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URC/CHS News Archives | Contact us | Home URC/CHS NewsURC Shares Project Results at 2008 Global Health Council Conference One of the leading events in the international health field, the Global Health Council (GHC) conference this year drew more than 2300 health professionals from around the world. The theme of the 35th annual conference held May 27-June 1, 2008 in Washington DC, was “Community Health: Delivering, Serving, Engaging, Leading.” URC/CHS, for a third year, was a sponsor of the conference, and several URC staff made presentations linked to the conference theme. Read more. HCIP Staff Present on Campaign to Stop Underage Drinking at Social Marketing in Public Health Conference URC staff from the Health Communications Initiative for the Prevention of Underage Alcohol Use (HCIP) presented a poster on Changing Underage Drinking Norms at the annual Social Marketing Conference on June 19, 2008, in Clearwater Beach, FL. Read more. Improvement Collaborative Results Presented at 2008 International Forum on Quality and Safety in Health Care URC’s pioneering work to scale up quality improvements in health care systems through collaboratives was presented by staff from the USAID Health Care Improvement Project (HCI) at the 2008 International Forum on Quality and Safety in Health Care. Held this year in Paris, the conference drew more than 2,200 delegates from around the world. Read more. Malaria Day, April 25, 2008: “Malaria: a disease without borders”
Report on Orphans and Vulnerable Children Published by UNICEF and URC URC is pleased to announce publication of The Evidence Base for Programming for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in Low Prevalence and Concentrated Epidemic Countries. The working paper is the result of collaboration between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and URC’s Quality Assurance and Workforce Development Project (QAP). The USAID Health Care Improvement Project (HCI), the follow-on to QAP which took effect September 24, 2007, published the report for UNICEF and USAID. Read more. World TB Day Event Held to Raise Awareness in Migrant Farmworker Community
U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland Visits Mbabane Hospital
CHS New Jersey Director Testifies at Governor’s Advisory Panel Hearing CHS’ Louis Marino was invited to testify as an expert witness on immigrant education and social services issues at a public hearing convened in Bridgeton, New Jersey, by the the State of New Jersey Governor’s Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigrant Policy. Read more. World TB Day, 2008
URC Projects among those Featured in President and First Lady’s Africa Trip During their Africa trip in February, President and Mrs. Bush visited Benin and Tanzania, where URC projects were featured in the visit. Read more. Health Care Accreditation Council Holds Inaugural Board Meeting Jordan’s new Health Care Accreditation Council held its first board meeting on February 7, 2008. After a full day orientation which started with congratulatory remarks by the Minister of Health and the USAID Mission Director, the Assembly of shareholders meeting was held which appointed the board and Chairperson. The first Board Chairperson is Eng Said Darwazeh the former and longest tenured Minister of Health and a champion of accreditation since 2003. Read more.
To commemorate International Women’s Day in 2008, USAID’s Bureau for Global Health developed a web feature entitled “Women Making a Difference,” compiling profiles about outstanding women who are making a difference in their own countries through work for USAID, its missions, and partner organizations. URC is pleased to join USAID and partners worldwide to bring a spotlight to women from our staff who are playing critical roles in USAID-funded health programs in their countries. Read more. A First for Nicaragua: Private Sector Organization Certified as “Mother and Baby Friendly”
QAP/HCI’s Work Implementing Improvement Collaboratives in Developing Countries Presented at 2007 National Forum The pioneering work that URC's Quality Assurance Project (QAP), now the USAID Health Care Improvement (HCI) Project, has conducted to implement improvement collaboratives in developing and middle-income countries was presented at the 2007 National Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare Conference sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The annual event, which regularly draws over 5500 health care leaders from around the world and thousands more for its satellite broadcast, was held this year December 9-12 in Orlando, Florida. Read more. URC Receives Award from the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria URC is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract from the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria for delivery of consulting services for operations and grants management support in Southern Africa and Latin American and the Caribbean. In both regions, URC will work in partnership with the Global Fund to provide grants management support, improve governance and oversight processes of the Fund’s Country Coordinating Mechanisms, and document case studies of innovative strategies and partnerships. The contract, URC’s first with the Global Fund, will operate on task orders similar to an Indefinite Quantity Contract (IQC). URC will manage task orders by drawing upon staff experts and regionally based consultants to provide technical assistance and support, monitor task order implementation, and ensure compliance with best practices. Please contact Jack Galloway at jgalloway@urc-chs.com for more information on URC's services under the contract. Innovative Program Makes Skilled Obstetric Care More Accessible in Remote Guatemalan Communities
A training program being developed by the USAID-funded Calidad en Salud program, managed by URC, is placing skilled birth attendants in the remote Mayan communities of Guatemala. Under the USAID program, URC is working in close partnership with the Guatemalan Ministry of Health (MOH) and the National School of Nursing to train 120 Mayan auxiliary nurse-midwives to detect the obstetric complications that cause high rates of maternal mortality throughout the country and most especially in the country's remote and underserved areas. Read more.
USAID Awards URC Project for Nutrition Interventions in Uganda URC has been awarded a three-year Cooperative Agreement from USAID to support the Food and Nutrition Interventions for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PHA) in Uganda. The agreement, valued at $6 million, took effect January 1, 2008. Peggy Koniz-Booher, URC’s long-term Senior Technical Advisor for Nutrition and Behavior Change Communication, will serve as the project’s Director, and oversee a partnership involving URC, Save the Children, ACDI-VOCA, and SUSTAIN. Read more. Art Exhibit Raises Student Awareness About Underage Drinking Risks
An art exhibit sponsored by the Prevention of High Risk Drinking Among College Students Program was held November 26-30 at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. The exhibit featured works by McDaniel College art students that were created to depict students' impressions of alcohol abuse. Read more. URC Commemorates World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007
USAID AWARDS HEALTH CARE IMPROVEMENT CONTRACT TO URC
Impact of HIV/AIDS on Health Workforce Available on WHO Web Site University Research Co., LLC is pleased to announce the publication of The Impact of HIV/AIDS on the Health Workforce in Developing Countries, a background paper, funded by the World Health Organization and prepared for The World Health Report 2006—Working together for health. The document, authored by Linda Tawfik of Management Sciences for Health and Stephen N. Kinoti, of QAP, addresses the influence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the health workforce. It shows the impact of HIV/AIDS on health systems, on morbidity and mortality among staff and on workforce motivation, performance and migration. Policy options for future staff scenarios and potential obstacles are presented, highlighting policies and actions that could improve retention, replacement and replenishment of health workers. To download the report please visit the WHO web site at http://www.who.int/hrh/documents/Impact_of_HIV.pdf. URC Sponsors 24th ISQua International Conference URC was proud to serve as one of the sponsors of this year’s International Society for Quality in Health Care, Inc (ISQua) Conference. The theme of ISQua’s 24th International Conference, held September 30 through October 3, 2007, in Boston, was Transforming Healthcare in the Electronic Age. URC is a Foundation Institutional Member of ISQua. Read more. URC Participates in American Public Health Association's 134th Annual Meeting
Government of Mexico Invites Louis Marino to Accept Award for CHS Work on Plazas Comunitarias CHS’ New Jersey office, in 2002, was selected by the Mexican Government as one of the sites in the U.S. for its long distance learning program. The ‘Plazas Comunitarias’ concept provides Mexican students in the U.S. with the opportunity to earn a Mexican secondary diploma via web-based education programming. Students have access to content and website links in Spanish and English related to 14 topics, including education, health, math, science, literature, culture, career opportunities, and post-secondary education. Mr. Marino noted that the program now is not only available to Mexican students but to immigrants of any nationality who would like to continue their education. CHS’ online platform integrates the Government of Mexico’s initiative but also incorporates additional content designed to meet the requirements of both the U.S. High School Equivalency Program and Vocational Rehabilitation. For more information, please contact Louis Marino at lmarino@urc-chs.com. CHS Wins Grant for Pennsylvania Disabled Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program The United States Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration (DOE/RSA) has awarded the Center of Human Services (CHS) a new five-year grant to provide vocational rehabilitation (VR) services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs) living in four counties in Pennsylvania. Under a separate grant funded by the DOE/RSA, CHS is already providing VR services to migrant farmworkers with disabilities in Cumberland County, New Jersey. Agricultural workers experience the highest rate of employee fatalities and injuries in the country, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics. A significant percentage of the agricultural workforce is comprised of migrant and seasonal farmworkers, most of whom are immigrants of Latin American origin and who face language and cultural barriers to accessing traditional services. Under the grant, CHS will assist disabled MSFWs and their families in Adams, Franklin, York, and Lancaster counties in Pennsylvania to address and overcome these obstacles. Under the grant, CHS will work in partnership with the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation to provide access to diagnostic, restorative and rehabilitative services, career counseling, life skills training, vocational skills training, and job placement. Program participants will develop individualized rehabilitation plans to achieve their vocational goals and to prepare for, begin, and maintain a career. In addition, CHS will assist migrant and seasonal farmworkers to complete General Education Development and postsecondary courses. For more information on this project, please contact Grogan Ullah at gullah@urc-chs.com. URC Methods and Results Presented at Women Deliver Outcomes produced by methods and tools put into place to improve the quality of essential obstetric and neonatal healthcare services in Ecuador and Niger were presented by URC’s Quality Assurance Project (QAP) staff at the international Women Deliver Conference held in London October 18-20, 2007. Read more. Para Todos DVD Featured at APHA Annual Meeting and Public Health Education and Health Promotion Newsletter
¡Vida en la Comunidad para Todos!/Life in the Community for Everyone! (“Para Todos”) is a bilingual DVD/VHS product developed by URC in collaboration with Social & Health Services, Ltd. (SHS) for the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Excerpts of the DVD were shown at the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in Washington, DC, Session #4196.0 on Tuesday, November 6th. The DVD will be disseminated at no charge at the SAMHSA exhibition (Booth 403). Read more. Ecuador’s El Comercio Highlights Declining Newborn Mortality at Hospitals Participating in URC-supported Improvement Collaborative Dramatic reductions in newborn deaths at hospitals participating in a collaborative implemented by the Ministry of Health of Ecuador, with technical assistance from URC's USAID-funded Quality Assurance Project are beginning to draw attention from the national press. El Comercio, Ecuador’s main newspaper, has reported on a sharp decline in newborn mortality rates and attributed the decline to implementation of quality improvement (QI) methods. Read more. URC Wins Cambodia Malaria Prevention and Control Project The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded URC a three-year contract to provide technical assistance and support to the Cambodian National Malaria Control Program to improve laboratory diagnosis of malaria, improve treatment standards for severe malaria, and educate the community about malaria prevention and control. Under the Malaria Prevention and Control Activities in Cambodia project, the URC team will work to improve the standards of clinical facilities in quality assurance and quality control methods for malaria microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests. Health workers will also be trained to recognize and manage uncomplicated malaria, severe malaria, and malaria in pregnant women. A focus will be placed on drug management to prevent further anti-malarial resistance. Another key component of the project is development and dissemination to the community of materials on malaria treatment and rational drug use. Activities willl take place in two to three targeted provinces in Cambodia that are at high risk of multi-drug resistant malaria outbreaks. URC serves as prime contractor for a project team comprised of Partners for Development (PfD), the International Science and Technology Institute (ISTI), and Population Services International (PSI), as well as local organizations including MEDiCAM, the Reproductive and Child Health Alliance/Cambodia (RACHA), and the Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia (RHAC). For more information about the project, please contact Katie Breese at kbreese@urc-chs.com or Reena Sethi at rsethi@urc-chs.com. |
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Activities to raise awareness about TB among migrant and seasonal farmworkers were held on World TB Day, March 24th, in Cumberland County, NJ by URC's Center for Human Services (CHS). 
Mbabane Government Hospital, the largest health facility in Swaziland, was pleased to welcome U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland, Maurice S. Parker, on April 9, 2008. Mbabane is one of the hospitals receiving URC technical assistance under the USAID Health Care Improvement Project to improve the quality of TB testing, diagnosis and treatment services and to better integrate services for TB and HIV/AIDS. Hospital staff and the URC project team held activities to highlight the hospital’s initiatives to improve and integrate TB and HIV treatment and diagnostic services. 
The World TB Day 2008 theme “I am stopping TB” recognizes that everyone can do something to stop TB, and every person’s action counts. As a STOP TB coalition partner, URC is proud to work in partnership with local and national governments, public and private providers, and community health workers in 10 countries to improve the quality of TB programs, increase case detection, and expand access to quality treatment. 
The staff of University Research Co., LLC/Center for Human Services joins with colleagues and thousands of concerned organizations and individuals worldwide to commemorate World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007. The day is designated as a time to recognize achievements in the global battle against the epidemic as well as to focus on challenges and obstacles that remain to countries’ efforts to establish effective prevention and treatment programs. 
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded URC a five-year contract, with a ceiling of $150 million, for the new Health Care Improvement (HCI) Project. HCI will build on URC’s technical leadership of USAID’s global efforts to improve health care quality since 1990 through the Quality Assurance Project (QAP) I, II, and III. 
Staff from URC's domestic and international projects shared, at the American Public Health Association's (APHA's) 135th Annual Meeting, their perspectives on project experiences linked to the conference theme, "Politics Policy and Public Health." APHA's 2007 meeting was held November 3-7 in Washington, DC. 
The Government of Mexico, in September 2007, invited Louis Marino, CHS New Jersey Program Director, to Mexico City to receive an award on behalf of CHS’ work on Plaza Comunitarias, a program which has been in place in New Jersey since 2002. CHS and three other U.S. groups were honored by the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs and Institute of Adult Education. 
