In 2018, the Lancet Commission on High Quality Health Systems ignited a global shift in focus and investment for maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH).

Increasing access to care had been a primary focus during previous decades, but the Commission found that as service use increased, “poor-quality care” had become a more significant obstacle to reducing mortality than insufficient access. The Commission also argued that increasing access alone would not achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3—ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being. What the world needed now was an intensified focus on improving quality of care.

Extreme heat can be deadly, and 2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record. In the United States, heatwaves cause more deaths than any other weather related events. In Europe, close to 62,000 deaths during Summer 2022 were linked to heat related causes. Globally, an estimated 5 million people a year die from extreme temperatures–hot and cold.

Faced with the grim situation of normalized extreme heat and drought, it is imperative for China to improve agricultural resilience to climate change. Rural communities, often led by women, are using seed banks and traditional techniques to boost local crop diversity and food security in order to adapt to climate change.

Of the 1.8 billion people who menstruate each month, 500 million are unable to adequately manage menstruation, leading to health, economic, and safety concerns. Menstruation remains a taboo topic that is often overlooked within health sectors. But recent attention from global health, international development, women’s empowerment, and humanitarian organizations has increased awareness for the impact of menstruation on women’s participation in societies and economies.

The 2023 Women Deliver Conference in Kigali, Rwanda offered participants an opportunity to think deeply about gender equality, and the urgency of this moment in making progress was evident – even at a pre-conference event hosted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA): Scaling Up Actions to End Preventable Maternal Deaths: Linkages with Family Planning, Bodily Autonomy and the Health Workforce.

One in every 23 people is expected to need humanitarian assistance in 2023. That is a record 339 million this year alone. During such humanitarian crises, the needs of women, newborns and adolescents are often unmet, with devastating consequences. In fact, in 2023, 58 percent of global maternal deaths, 50 percent of newborn deaths, and 51 percent of stillbirths worldwide occur in the 29 countries with a UN humanitarian response plan or regional response plan.

Four months ago, the resident medical officer at the HIV and AIDS clinic in Kampala, Uganda reported that the clinic treated up to 50 patients a day. Now, the clinic is relatively empty, and supplies of antiretroviral therapy (ART) pile up, unused.