ghp June 2015

ghp June 2015 | 43 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to Lead $17 Million Canadian Project The program will help the nation evaluate the impact of its global maternal and child health programs. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Institute for International Programs will lead a five-year, $17-million program to help the Canadian government measure the impact of its maternal and child health programming around the world. The program is part of the Canadian government’s ini- tiative to improve accountability for maternal and child health investments. Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development announced the project as part of its broader commitment to ensure that mater- nal, newborn and child health remains a global priority beyond 2015. In collaboration with the Canadian Network for Mater- nal, Newborn and Child Health, the Bloomberg School will develop a set of tools that will help the government collect better and more complete data about its global health programs. This information, in turn, will help pol- icymakers make better decisions about where and how to invest funds to save the lives of vulnerable women and children across the world. “By collecting better data, we can save more lives,” says Jennifer Bryce, EdD, a senior scientist in the Bloomberg School’s Department of International Health and the head of the new project. “If we know which programs work best, we can replicate and expand them to reach more women and children. This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of.” In addition to developing the tools and validating their application in low-income country settings, the School’s Institute for International Programs will provide capacity building and support to Canadian organizations that plan and implement global maternal and child health programs. The Institute for International Programs will also provide technical assistance for the development and management of a Canadian-based data repository. “Building on Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper’s dedicated leadership as co-chair of the United Nations Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health, the Canadian govern- ment is proud to partner with Johns Hopkins University to help ensure that investments to improve the health of mothers, newborns and children have the greatest impact,” said the Honourable Christian Paradis, Min- ister of International Development and La Francopho- nie. “Improving accountability for results in maternal, newborn and child health is a signature element of Canada’s top development priority to improve the health and save the lives of the world’s mothers and children. Canada will continue to work towards accelerating global progress in this area and make certain the issue remains central to the post-2015 agenda.”