Dr. Gary Gottlieb: We Must Deliver First-World Health Care to Women and Children
Posted on Jul 27, 2016
In an op-ed published in The Hill, Partners In Health CEO Dr. Gary Gottlieb writes about the recently released USAID report, "Acting on the Call," and how better health for poor women and children strengthens global security.
"At Partners In Health, we applaud USAID’s focus on the very poorest populations and on women and children. As we know too well, social injustice and care disparities cause the greatest suffering and misery; the opportunity for breathtaking improvements is at our fingertips. Every day for more than 30 years, we have seen the importance and the benefit of that focus. We see people dying unnecessarily from preventable conditions—and poor women and children are the most vulnerable. Nearly 800 women die every day in childbirth, and 99 percent of those deaths occur in developing countries.
"In 2014, during the height of the Ebola epidemic, Partners In Health began providing health services in Sierra Leone. According to the World Health Organization, in that West African country, a woman dies in about one in every 90 births. That’s more than 50 times higher than in the United States. This is tragic and unthinkable, and it can be prevented."
