Highlights from Livable Cities
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The Livable Cities program has had lots of activity in 2018, with both local programs and international work through the World Urban Forum.
- In Bangladesh, our partner, Work for a Better Bangladesh has achieved significant results with their Active and Safe Routes to School Program. The program is now operating in eight schools and this has resulted in 2520 children being able to walk to school more safely.
- In Nepal, our local partner, Resource Centre for Primary Health Care, after many years of advocacy, has successfully convinced the government to make a section of Kathmandu (Thamel) and the heritage area Pashupati pedestrian-only. Approximately 4000 residents who live in Thamel, the 517,000 tourists who visit Thamel and the 1.5 million people who visit Pashupati now have safer, more comfortable spaces to walk.
- In India, there have been improved pedestrian, cycling and public spaces in seven cities as a result of Evangelical Social Action Forum's continued efforts.
- Bangalore is building cycling infrastructure and has implemented a bike share program as a result of cycle days. Governments in Kerala State are creating policies to ensure inclusive public spaces, including beaches.
- In Vietnam, we continued our partnership with the World Resource Institute and EMBARQ on the road safety project in Ho Chi Minh City which is improving pedestrian infrastructure. In Hue, we also improved a neighbourhood public space that is now used by 500 children and 100 adults daily.
- In Africa, three parks were created in three cities: Kampala (Uganda), Accra (Ghana), and Niamey (Niger), creating safe public spaces for recreation and play.
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Highlights from Tobacco Control & NCD Prevention
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- Advocacy for tobacco tax increase and improvement of tax structure remains a priority for HealthBridge Vietnam. We continued our support to the Ministry of Finance to share the results of TaxSim modeling and used the findings to design a new tax proposal.
- Tobacco industry interference still remains a big challenge for tobacco control in Vietnam, and we provided evidence for the SEATCA Tobacco Interference index 2018 report.
- HealthBridge partnered with McMaster University to examine the impact of tobacco prices on smoking onset, smoking cessation, and tobacco consumption in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, South Africa, and Vietnam.
- HealthBridge Vietnam continues to pursue its commitment for a strong alcohol control law by generating and sharing evidence on the impacts of advertisement and promotion on alcohol consumption, as well as poverty.
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Highlights from Health, Nutrition and Food Security
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We continue to focus on improving health and nutrition through a food systems approach.
- In Ecuador we worked to understand and improve the food system to address the double burden of under- and over-nutrition. The Ecuadorian “EcoComer” project, implemented in collaboration with EkoRural and other partners, is working to understand the drivers of “responsible consumption”.
- In Vietnam and Nepal, the Maternal Child Health project has a specific nutrition focus to improve access to nutrient dense local foods and supplements and improve child feeding practices.
- HealthBridge provided technical support to two research projects with First Nations in Canada, and the monitoring and evaluation efforts of NGOs in Haiti and in East Africa.
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Highlights from Gender, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
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- HealthBridge in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Dar es Salaam is improving health services for mothers and children in Tanzania. The project is finding ways to overcome poor understanding of the importance of antenatal care in the Kilolo and Mufindi districts of the Iringa region of Tanzania. Women’s Participatory Learning and Action Groups were set-up in 20 villages to identify and prioritize barriers to their poor maternal health outcomes, then strategize about how to solve them.
- In Son La province, Vietnam and Banke district, Nepal, in collaboration with our local partners, International Nepal Fellowship in Nepal and Centre for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population in Vietnam, the Saving Lives of Mothers and Children in Nepal and Vietnam is still improving the quality of and increasing access to maternal, newborn and child health services among vulnerable groups. In Nepal, 132 mothers group meetings are being conducted on a monthly basis. In Vietnam, more than 200 village meetings for caregivers and more than 90 nutrition education sessions were conducted
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