The mass atrocity event in Connecticut took place just a few miles from my own elementary school. I don’t know about you, but I am in the mood for some uplifting news right now.
PSI Impact magazine, for which I am a contributor, asked its readers to nominate 10 great global health moments of the past year, then asked experts write profiles of each milestone. This list will lift your spirits. Human ingenuity, political will and determination made 2012 a banner year in the effort to make this a healthier planet.
What follows is a wonderful example of humanity at its best. I strongly encourage you to click through and read each story.
#1 London Summit on Family Planning Ignites $2.6 billion in Commitments
– Dr. Gary Darmstadt, Director of Family Health and Dr. Chris Elias, President of Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
–Mark Lowcock, Permanent Secretary, UKAID
#2 India Celebrates 1 Year Free of Polio
–Dr. Robert S. Scott, International PolioPlus Committee Chair, and Deepak Kapur, National PolioPlus Committee Chair, India, The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International
#3 Global Leaders Convene Child Survival Call to Action
—Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendez, Assistant Administrator for Global Health, USAID
#4 Child Mortality Declines Globally
—Dr. Nick Alipui, Director, Program Division, UNICEF
#5 AIDS 2012 Focuses on an “AIDS-Free Generation”
—Eric Goosby, US Global AIDS Coordinator
#6 Public-Private Partnerships Thrive
—Geralyn Ritter, Senior Vice President of Global Public Policy & Corporate Responsibility, Merck
#7 Gates Foundation Calls for Reinventing the Toilet
—Doulaye Kone, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
#8 Nutrition Movement Gets Its Turn
—Anne Peniston, Nutrition Chief, USAID
#9 Spotlight on Girls’ Health Shifts Awareness to Action
—Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess of Norway, Mette-Marit
#10 GAVI Adds HPV to Vaccine Portfolio
—Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO GAVI Alliance