Paul Farmer supports A Million Moms

(Paul Farmer talking about better health services for maternal and child health.)

Over the years, many programs have focused on the need for greater support and focus on women’s rights, maternal health, and the important role of mothers when it comes to healthy children, families, and populations. Not all programs have been implemented equally, some have been more condescending to women than supportive and others just were not enough to have a real impact. The focus on women seems to come and go like a fad – now prominent with The Girl Effect. Hopefully we see the focus on Moms and maternal health stick around with some strong research to support programs with a focus on family and population health.

Over the years this blog has also hosted a debate that we can’t throw other programs out of the window just because women focused programs are the fad. There is still a place for engaging men and arguably one that cannot be ignored. Men may not seem to have as much influence on family health, but men are the ones who often hold the decision-making power for the family or community. Therefore, to disengage men potentially jeopardizes the success of any program success targeting women.

Today was an hour-long tweetchat for #AMillionMoms - the A Million Moms Challenge part of ABC News’ Save a Life Program sponsored by The Gates Foundation

Tags: A Million Moms, Africa, maternal health, Paul Farmer, population health