken to assess the appropriateness and feasibility of menstrual cups as a method of managing menstrual flow has revealed that menstrual cups are indeed effective in managing menstrual flow.  The study aimed to promote the reproductive health and education rights of adolescent girls and women by tackling problems associated with menses [...]

The World Bank has developed a concept on Healthy Children Life Cycle initiative and plans to operationalise the concept in Africa. The life cycle approach to healthy children involves a sequence of age-appropriate interventions including Maternal and Child Health (- 9 to 24 months), Early Childhood Development (0 to 6 years) and School Health and [...]

Empowering the girl child to engage in productive work is crucial in ending poverty for themselves and in the world. The World Bank group has now launched an initiative to promote the transition of adolescent girls from school to productive employment. The Adolescent Girl Initiative was launched in 2008 as part of the World Bank [...]

Health Rights Advocacy Forum (HERAF), a non-governmental organisation that advocates for health as a fundamental human right, now has increased capacity to engage in activities on gender sensitive programs and HIV/AIDS prevention care and treatment. This is after the organization received financial support from the German Development Cooperation, through the GTZ Health Sector Programme, of [...]

The Health Sector Coordinating Committee (HSCC), which is the second highest consultation forum in the health sector, held its quarterly meeting on 24 November 2010 to discuss the Annual Operational Plan 5 (AOP5) Review report and the planning schedule for the next AOP process (AOP 7).  The German Development Cooperation, through GTZ Health Sector Programme [...]

On Tuesday 23rd November 2010, stakeholders met in Nairobi to brainstorm on ways to accelerate Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH)  in view of stagnating indicators in these areas.

The partners in the health sector agree that the sector needs to focus on improving maternal health in already existing plans to implement the National Health Sector Strategic Plan II. This was apparent after the Annual Operational Plan 5 (AOP5) draft report reinforced information from the Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS 2008-09) that a lot [...]

The importance of turning knowledge generated from research into action was the overriding theme of the first Global Symposium on Health Systems Research that was held on  held on 16th to 19th November in Montreux, Switzerland.  Julio Frenk, Dean-Harvard School of Public Health, summed this up in one statement“…it is paramount to turn the power [...]

African States have been urged to take steps to improve the status of women by addressing the challenge of maternal health and accelerating efforts towards attaining gender equality and women empowerment. The delegates participating in the launch of the African Union Women’s Decade 2010-2020 that was hosted in Nairobi in October 2010, particularly highlighted the [...]

The Anti-Corruption Resource Centre has designed a 3- week online course which introduces participants to the problem of corruption in health systems. The course will help participants develop the knowledge and skills needed to fight corruption and promote integrity. This is in response to the high level of corruption currently being experienced in the health [...]