DEFEATDD.ORG

Stories of transformation: We’ve got them—do you?

Hope Randall — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:40:19 +0000

About the guest author

Lesley Reed, PATH

I didn’t notice Savita Rai at first. I was too busy watching the mothers’ group. I was in her Indian village to see how PATH’s Sure Start project was transforming a devastating situation—high rates of maternal and newborn deaths—into one of hope, and the mothers’ group was where the action was.

Doubling Down on Success

Deborah Phillips — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:20:45 +0000

About the guest author

Eileen Quinn

Do you know that feeling when someone tells you good news but you have to keep it a secret? We might be bursting to share our excitement, but we have to stay quiet.

This happened to me last week when I was at a scientific session on diarrheal disease and heard that the number of child deaths continues to decrease. I am really excited, that today, with the publication of the data in The Lancet, we can spread the good news.

Cookies for breakfast, and other lofty goals

Deborah Phillips — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:59:18 +0000

About the guest author

Deborah Phillips, PATH

A one-one-one chat with Mickey Mouse… cookies for breakfast… that GI Joe paratrooper… a sweeter, quieter (maybe non-existent?) little sister…. Remember the things you yearned for when you were five? With its 5^th Birthday campaign this month, USAID reminds us that every kid deserves the simple wishes that go along with a carefree childhood.

Finishing the job

Hope Randall — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:29:56 +0000

At USAID's "Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday" briefing, USAID Administrator Raj Shah proudly displays a photo of one of his little ones, who had just graduated from her play group.

About the guest author

Hope Randall, Communications Associate for defeatDD at PATH

Photo:

I’ve always had a soft spot for revolutionary people and ideas, so it’s not surprising that my favorite part of USAID’s Every Child Deserves a 5^th Birthday briefing was a nod to the work of Jim Grant (Executive Director of UNICEF from 1980-1995) and his commitment to child health that saved countless lives. It reminded me that child health efforts in which I play a small role tell a story that’s been decades in the making.

Realizing the promise of rotavirus vaccines in Ghana

Hope Randall — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:27:34 +0000

About the guest author

Kristen Lewis, Clinical Research Officer for Vaccine Development, PATH

My experience generating evidence to support the introduction of rotavirus vaccines began in 2006 when I started working on a PATH team conducting Phase 3 clinical trials investigating the performance of rotavirus vaccines in Africa and Asia. In these trials, we hoped to gather evidence aiding the World Health Organization (WHO) in deciding whether rotavirus vaccines should be recommended for global introduction.

Maximizing the use and impact of rotavirus vaccines: PATH’s priority

Hope Randall — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:00:48 +0000

About the guest author

Kathy Neuzil, Vaccine Access and Delivery Program at PATH

You probably already know the shocking reality—more than 1,200 children under age five die from rotavirus each day—that’s more that 450,000 each year! What you might not know is that many of these deaths can be prevented by using rotavirus vaccines. Vaccination offers the best protection against severe rotavirus diarrhea, and rotavirus vaccines are saving lives in countries where they are in use.

Time for change – outcomes of the Ministerial meeting of Sanitation and Water for All

Hope Randall — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:04:05 +0000

About the guest author

Sue Yardley, Senior Public Policy Officer, Tearfund

“A mother and child wait for you to return home” and put your commitments into action was the challenge from Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson to delegates at the Ministerial meeting of "Sanitation and Water for All" (SWA) on Friday. She couldn’t be there in person but her words still carried the passion and authority she has for water and sanitation.

Safe drinking water: Rural pockets in Maharashtra show the way

Hope Randall — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:38:12 +0000

About the guest author

Sushmita Malaviya, communications officer in Delhi for PATH’s Vaccine Development Program

In Mandwa and Anji villages, approximately 100 kilometers from Nagpur (Maharashtra, India), several families have taken to two simple practices. One, fixing plastic taps to the earthen pots in which they store drinking water and/or adding a few drops of hypochlorite solution to stored water.

Tragedy, hope and raw determination!

Hope Randall — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:32:50 +0000

Reposted with permission from GAVI Alliance.

About the guest author

Dan Thomas, GAVI Alliance

Have you ever been to the movies and seen a trailer for a film that you previously had no interest in seeing and then suddenly thought to yourself “That is a film I CANNOT MISS”?

That was the idea behind GAVI’s most recent production. It’s a three-minute film by a talented young American film maker called Ryan Youngblood that I stumbled across in Kigali one day and I think he and producer Doune Porter more than fulfilled their brief.

“Would you like some ORS with your wine and apps?”

Hope Randall — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:26:59 +0000

About the guest author

Anna Larsen, Program Assistant for Technology Solutions at PATH

As you can imagine, convincing attendees of PATH’s recent “PATH After Hours” donor event to sample oral rehydration solution (ORS) alongside their wine and appetizers was somewhat of a difficult sell. Most attendees politely declined my offer to take a swig of briny water as they approached my display table depicting PATH’s diarrheal disease control efforts.