BUILDING GLOBAL ALLIANCES FOR PERINATAL HEALTH
Howson
CP, Greenup M1
1 March
of Dimes, New York, USA
The
March of Dimes is one of the largest voluntary health agencies in the U.S.
with over 3 million volunteers working to advance its mission to prevent
birth defects and infant mortality.
The foundation has over 60 years of experience in developing
programs of research, education, community service, and advocacy towards
this end.
The
purpose of this session is to describe the activities of the March of
Dimes, with the goal of fostering a dialogue among session participants
that can lead to development of strategic partnerships between the March of
Dimes and organizations with similar mission interests in pursuit of
perinatal health worldwide.
The session
will focus on the March of Dimes experience in identifying and implementing
professional education curricula and community-based programs as a model
for partnership opportunities.
The presentation will highlight two professional education
products¡ªthe March of Dimes Nursing
Modules and the Genetics &
Your Practice electronic curriculum¡ªas examples of program materials
that have proven useful and adaptable across a broad range of target
populations in the U.S. and abroad.
The
session will also describe the new Global Programs of the March of Dimes
and its developing portfolio of activities in several countries of the
world, including China. The objectives of Global Programs for 2001-2003 are
to implement new mission alliances in at least three geographic regions of
the world; promote folic acid fortification of foods in at least five
countries of the Americas; promote addition of rubella vaccine to national
immunization programs; and translate the Genetics & Your Practice curriculum into at least three
major world languages.