News

Text4baby Russia (SMSmame in Russian) was launched nationwide on February 20, 2012, and enrollment in the health information service for new and expectant mothers continues to climb.

A seminar devoted to organizing the activity of the anti-drug volunteer movement working with youth in all types of educational institutions was held in Moscow on April 19 and 20.

This meeting, which brought together partners from different regions of Russia, was held at Baumann State Technical University by the Ministry of Education, with the support of the Federal Drug Control Service and the Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy.

Health and Development Foundation staff attended "Smoke-Free Workplaces: Good for Business, Good for Health,” a forum for business leaders and government and public sector partners in Moscow today. The forum is part of an international initiative to promote improved public health and corporate social responsibility through the implementation of 100% smoke-free policies in all workplaces, and was organized by GBCHealth with support from the World Health Organization.

The main topics of the conference were international best practices on creating smoke-free workplace environments, the health benefits and positive impact on business profitability of these policies, and the importance of national legislation as a means to ensure universal protection for all citizens from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.

Health and Development Foundation staff participated in the VIII Interregional Conference on “Substance abuse: a youth social health issue. Comprehensive approaches to the prevention of substance abuse among adolescents,” which took place April 4-6 in Russia’s Leningrad Region. Attending the conference were psychologists and directors and specialists from institutions working with adolescents and young people in the Leningrad, Samara, and Kursk regions, as well as Ukraine. Foundation staff members spoke about our experience in implementing the youth health lifestyle program Everything That Concerns You in 11 Russian regions.

The Innovations in Medical Technology Conference, organized by the Skolkovo Foundation and Open University Skolkovo, was held in Moscow on April 2-3.

The conference was focused on promoting education, scientific research, and entrepreneurship related to innovations in medicine. Participants included international entrepreneurs and investors in medicine and health care, and Russian start-ups.

Today, Health and Development Foundation staff spoke at the fourth in a series of video conferences set up by Russia's Federal Drug Control Service.
The series is titled "I have the right to know", and brings together educators, government representatives, public figures, and students from different regions of Russia to discuss issues related to the prevention of substance abuse among teens.
Today's video conference was focused on the role of educational programs in prevention. Health and Development staff presented Everything That Concerns You, our comprehensive program aimed at building healthy lifestyle skills among young people (aged 13-18). We answered questions from teen participants about our program, and showed video clips from some of the entertaining materials trainers use during sessions with teens taking part in Everything That Concerns You.

Text4Baby Russia is celebrating its one-month birthday today, March 20, 2012. The Health and Development Foundation is happy to announce that we have gained 2,510 subscribers to the program in its first month, and expect that number to climb exponentially in the coming months, as more new and expectant mothers throughout Russia become aware of the program, and wish to start receiving free text messages with information about how to care for their own health and the health of their children.

We have also recently become members of the mHealth Alliance, an organization hosted by the United Nations Foundation that works with diverse international partners to promote the use of mobile technologies in public health initiatives. We look forward to fruitful collaboration with our new partners, and new achievements in the field of mHealth in 2012.

The Health and Development Foundation is very happy to announce that we have been accepted as a new member of the mHealth Alliance, an organization hosted by the United Nations Foundation that works with diverse international partners to promote the use of mobile technologies in public health initiatives. We look forward to collaborating with other mHealth Alliance members to continue to improve our own mHealth programs, share our experience in the field, and take part in events and initiatives to promote the expansion of mobile technology solutions to global health concerns.

Even though Russia has moved from the 35th to the 12th position in Europe in terms of birth rate, and the country's infant and maternal mortality rates continue to gradually decrease, healthy pregnancies and deliveries remain a serious concern. A new support program for new and expectant mothers, SMSmame, has been introduced to address this issue.

The health of mothers and children is a matter of great importance for the Russian government. After all, in many ways the social and economic well-being of the country depends on the reproductive health of its population. Thanks to the implementation of a number of projects aimed at modernizing the health care system, Russia was able to decrease its maternal (by 47%) and infant (by 50%) mortality rates in the period from 1990 to 2009.

On February 16, ahead of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) held the third videoconference in its Internet learning series “I Have the Right to Know!” The topic of this video conference was “Healthy Lifestyles for Teens: On the Street and on the Internet.”

The main aim of this Internet lesson was to develop in participants a completely negative attitude towards narcotics and disseminate innovative methods of preventing substance abuse.

The Health and Development Foundation strives to improve the health and help build the healthy lifestyle skills of the Russian population through innovative projects that meet the needs of their target audiences.

We are therefore very happy to announce that we have received a certificate, our second, from the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development stating that our program Everything That Concerns You took part in the II National Healthy Russia competition, and has been included in the library of best practices for popularizing healthy lifestyles.

On January 25, Health and Development staffers attended an Internet lesson for Russian schoolchildren and high school students on the dangers of “soft” drugs. This event was organized by the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) and RIA Novosti, and is the second session on the topic “There are no soft drugs,” part of an anti-drug Internet learning series called “I have the right to know!”

Every year on December 1, starting in 1988, the World Health Organization has observed World AIDS Day. Every year, more countries and public organizations take part in a range of events organized for this day. This day serves as a reminder of the necessity to halt the global spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

At the invitation of the Altai Region education and youth affairs department, specialists from the Health and Development Foundation held a master class for conference participants on the foundation’s program “Everything that concerns you.” The VIII 21st Century Healthy Generation conference was held on November 23 in Barnaul, and was organized by the Altai Region department on education and youth affairs and the Altai Region Institute of Continuing Pedagogical Education.

More information:

Text4baby. U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission Innovations in Health Care. Click here to find more information about Text4baby

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