With the start of the G8/G20 summits in Ontario just around the corner, the topic of maternal and child health and Canada’s most recent commitments to furthering these goals have received widespread coverage in the media. Before the summits begin, CWHN has compiled some key facts and readings to consider.

In the year 2000, the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) were endorsed by all 192 member states of the United Nations. These international development goals are aimed at improving the conditions of the world’s poorest nations in measurable ways by the year 2015.

But ten years after the original MDGs were set, goals 4 and 5 – improving maternal health and reducing child mortality - are considered by many to be the furthest behind. Read what progress has been made in the just released report Countdown to 2015: taking stock of maternal, newborn & child survival

Why does maternal and child health need to be a priority?

WEBINAR    

Click here to view the webinar (1 hour long, recorded June 16, 2010)

Download the presentation PowerPoint here (courtesy of the Guttmacher Institute)

The Canadian Women’s Health Network welcomes Katherine McDonald, Executive Director of Action Canada for Population and Development, to discuss what the evidence shows about maternal health internationally and how this relates to gender equality and human rights.

McDonald will discuss sexual and reproductive health in the developing world and offer historical context to the current political discussion. She will talk about women's health and reproductive rights in international law and discuss the disparities between the Global South and North.

Before joining ACPD in 1997, McDonald practiced law for ten years, and was the Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Public Legal Education Society, and President of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women. She is a Past President of Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada, and a past member of the governing bodies of International Planned Parenthood Federation. She holds a law degree from Dalhousie University and a Masters of Laws from the University of Ottawa.

Production of this event has been made possible through a financial contribution from Health Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada.

Click here to watch the webinar (One hour long, recorded Thurs. April 29, 2010)

Presenters:
Janet Dollin MDCM, CCFP, FCFP
Kathleen Gartke, MD, FRCSC
Barbara Lent  MD, CCFP, FCFP
Cheryl Levitt MBBCh, CCFP, FCFP

The current reality of Canadian physician demographics will require men and women to collaborate to optimize clinical care through innovative ways of organizing clinical work and academic responsibilities.

Presenters will look at international data in context with what we have learned in Canada to ensure healthy medical workplaces, to improve gender equity in the ranks and within leadership, and to build family-friendly workplaces within our institutions.

The goal is for webinar participants to discover the relevance of these international reports to Canada and to their own workplace, reflect on evolving attitudinal shifts, gain deeper understanding across generations and consider possible individual and institutional responses to the issues raised.

Production of this event has been made possible through a financial contribution from Health Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada.

Click here to watch the webinar (One hour long, recorded March 31st, 2010)

Canadian Women’s Health Network and Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence welcome Dr. Elaine Enarson, a disaster sociologist and a founding member of Gender and Disaster Network Canada. Enarson’s personal experience in Hurricane Andrew sparked extensive work on disaster vulnerability and resilience. She writes widely on the role of gender in disasters, from the way that women and men experience the effects of an emergency and its aftermath differently, to the ways that women’s skills are used (or not used) in the rebuilding process.

For those interested in learning more about gender and disaster, a list of additional resources compiled by Dr. Enarson will be available here. Check back soon!

Gender-bending and Environmental Justice: The Way We Talk About Endocrine Disruption 
             
Click here to watch the webinar (One hour long, recorded Thursday March 18)

Dayna Nadine Scott, co-director of the National Network on Environments and Women’s Health, will discuss the environmental health effects of long-term, low-dose exposure to pollutants, with a focus on the Aamjiwnaang First Nation reserve near Sarnia, ON. This community, in the midst of Canada’s largest petro-chemical complex, has seen a drastic decline in male newborns in recent years.

Production of these events has been made possible through a financial contribution from Health Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada.