The WiRED International Governing Board has elected Charlotte Keegan Ferretti, R.N., Ed.D., as its new board chair, effective August 1, 2019. She replaces Anthony Hodge, who, though retiring from the helm, will stay on the board.
An eruption of dengue fever has reached epidemic proportions in Honduras. Health officials there have declared the crisis a national emergency. According to CNN, hospitals in La Paz are so overwhelmed that patients are spilling over into corridors and even a nearby chapel, while planned operations have been postponed.
WiRED International is pleased to announce Mark D. Kelleher’s election to its board of directors. Mr. Kelleher said, “I’m delighted to join the WiRED International board, and honored to be asked.
On July 17, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared that the year-old Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is now a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” WHO has already identified Ebola as one of the 10 threats to global health in 2019.
Lency Mmbone is a 24-year-old community health worker (CHW) who lives and works in Obunga, one of the poorest areas of Kisumu in western Kenya. In a testimonial sent to WiRED International, Ms. Mmbone said, “I want to thank WiRED for providing free health information materials to the vulnerable settlement of Obunga Slum.”
WiRED International is pleased to announce the receipt of a memorandum of understanding from the Republic of Armenia’s Ministry of Health.
It is July. To most people in the northern hemisphere, summer means vacations, extra hours of light in the evening, swimming and other outdoor joys. Unfortunately, summer also brings mosquitoes.
WiRED International and Armenian Caritas recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work jointly to host health training programs throughout underserved communities in Armenia.
In March 2018 WiRED International launched its Health Module Access Program (HealthMAP). This innovative technology opened up access to WiRED’s materials for millions more people in the world’s most distant communities, many with limited or no online access. A year later WiRED now unveils a newly refreshed and more user-friendly HealthMAP.
Dengue fever threatens nearly half of the world’s population, but it will likely get much worse. The New York Times reports on a recent study that forecasts that climate change is about to boost the risk of the disease to considerably larger swaths of the population.