Focused on international development, global health and health policy, Doctors with Africa CUAMM’s magazine Health and Development is published in Italian and English. It views health as critical to sustainable development, and features articles on our work in the field and good practices learned as well as commentary by international experts.
An online edition of the magazine is also available. It includes further pieces on these topics in addition to the articles offered in the print edition.
In many parts of the world, breastfeeding is still not widely practiced.A study by CUAMM in Sierra Leone identified some of the reasons why – such as women’s fear of not producing enough breast milk and a lack of support by family members – as well as possible interventions.
In Africa as elsewhere, growing attention is being focused on critically ill patients. The Critical Care Asia Africa initiative aims to systematize the use of computerized clinical registries, adapting intensive care registries to low-resource hospitals to provide epidemiological and clinical data in real time.
South Sudan exists in a state of chronic instability, which makes a purely emergency or vertical approach inadequate. Even in this time of growing humanitarian distress, CUAMM’s approach is a collaborative one, working hand in hand with local authorities to build a system capable of responding to primary health needs.
It is estimated that some 1.3 million southern Angolans live in a state of acute food insecurity driven by the climate crisis and consequent prolonged drought, with cause and effect fueling one another including a lack of both food and dietary diversity, as well as poor hygiene. CUAMM's aim in the region is to identify the malnourished and provide them with treatment
Insecurity phenomena set in in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, in October 2017 and rose dramatically in 2020; the U.N. estimates that 744,949 people have had to flee their homes to seek refuge elsewhere. Officially known as “internally displaced persons”,these are Mozambicans forced to migrate within their own country. CUAMM works to provide them with health care, supporting a hosting model that is integrated into local communities.
More and more already fragile nations in sub-Saharan Africa are being forced to face the hardships brought by sometimes concurrent climate-, politics- or health-related emergencies. CUAMM’s response is a long-term strategic approach based on solid networks and knowledge of local realities,to continue to foster resilient forms of development.
A snapshot of the situation in Africa today: regions and even entire states overwhelmed by war, political instability and climate phenomena such as drought and floods, and now the scourge of COVID-19 as well. What is the impact of all this on economic growth? We asked Giovanni Carbone.
Early warning systems are internationally recognized as an integrated tool for monitoring, forecasting and assessing disaster risks and helping to increase preparedness. Using them at the community level, with the active participation of local populations, can be critical for preventing risks and activating timely responses in the event of emergencies in the global South.
With only 6.6% of Africa’s population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, we could describe the current scenario as a kind of “vaccine apartheid”. Low vaccination rates and scarce bilateral agreements in the global South have worldwide consequences, with new variants of the virus threatening even countries that stockpiled vaccines.
How does Doctors with Africa CUAMM respond to a scenario of increasingly protracted and structural emergency crises? By integrating our approach to the latter into our very modus operandi: deep knowledge of local contexts, trust in people, and investment in communities. By thinking and acting beyond the immediate crisis, we help build a capacity for resilience.