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.
A vaccination center in the outskirts of Padua managed by Cuamm with the AULSS 6 and the Diocese, created within a broader Covid-19 response program, where the effort, in Italy and Africa, is to bring prevention and treatment to all on the strength of the contribution of volunteer staff.
There are many people“on the margins”of our society: immigrants and others including homeless people, adults, and foreign minors waiting for their administrative application to be accepted.As the Covid wave hits, itis these people who are left behind: not only economically,but also forgotten by the prevention and vaccination campaigns.
One thing that Covid-19 ought to have taught us by now is that no one can save themselves alone, but we're in a kind of “health nationalism” in which the stronger countries are trying to protect themselves first and losing sight of the fact that only by sharing and making vaccines and patents accessible can we achieve shared protection.
Researchers have long been interested in maternity waiting homes, but few have studied their effectiveness. This study evaluated how their use cut the perinatal mortality rate in half at the Wolisso hospital in Ethiopia. These important results confirm their value and support policies for their implementation.
South Sudan has chosen to join the global effort to vaccinate its population for Covid-19. But there are many critical issues: it is not enough to just have the doses, they must also be managed logistically and administered correctly to the population. There is a lack of funds for the implementation of a massive campaign, making the role of NGOs such as Cuamm crucial to bridge the existing shortfalls.
Vaccine distribution and administration is a “two-speed” situation: the map is always the same with low-income countries on one side and the global north on the other. “Solidarity,” “Ethical Obligation,” and “Safety for All” should be the guiding concepts to guarantee equity of access to health.
Stumbling in the darkness of the third wave and its aftermath, Africa today is showing a drastic increase in cases of Covid-19 infection in many of its countries, showing signs of overburdened hospitals and growing deaths. The vaccination numbers are still too low, due to a shortage of vaccines but also due to logistical, distribution, and diffidence on the part of the population.
The pandemic will be remembered for the lack of quick decision-making despite many authorities urging a rapid global vaccination program. This inertia has led to imbalances between global north and south, worldwide and locally, forgetting that the universal nature of the emergency should be met by a universal response.
Striving for an equitable distribution of vaccines as a form of “intelligent solidarity”: this is not just out of a powerful sense of social justice but out of an ever-growing awareness of how much each of our lives — whether we’re African, Italian, Asian — are connected to each other, in a collective perspective that reminds us that to save ourselves, we need to take a common path.
The Covid-19 pandemic has set off a perfect storm. Investments and reforms will not be enough to make our societies more sustainable, digital and inclusive; we need to take a critical look at today’s socioeconomic model and find a new ethical and human balance. Rediscovering the thought of Ivan Illich is helpful.