Global Health Initiative
In 2009, President Obama announced the Global Health Initiative (GHI), a new approach to global health that focuses on addressing critical concerns including family planning, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases. The GHI will guide U.S. policy on global health issues for the near and extended future. Advocates must strongly articulate the need for U.S. policy to embrace principles of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and its comprehensive sexual and reproductive health frame to ensure that the GHI truly promotes the health needs of all.
Two of the core principles that officials have designed to guide the GHI are the integration and coordination of the delivery of health interventions and a woman-centered approach. These two principles are critical to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Integration supports sexual and reproductive health by encouraging a holistic approach to patient care and more effectively addressing the interrelated sexual and reproductive health issues that individuals face. A woman-centered approach to health is a human rights-based approach that seeks to ensure that every individual has access to basic health, education and other social services, including sexual and reproductive health.
See CHANGE's Policy Brief A Woman-Centered Approach to the U.S. Global Health Initiative
Related News
- Secretary Clinton on the Global Health Initiative: More on the WHAT and the WHO, but Not the HOW
August 23, 2010 - From polio to PEPFAR and beyond: can the GHI reform the way we do global health?
August 19, 2010 - Hillary Clinton Touts Global Health Initiative as Key Foreign Policy Tool
August 17, 2010 - Why foreign aid and Africa don’t mix
August 16, 2010 - SWAZILAND: ABC approach to be shelved
August 16, 2010 - Secretary Clinton Delivers Remarks Monday, August 16 on the Global Health Initiative
August 12, 2010 - U.S. Global Health Initiative Partners Seek Innovation for Impact
August 11, 2010 - Conversations with America: A Discussion on PEPFAR
August 10, 2010
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The Obama administration has made key changes directly impact women and girls living with HIV/AIDS. However, problems with implementation and legislative barriers continue to impede progress towards a comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights. This poster was developed for the 2010 XVIII International AIDS Conference. - HIV/AIDS and Women in the Sex Sector: Facing Challenges and Finding Solutions
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President Obama's GHI calls for a "woman-centered approach" to development policy and programming. This policy brief defines what that means by identifying the key elements of such an approach, and best practices. - Comments in Response to the Implementation of the Global Health Initiative: Consultation Document
Submitted by: Advocates for Youth, the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), Family Care International, and the International Women’s Health Coalition. These comments are tailored to specifically address issues within our particular expertise, though we also join with other comments from the advocacy community addressing larger frame issues related to the President’s Global Health Initiative (GHI).
Related Links
- Americans for UNFPA
- Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA)
- Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR)
- International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
- International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC)
- Ipas
- PEPFAR Watch
- Population Action International (PAI)
- Prevention Now!
- Reproductive Health Matters



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