John Snow, Inc.
44 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA 02210, USA
Phone: 617.482.9485
Fax: 617.482.0617
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JSI rehabilitating health facilities for maternal and newborn health services in Liberia
January 30th, 2012, Fishtown, Liberia: JSI's Rebuilding Basic Health Services (RHBS) project is in the process of renovating dozens of health centers in Liberia, a country that is rebounding from many years of civil war. In ceremonies attended by national and local health partners in River Gee County on January 23rd and 24th, RBHS dedicated and handed management of three renovated health centers over to Liberia's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW).
"The reason we (are refurbishing) all these health facilities is to encourage all child-bearing mothers to come and deliver at the health centers. We do not want any child or woman to die, especially in child birth," said RBHS Chief of Party Dr. Rose Macauley. Her sentiments were echoed by Dr. Moses Pewu, Assistant Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Liberia. By the time the project ends in 2014, it is expected that 112 renovated facilities will return to MOHSW management.
Read the story in the Liberian Observer.
JSI HIV Research Featured in Boston Globe
December 1, 2011: Results of a JSI survey conducted to assess the needs of people living with HIV in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire was highlighted in the Boston Globe, In 30 years, progress on HIV, but many still untreated.
The survey report, conducted for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Boston Public Health Commission, highlights some of the obstacles faced in further reducing the spread of HIV and deaths from AIDS.
JSI conducted the survey in two parts. The first was sent to almost 5,000 people living with HIV. About 1,800 people responded to questions about the basic needs for services. A second, more detailed survey was then administered to over 1000 of the respondents to the first survey. This is the largest survey of people living with HIV that has been conducted in Massachusetts.
From the needs and barriers to care to stigma and employment issues, the report, the Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire HIV/AIDS Consumer Study, looks at a host of issues confronting people living with HIV.
The Globe article highlighted specific findings, including that fewer than 60 percent of HIV-affected people received treatments within the first month after their diagnosis and that 16 percent still had not received any treatment within a year of being diagnosed.
The Globe article appears on December 1, 2011, World AIDS Day, 30 years since the disease was first identified. Learn more about the JSI project
Read Boston Globe article: In 30 years, progress on HIV, but many still untreated
JSI's study prompts reflection, dialog on teen pregnancy.
October 16, 2011: In the Denver Post, columnist Tina Griego reflects on the causes of teen pregnancy, as brought to light by JSI's Unintended Pregnancy Research project. JSI's research is helping the citizens and policy makers of Pueblo, CO, understand and find solutions to the growing rate of teen pregnancy, which is out of step with most of the nation's declining rates.
Griego spoke to JSI Project Director Yvonne Hamby, Pueblo County Health Department Director Christine Nevin-Woods, and teenage mothers themselves, alternating their quotes with her own musings on the subject.
Read Tina Griego's OpEd in the Denver Post.
"Witnessing Social Impact": Joel Lamstein Featured in the New York Times
August 28, 2011 , Boston, MA - The staff at JSI and World Education are extremely proud of our president, Joel Lamstein, who is profiled in the New York Times feature, The Boss.
The Boss appears weekly in the Sunday Business section and highlights the influences and philosophies of exceptional business leaders.
In his interview with Glenn Rifkin, Lamstein talks about how his late father, his presence on the steps of the University of Michigan library when President Kennedy announced the Peace Corps 50 years ago, his experience with the Vietnam draft, and early work at IBM all shaped his approach to running two global organizations.
Today, Joel gets great satisfaction from seeing how JSI and World Education's programs change people's lives for the better.
Joel co-founded JSI with Dr. Norbert Hirschhorn in 1978 and over the 33 years has built both John Snow, Inc. and its sister nonprofit, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. into two close-knit organizations that have worked in 105 countries to advance the health of underserved and vulnerable populations. In 1982, he also assumed the leadership of World Education, a global nonprofit that improves the lives of the poor through education and social and economic development programs. This year, World Education marks its 60th anniversary of supporting literacy and community development around the world.
Read The Boss column and learn more about what has inspired Joel and what has made him "da boss" -successful in his work as well as popular with his staff- at JSI and World Education for 33 years!
Learn more about Joel and his accomplishments on Wikipedia
Read Joel's blogs at the Huffington Post
JSI provides insight, advice on reducing teen pregnancy in Pueblo, CO.
June 30th, 2011: A press conference on the steps of the County Courthouse addressed the county's high level of teen pregnancy and discussed the findings of JSI's investigative report on the subject. The Pueblo County Department of Human Services hired JSI to conduct the Unintended Pregnancy Research project to help the citizens and policy makers understand and find solutions to Pueblo's growing rate of teen pregnancy, which is out of step with most of the nation's declining rates.
JSI conducted focus groups with teens and local policy makers, and found misinformation about sex, cultural norms, and boredom among the causes. JSI's recommendations to reverse the trend include the institution of in-school comprehensive sex education and the provision of contraceptives.
Read the article in the Pueblo Chieftain.
Virgin's Richard Branson blogs about AIDSTAR-One film, In It to Save Lives
"There's a way that few people know about that can save millions of lives at next to no cost. That is voluntary medical male circumcision. The bottom line is that it reduces transmission of HIV by 60% in men, the greatest benefits accruing in developing nations that are hardest hit by the epidemic."
Richard Branson, of Virgin Mobile, Virgin Atlantic, & Virgin America, blogs about the story behind In It to Save Lives: Scaling Up Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention for Maximum Public Health Impact, a new film from JSI's AIDSTAR-One project and supporting resources are available on AIDSTAR-One's website
Read Richard Branson's blog & watch the video
JSI's Michael Ochora Published in Kampala Newspaper New Vision
Kampala, Uganda, June 23, 2011: Michael Ochora, the information and behavior change communications manager of the JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. NUMAT (Northern Uganda Malaria AIDS & Tuberculosis) Program, wrote an article titled "Safe male circumcision an avenue to curb HIV infection" for the Uganda newspaper New Vision.
In this article, Ochora discusses past trials carried out by NUMAT, which concluded that safe male circumcision (SMC) reduces HIV acquisition by 51% in men. SMC, as a protective measure, poses momentous opportunity for Uganda in the nation's fight against the spread of HIV. Ochora suggests more involvement and support is needed from implementers and stakeholders on the ground.
Since 2006, Ochora has supported NUMAT's efforts to meet health needs in Northern Uganda, which has seen more than two decades of civil strife resulting in the deaths of thousands of children, women, and men, and the displacement of thousands more. NUMAT expands access to and utilization of HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support activities in marginalized districts of Northern Uganda.
Read "Safe male circumcision an avenue to curb HIV infection"
PBS NewsHour Notes JSI's Research on Cancer Stigma
Boston: JSI has contributed to research about attitudes toward people with cancer, a relatively ignored syndrome, reports PBS NewsHour.
As part of JSI's role implementing the LIVESTRONG Cancer Anti-Stigma Initiative in South Africa, a team of monitoring and evaluation experts, led by International Division Deputy Director Christine Claypoole, conducted house-to-house surveys, which indicated a preponderance of negative misperceptions about people with cancer. As NewsHour reports, these findings, presented at the Global Health Conference in Washington DC, corroborate similar studies in nine other countries.
LIVESTRONG's Global Cancer Campaign is working, country-by-country, to reduce the stigma associated with cancer and to raise awareness about the impact of cancer.
Read the article at PBS Newshour
PFSCM's global impact noted by Washington Business Journal
Wednesday, February 25, 2011-- As Federal agencies awarded money to local nonprofit organizations that support PEPFAR--the federal government's efforts to combat AIDS--The Washington Business Journal noted the role of JSI and other partners of the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS).
Under PEPFAR, SCMS provides global procurement and distribution for medicine and supplies that provide care and treatment to people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. SCMS is implemented by the 13-organization, JSI- and MSH-led Partnership for Supply Chain Management (PFSCM). The Washington Business Journal called PFSCM a "good example of industry and government pooling resources, expertise and influence to have a global impact."
For almost 25 years, JSI has been assisting country governments, donor agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and private companies to ensure the availability of their health supplies. JSI has supported logistics efforts in more than 40 countries and has provided or facilitated logistics training for nearly 100,000 health services staff throughout the world.
JSI's MEASURE Evaluation Project Data Aids Recovery in Haiti.
A recently written article, Staff and Quality Data Play Critical Role in Haiti Disaster Response, describes the important role that MEASURE Evaluation's work in Haiti -- before the earthquake -- has had in aiding disaster response. MEASURE develops and applies methods for monitoring and evaluation for population, health, and nutrition projects in Guinea, Haiti, Malawi, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. In the story, JSI/MEASURE Evaluation staff, including Joseph Fanor, Moussa Ly, Gerald Lerebours, and David Boone, share their experiences during and since the earthquake.
Read the article on MEASURE Evaluation's home page.
JSI 15th in Boston Globe's Top Places to Work 2010 List
Boston, MA, November 7, 2010: John Snow, Inc. (JSI) has again been named one of the Top Places to Work in Massachusetts in the third annual employee-based Boston Globe survey. JSI has been included as a Top Place to Work for each of the three years since the list was established. This year, the winners were organized into three categories: Large, midsize, and small companies. JSI is ranked 15th of 120 organizations in the small company category.
Top Places to Work recognizes the most progressive companies in the state based on employee opinions about leadership, compensation and training, diversity/inclusion, values and ethics, career development, and family-friendly flexibility. JSI received especially high rankings for its strong values and ethics and excellent employee health benefits.
"JSI's mission is to improve the quality of people's lives by improving public health. If the people who work here are to fulfill that mission, a supportive workplace is essential," said JSI President Joel Lamstein. "It's symbiotic: Take care of employees and they will take care of business, no matter what the field."
The Globe invited 1,160 employers at private companies, nonprofits, and publicly-held businesses to participate in the third annual Top Places to Work. Research partner WorkplaceDynamics of Exton, Pa., specialists in employee engagement and retention, contacted more than 133,000 employees at those companies, and received completed surveys from 82,000 individuals.
For more than 30 years, JSI has, in the words of Lamstein, worked "...to improve the health of underserved people and communities, and to provide a place where people of passion and commitment can pursue this cause."
Chris Mayer, Publisher of The Boston Globe said, "Each of the companies included in the Top Places to Work 2010 deserve recognition for creating a positive workplace for their employees. Their accomplishment adds to the vitality of this state's business environment."
Steve Hodgins & Marge Koblinsky blog on MDG 5
As world leaders and program implementers meet at the United Nations to review progress toward achieving the Millennium development Goals, JSI technical staff, Dr. Steve Hodgins, Global Leadership Team Leader, and Dr. Marge Koblinsky, Senior Technical Advisor, of the USAID-funded MCHIP project write in the Global Health Magazine blog: World Leaders, Are You Listening?
"As world leaders meet this week at the UN Summit to review progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is essential that they ask themselves one question:
Are the present global benchmark indicators for maternal health enough? The answer is no."
Read "World Leaders, Are You Listening?"
Research to reduce teen pregnancy in Colorado County
Colorado, September 16, 2010: The Pueblo Chieftan reported on JSI Senior Consultant Yvonne Hamby's address to a community meeting about JSI's Pueblo City-County Unintended Pregnancy research project. The project is researching local issues and factors associated with unintended teen pregnancy in the City-County of Pueblo, which has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in Colorado.
More than 100 officials, interested community members, and various media sources attended the meeting. Attendees completed a questionnaire that JSI designed to help identify key informants, hard-to-reach teen populations, community venues to recruit focus group participants, and community assets that may help reduce teen pregnancy in Pueblo.
Read the article in the Chieftan.
SCMS Project distributes male circumcision kits in Zimbabwe.
Harare, Zimbabwe, September 12, 2010: Newsday reports on a PEPFAR-aided pilot program to reduce HIV transmission through male circumcision. The Supply Chain Management Systems (SCMS) project, a joint partnership of JSI and MSH, has supplied 5,000 toolkits which will be given to health care providers to ensure safe and proper circumcisions for newborn males. Since 2007, SCMS has been supplementing and strengthening existing supply chain capacity for sustainable access to quality, affordable medicines and supplies to fight HIV & AIDS.
JSI Work to Reduce Maternal Deaths Featured in USAID Frontlines
The May 2010 issue of Frontlines, published by USAID, features a story about JSI's Maternal and Child Health Integrated program (MCHIP). The article focuses on the project's efforts to reduce maternal deaths while encouraging men to take an active role in their partners' pregnancies. MCHIP integrates men into maternal health programs at the community level through activities such as: training them to be male motivators and community volunteers, encouraging them to accompany their partners to clinics, setting aside funds for emergency hospital visits, and reaching out to community groups and leaders to support their engagement in maternal health.
MCHIP is currently implemented in 27 countries, and JSI leads its work in the areas of child health, immunization, and pediatric HIV and AIDS. Various country programs are highlighted in the article, and JSI's Steve Hodgins, MCHIP Global Leadership Team Leader, is quoted.
MCHIP partners include JHPIEGO, Save the Children, PATH, PSI, Broadbranch, and JHU IIP.
Read the Frontlines article
JSI's Carrie Hessler-Radelet Appointed Peace Corps Deputy Director
Washington, June 23, 2010-- Carrie Hessler-Radelet, Director of JSI's Washington, DC office and JSI employee for more than 20 years, has been appointed Deputy Director of the United States Peace Corps by President Obama, effective immediately. Her appointment was confirmed by the Senate on June 22.
For the past fifteen years, Ms. Hessler-Radelet has overseen the management of JSI's global public health programs. She has worked in the field of public health for two decades, specializing in HIV&AIDS and maternal and child health, and has worked in more than 25 countries around the world.
"JSI has benefited from Carrie Hessler-Radelet's leadership for many years. If we have to lose Carrie, we are happy that it is to Peace Corps, an organization that shares JSI's commitment to improving the delivery of basic services to those who are most in need," said Joel Lamstein, president and founder of JSI.
Ms. Hessler-Radelet received her B.A. from Boston University and her Master's in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health. A Johns Hopkins Fellow with USAID in Indonesia, she assisted the Indonesian government to develop its first national AIDS strategy. Ms. Hessler-Radelet later assisted in the development of the strategy for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Ms. Hessler-Radelet was a Peace Corps volunteer in Western Samoa, where she taught high school and helped design a national public awareness campaign on disaster preparedness. She also lived and worked in: The Gambia, where she founded Special Olympics; Indonesia, where she was the country director for JSI's Norplant Surveillance Project, and; Australia where she taught health promotion to MPH students. She has served on the steering committee of the US Coalition for Child Survival for the past 6 years.
Ms. Hessler-Radelet has served as both a board and advisory council member of the National Peace Corps Association for the past 8 years. Her family is the first four generation Peace Corps family and her grandmother, Ruth Pearsall, is the oldest living Returned Peace Corps volunteer.
The positions of director and deputy director are the only two Peace Corps positions that require Senate confirmation. As Deputy Director, Ms. Hessler-Radelet will work with Director Aaron Williams to re-invigorate the Peace Corps and enhance its impact.
"Throughout the years, JSI has worked closely with Peace Corps in a number of country programs," said Mr. Lamstein. "We look forward to continuing that collaboration as Carrie assumes her new role. Congratulations, Carrie!"
JSI/Smokers' Helpline featured on WBZ story about cigarette tax in MA
Boston, May 21st, 2010: Local ABC News affiliate WBZ ran a story that included a glimpse of the Massachusetts Smokers' Helpline, which is managed by JSI. The piece looks at how funds garnered from cigarette taxes in Massachusetts are allocated. JSI's Gina Kelleher, Clinical Supervisor of the Massachusetts Smokers' Helpline, is shown counseling a tobacco user.
JSI has been working with the State of Massachusetts to reduce tobacco use since 1993, and has managed and operated the Smokers' Helpline since 2001. The toll-free Helpline can be reached Monday-Thursday from 9am-7pm, and Fridays from 9am-5pm, at 1-800-TRYTOSTOP (1-800-879-8678).
JSI also operates the tobacco helplines for the states of New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
JSI tobacco cessation specialist featured in the MetroWest Daily News
March 30, 2010: A report in the March 26, 2010, MetroWest Daily News noted that, despite lower rates of cigarette smoking among the states' teens, other types of tobacco use has risen, as a result of tobacco industry tactics that help teens conceal tobacco use.
JSI's Ann Marie Rakovic, Director of The Smokers' Helpline for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire reinforced those findings in a letter to the editor on March 30th.
Thanks to smokeless "tobacco products that are cheaper than cigarettes and are packaged in highly attractive and flavorful varieties," Rakovic says, smokeless tobacco use is difficult to detect. "We used to look for and sniff out smoke. Now it's even harder to determine if our children are getting hooked on tobacco and nicotine" says Rakovic. Adults need to be updated on clues that can indicate tobacco use.
JSI has managed and operated the Smokers' Helpline for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health since 2001, and has been working with the state to reduce tobacco use since 1993.
A link to Ms. Rakovic's letter to the editor has been placed on the Massachusetts Department of Public Health website. Tobacco Free Mass, a local anti-tobacco advocacy group, will use the letter as supporting documentation in meetings to educate state legislators on the danger of smokeless tobacco.
Read Ms. Rakovic's letter to the editor.
JSI advises on expansion of health care safety net in Tennessee
March 18, 2010: Health care coverage in the U.S. has been at the forefront of public and political debate for many months. Meanwhile, health care policy experts from JSI continue decades of work with local and state entities to increase the reach and efficiency of the safety net, which is meant to ensure health care for people who are left out of or dropped by the system.
JSI has been working with the Nashville Metro government to develop a better business model for their health care safety net system. Recommendations include collaboration and resource pooling amongst the various providers in the Nashville Metro area. Senior Consultant Reesa Webb of JSI's Denver office says that the proposed recommendations would improve access to health care for more of the people who "...don't have the resources to either have health care or pay for their medical care."
The Tennessean and several other local media outlets covered the story.
News Channel 5 story and video clip.
Bantwana Featured on WBUR's Here and Now radio program
February 26, 2010, Boston MA: The Bantwana Initiative's work in Swaziland was highlighted today in a radio interview on WBUR's Here and Now program. In Swaziland, Bantwana is working with schools to provide a range of comprehensive services for children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. The interview highlights the difficulties poor school children face--particularly in a country like Swaziland which has the highest rate of HIV in the world.
At the end of January, two Swazi teachers engaged in the Bantwana program, Welcome Mkhaliphi and Thulani Tfwala, and Bantwana monitoring and evaluation officer Mavis Vilane, visited Boston to speak about the struggles that young children and adolescents in Swaziland face and how volunteers are dedicating their lives to help these children cope and thrive.
The Bantwana Initiative for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, a program of World Education and John Snow, Inc., helps communities expand and increase the quality of comprehensive services to areas where orphaned and vulnerable children live. Building on effective community practices and cultural traditions, Bantwana helps caregivers and teachers find and create solutions to addressing the complex needs of children living in their midst. Bantwana also links communities with policymakers and government officials to ensure common understanding and joint problem solving about how to support these children. Learn more at www.bantwana.org
Listen to the interview on Here and Now
SCMS work in Haiti highlighted in the Boston Globe
January 21, 2010: The Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) project's work in Haiti delivering drugs after the earthquake has been highlighted in the Boston Globe newspaper. Implemented through the Partnership for Supply Chain, an initiative of JSI and Management Sciences for Health, SCMS has been working in Haiti for more than two years.
The SCMS staff in Haiti have distributed medicine kits and other medical supplies from existing stock in the project warehouse to 16 hospitals and 14 clinical sites in Port-au-Prince. As of January 19, more than 40,000 pounds (18,000kg) of medicines and emergency medical supplies from warehouse stock had been distributed. Kits included: antibiotics (including co-trimoxazole), blood transfusion sets, exam lamps, first aid supplies (bandages, tape, alcohol wipes, cotton), ibuprofen, syringes and needles, and other essential drugs.
SCMS made its first routine resupply of antiretroviral AIDS medicines to a health facility. Without uninterrupted supply of antiretroviral medicines, patients will soon relapse and are at risk of developing drug resistant strains of AIDS. The staff helped treat the wounded immediately after the earthquake. SCMS staff in Haiti and around the globe are determining other ways to contribute to the relief effort.
SCMS is a USAID-funded project that manages warehousing and distribution of HIV & AIDS commodities for the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in the country.
JSI had three other projects working in Haiti at the time of the January 11 earthquake. All staff are safe and are now assisting with the relief effort.
The Guardian reports on JSI's work to lower maternal deaths in Tanzania
November 23, 2009: In Tanzania, where the mortality rate is 950 per 100,000 live births, access to contraception is scarce. Cultural and religious beliefs opposing the use of modern contraceptives and myths about side effects further discourage their use. JSI's Tim Rosche, Director of the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT in Tanzania, is urging the government to accept new birth control drugs that could help decrease the maternal mortality rate.
JSI's Richard Brennan: Building Back Better in Liberia
November 17, 2009: Dr. Richard Brennan heads the Rebuilding Basic Health Services (RBHS) in Liberia Project. In this personal profile in the Australian North Side newspaper, Dr. Brennan reflects upon where he's come from and what inspires him.
JSI Selected a Top Place to Work in Boston for Second Year
November 8, 2009, Boston, MA: For the second year in a row, John Snow, Inc. (JSI) has been recognized as a Top Place to Work in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe newspaper. JSI ranked 50th among the almost 300 companies that fully participated in the survey and 22nd in the Small Companies category.
The results are based solely on the opinions of employees provided through an online survey covering company leadership, career development, work-life balance, job satisfaction, compensation and training, values and ethics. JSI employees specifically acknowledged that the company operates with strong values and ethics and gives them respect and flexibility which helps foster a positive work environment. The employees also expressed their feeling that the organization values them during difficult times.
" I am pleased that we have received this recognition from the Boston Globe two consecutive years," said JSI president and founder, Joel Lamstein. "In this very challenging economic time, I am glad to hear that the employees have confidence in their work and feel that we are going in the right direction. It is all our staff that help make JSI such a terrific place to work. "
You can read direct quotes, pulled from the surveys, of why staff enjoy working at JSI in the Globe's online feature at the Globe's Top Places web feature.
The Globe 100's Top Places to Work 2009 magazine was published in the Boston Sunday Globe on November 8, 2009. 269 companies and more than 86,000 employees participated in the survey. The report and other features can be found online at www.boston.com/topworkplaces
NUMAT responds to NY Times Columnist's Half the Sky Competition
September 23, 2009: Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for the New York Times, is hosting a special contest focusing on women and girls around the world. He is encouraging readers of his blog to share stories that show the work being done for women and girls around the world and shed light on the possibilities for change. Diana Sera and Florence Aliba of the NUMAT Project in Uganda responded with a touching story from their work.
NUMAT's story on Half the Sky Competition
Joel Lamstein Recipient of 2009 Social Leadership Award
September 10, 2009, Boston, MA: JSI President Joel Lamstein has been chosen as the recipient of the 2009 CEO Social Leadership Award, a program funded by the Lewis Family Foundation. The award comes with a $25,000 donation to be used for a social initiative.
"Joel Lamstein embodies the CEO who completely walks the talk around social responsibility," said George Donnelly, editor of the Boston Business Journal and a member of the CEO Social Leadership Award selection committee. Lamstein was selected for his commitment to both local and global social issues. Of particular note in the nomination was his support of Boston Partners in Education, a nonprofit that provides Boston Public School children with one-on-one volunteer support.
Lamstein was honored at the Boston Business Journal's annual Corporate Citizenship Summit on Sept. 11.
The award is sponsored by the Lewis Family Foundation, led by Alan and Harriet Lewis, owners of Grand Circle Travel. The CEO Social Leadership Award is administered with the help of the Boston Business Journal. To read the article on Joel, visit the Boston Business Journal
Watch an interview with Joel on the New England Cable Network
Liberian President presides over JSI youth program launch
TMCnet, August 21, 2009
The President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, announced the launch of the President's Young Professional Program. The program, an initiative of JSI, focuses on preparing promising young Liberians to become professionals to develop the nation. Participants are college graduates who demonstrate leadership skills and character and are committed to building Liberia's future.
JSI's RH for Refugees team blogging for RH Reality Check
August 19, 2009: On World Humanitarian Day, JSI's Astarte/Reproductive Health for Refugees team has been blogging about reproductive health in conflict zones.
Read the blog at RH Reality Check
JSI's Steve Hodgins cited in The Lancet article on Nepal
August 2009: This month's The Lancet includes a World Report by Thomas C. Tsai that looks at the state of public health in Nepal after 10 years of civil conflict.
JSI Chief of Party for the Nepal Family Health Program, Steve Hodgins, is quoted in the article. " ...it appears there has been a real reduction [in the maternal mortality rate in Nepal]. I would attribute this to the marked increases in literacy among young women and the associated relative empowerment. These gains are durable and we expect further gains as a result of further improvement in population-level coverage of life-saving services and interventions. "
To read the entire article, visit The Lancet, Volume 374, Issue 9689, Pages 515 - 516, 15 August 2009.
JSI has worked to improve health outcomes in Nepal for 30 years.
JSI's Coast Guard study cited in article on boating safety
July 6, 2009: Timed to coincide with the onset of the summer holidays, the Poughkeepsie NY Journal ran a story about the use of personal floatation devices (PFD) and boaters. The article cites JSI Research & Training Institute's ongoing U.S. Coast Guard study, which monitors PFD usage across the U.S. and was recently funded for a twelfth year.
The Coast Guard gathers information about lifejacket-wearing behavior in order to assess if educational campaigns for all boaters and regulations for children have increased usage. The Coast Guard uses JSI's data in its annual reports to Congress to illustrate how it is meeting agency goals to increase lifejacket use.
All states require that children under the age of 13 wear lifejackets while onboard, and that all boats be equipped with enough PDFs for every passenger. Only in limited instances, however, do any states require that people over the age of 13 wear lifejackets.
This inconsistency is problematic on many levels. "Parent's don't realize that although their kids go out on the water wearing life jackets, if the parents themselves aren't wearing one, their ability to rescue their kids and save themselves is inhibited," commented JSI Principal Study Investigator Dr. Tom Mangione. "It's a bitter irony when a kid survives because a parent was smart enough to put her in a lifejacket, but the parent dies because s/he didn't wear one."
There are approximately 700 boating-related drownings each year, and the Coast Guard maintains that 85% of those deaths could be prevented if boaters were wearing lifejackets before falling into the water.
JSI leads project to develop best practices and reporting for healthcare-associated infections in MA
JSI's Health Services has prepared a report for the State of Massachusetts on the prevention, monitoring and cost of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). JSI coordinated the work of a multidisciplinary panel of experts and 6 working groups charged with examining the problem of HAIs and developing evidence-based recommendations for prevention, surveillance and reporting. Other report-informing activities included extensive literature reviews, cost analysis, a survey of practices at 73 acute care hospitals across the state, reviews of educational approaches for prevention, focus groups with hospital executives about HAI prevention, and reporting and formative research on communicating HAI information to the public. The report, Prevention and Control of Healthcare-Associated Infections in Massachusetts, presents the groups' findings and recommendations. Co-authored Dr. Lisa Hirschhorn, Senior Clinical Advisor at JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., and member of related-project Massachusetts Healthcare Associated Infections Prevention and Control team, comments in the Boston Globe. The story is also covered on the Kaiser Network news website. www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=46815
Read the article in the Boston Globe
JSI Denver working to provide better access to care in La Plata County, CO
June 28, 2007: With news of its health care professional shortage area designation, La Plata County, Primary Health Care Community Coalition Chairman Pat Murphy will rely on JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. to use the designation to suggest ways to deal with the health-care crisis. JSI Senior Consultant Reesa Webb says that the designation is a key to solving the primary care access crisis, which has left many local residents without care. JSI Research & Training Institute was hired by the Coalition for its expertise in rural primary care development.
JSI's Anti-Malaria Work Noted in New York Times
June 28, 2006: JSI's anti-malarial efforts in Uganda are acknowledged in Celia Dugger's "Push for New Tactics as War on Malaria Falters," first of a series of two articles entitled "Fighting an Old Scourge."
In Uganda, more than 1.6 million children are affected by malaria each year. JSI's Uganda Program for Human and Holistic Development (UPHOLD) project works to prevent malaria by procuring and distributing insecticide treated nets to those at highest-risk for contracting malaria, including expectant mothers and infants, especially those who are who are displaced in refugee camps, where there is a higher incidence of malaria and other vector-borne diseases. When insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are regularly available, retreated regularly and used properly, they are a highly effective mechanism of protecting against mosquito bites that may carry malaria.
The UPHOLD project promotes various approaches to increase use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and presumptive treatment for pregnant women. UPHOLD facilitates malaria prevention and treatment counseling between health workers and mothers, and has developed behavior change through radio messages, drama groups, and posters.
UPHOLD is also working to ensure that those affected by malaria receive appropriate treatment and care, both in health facilities and at home. Fever in children under five can be effectively managed through simple interventions that mothers and caretakers can do. UPHOLD's home-based management of fever strategy is training volunteers to dispense Homapak, a pre-packaged dose of antimalarial medication, for treatment of fever in children under five-years-old, thus reducing the need to go to health facilities. Last year alone, UPHOLD-supported health providers and volunteers treated over 1.5 million children with Homapak.
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