ACCELERATING CHANGE: FOUNDATION BLOG

A WHO report on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) reveals an important change in direction, in our view. Specifically, WHO is adopting a monitoring mechanism that will rely on a WHO-convened consortium of institutions, including the Access to Nutrition Foundation and others. This approach follows the recognition that, “WHO has not been able to finalize a concrete self-reporting tool, including related indicators, that non-State actors could use to publish their own contributions on their own websites for independent comparison and assessment.”

Nancy Conrad launched the Conrad Foundation and its flagship program, the Conrad Challenge, after the passing of her husband, Charles “Pete” Conrad. Pete was the third man to walk on the moon and an entrepreneur in aerospace exploration. Earlier this month, NASA confirmed that the first all-women spacewalk would take place on March 29th. We took the opportunity to speak with Nancy, who shares her husband’s passion for inspiring future explorers and has made incredible efforts to keep his spirit for innovation and entrepreneurship alive.

In the days leading up to International Women’s Day, the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the Office of Global Women’s Issues at the US Department of State hosted their annual International Women’s Day Forum: The Equality Opportunity. The Forum was focused on women’s economic rights not only as the right thing to do but also the smart thing to do.” Suzanne Clark, Senior Executive Vice President of the US Chamber of Commerce, opened the Forum and set the tone with an impassioned, cogent speech. She laid out the business case for women’s economic empowerment, highlighting the immense potential in labor force productivity and consumer spending that remains unmet because of the gender-based barriers women face in business as both members of the workforce and as entrepreneurs.

The Lancet recently published a #LancetWomen theme issue that explores the institutional and systemic barriers women face in science, medicine, and global health. I was greeted at the New York launch event at Columbia University in early February by a room full of familiar faces, champions of gender equality and women’s empowerment. They were women I’d seen in attendance and heard speak at other events, such as the Women Leaders in Global Health Conference that was held last November in London. It was a room to be reckoned with.

Philip Morris International (PMI) has announced its intentions to remove its combustible tobacco products from the New Zealand market as early as this year. Should we view this initiative as the beginning of the end for combustible tobacco products, or as another ploy of the industry to subvert public health policy development?