The INFO Project Blog

Officials with the 11th annual Global Forum for Health Research are stressing the need to increase funding for health research in developing countries, particularly to combat the growing threat posed by chronic diseases. Some 800 participants from 80 nations are attending in Beijing.

According to Xinhua General News Service, only ten percent of global health research funding is spent dealing with health problems in developing nations, while these nations comprise 90 percent of the world’s population.

The Forum’s head, Stephen Matlin, says developing countries face vastly different health threats than they did just ten years ago.

Developing countries are seeing massive growth in non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer and mental illness, reports the Voice of America’s Daniel Schearf. Schearf quotes Matlin on the trend found everywhere but Africa, where malaria and TB are still major causes of death: 

“In fact, in many developing countries, including China and India, two of the most populous countries in the world, these are now the main sources of illness and death in the population”

Listen to Schearf’s report by clicking on the icon below.

Our Wednesday morning kick: this blog.

One of our writers sent this url to The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks around the office. As health communicators, we focus on a lot of nitty-gritty punctuation issues, so this struck a chord.

Implants offer a highly effective way to expand family planning choices for women and reduce the incidence of maternal mortality worldwide, according to the latest issue of Population Reports. Released with a companion issue of INFO Reports, the publication emphasizes the method’s ease of use and its potential for reducing unmet need worldwide. Currently just .3% of married women choose this family planning method. Read more about the new publications here.

Authors Deepa Ramchandran and Ushma Upadhyay are eager to know how program managers and service providers will use the reports’ findings. They offer up two questions for readers.

1. By 2008, Norplant, the six-capsule implant system, will no longer be available. Are programs that are currently offering Norplant switching to provide the newer implants (either Jadelle, Implanon, or Sino-Implant (II))?

If so, how are they planning to transition to the new implants?

If not, what alternative are they providing for women who want long-acting methods?

2. We have heard that in many countries demand for implants is very high and many women want implants but are unable to obtain them. Cost is the largest barrier to access to implants and many of the reported shortages of implants are due to their high cost. What strategies are programs using to continue to provide implants to their clients?

The Drum Beat of the Communication Initiative highlights new data on internet use worldwide.

In 2006, the developed world had 6 times the internet user penetration of the developing world. Statistics show that the divide narrowed from 73 times more penetration 12 years earlier.

Across the developing world, cell phone use is helping to further erode the communication divide. The International Telecommunications Union recently published a report showing the importance of African cellular subscriptions, which are far outpacing landline use.

Their handy graph, below and here, shows that cellular service is expanding rapidly worldwide:

Programmers can use these new networks to reach dispersed populations. In the Philippines, South Africa and the UK, text messaging is already playing an important role in reaching HIV-positive clients, as a recent issue of Population Reports related here.

Calling all Francophone family planning providers. Vous etes la?

FHI has released a new French-language tool for decision makers to kick off community-based distribution of the injectable contraceptive DMPA. This new advocacy tool discusses best practices for successful implementation of this type of distribution, such as training, counseling, and ensuring supply.

The checklist included in the kit is based on the World Health Organization’s Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use.

For FHI’s English-language toolkit on community-based distribution click here.

To see INFO’s Injectables Toolkit click here.  

Want more on injectables? See the Population Reports guide to Expanding Service for Injectables.