More articles from COMMENTARY
- Diversifying Implementation Science: A Global Perspective
We present a joint global perspective about the urgent need to diversify the loci of knowledge creation and sharing in global implementation science. We underscore the imperative of addressing implementation research questions relevant to practitioners, policy makers, and researchers from low- and middle-income countries.
- Thematic Analysis and Mapping of Reproductive Empowerment Scales: A Tool for Family Planning Self-Care Programming and Research
Understanding the relationship between self-care and reproductive empowerment is necessary to improve family planning self-care interventions. We offer a thematic analysis of 5 validated scales measuring reproductive empowerment-related concepts that could be used by self-care family planning programmers and researchers.
- What Do We Demand? Responding to the Call for Precision and Definitional Agreement in Family Planning’s “Demand” and “Need” Jargon
This commentary offers a response to the call to improve family planning language that describes “need” and “demand” and proposes a set of recommendations to add precision, improve measurement, and foster shared understanding in family planning.
- Three Pivots for Improving Health Care Provider Performance
We share recommendations on 3 important pivots away from longstanding approaches to continued professional development and in-service training programs that have demonstrated a measurable benefit across a diversity of health-related applications and projects.
- Language and Measurement of Contraceptive Need and Making These Indicators More Meaningful for Measuring Fertility Intentions of Women and Girls
We examine current “need”-based family planning measures that are based on women’s fertility desires and contraceptive use, identify challenges with language and use of need-based measures, and recommend ways to improve language and measurement.
- Maintaining Polio-Free Status in Indonesia During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Despite the negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on polio eradication efforts, ensuring the high coverage of polio immunization and high performance of surveillance are essential to maintaining Indonesia’s polio-free status and the reaching the 2023 global polio eradication target.
- COVID-19 Partners Platform—Accelerating Response by Coordinating Plans, Needs, and Contributions During Public Health Emergencies: COVID-19 Vaccines Use Case
The World Health Organization COVID-19 Partners Platform represents the first step towards a new model of health crisis information sharing across stakeholders and could evolve into an engagement mechanism of choice for future cross-border public health emergencies.
- Motivation and Performance of Community Health Workers: Nothing New Under the Sun, and Yet…
We know that both financial and nonfinancial incentives matter if we want community health workers (CHWs) who are motivated and performing. What are the practical implications for CHWs themselves and for effective management of viable CHW programs?
- What’s Next in Design for Global Health? How Design and Global Health Must Adapt for a Preferable Future
Integrating the practice of design with global health offers a way to ensure that all voices—from patients to policy makers—are all heard in conceiving and developing solutions that address the current misalignments and support efforts to make quality health care more affordable, accessible, and humanized for all.
- A Theory of Change for Guiding the Integration of Human-Centered Design Into Global Health Programming
How do design and global health practices and mindsets better integrate to drive more people-centered, innovative solutions to health challenges and achieve common health sector and global health ecosystem goals? This article discusses a theory of change for guiding the integration of human-centered design into global health programming.

