To start the new year and my first term as MCH Section chair, my first thought was:  WHAT ARE OUR CURRENT PRIORITIES FOR THE APHA MCH SECTION?  What concerns our members?  What are the pressing needs and new directions for MCH?  Obviously close to the heart of all MCH programs is Title V, which, along with many other public health programs, is currently under threat in the ongoing budget process.  Particularly disturbing is a bill proposed by Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-MN) that calls for elimination of the Title V MCH Block Grant, Title X Family Planning grants, National Health Service Corps, and other health programs.  While this is just the latest federal budget crisis, it does remind us that as MCH professionals, our advocacy efforts must include constant communication with our representatives in Congress and in state legislatures about the value of public health and these core MCH public health programs.   As part of its 2011 strategy, APHA wants to be the “Go To” organization for public health – that means that we in the MCH Section must strive to be the “Go To” organization for all things MCH!  When representatives from Congress are in their home districts, all of us should make an effort to connect with them on a regular basis to:

v  educate them and their staffers about MCH issues.

v  maintain vigilance to assure an understanding by policy makers of all things MCH.

v  establish local priorities for the mothers and children you serve.

If you need assistance or supporting documents APHA and AMCHP (www.amchp.org) have excellent resources to assist you.

For inspiration about current priorities in MCH, I turned to the MCH Section Call for Abstracts for the 2011 Annual Meeting.  Abstracts were due the second week in February, so it seemed timely to consider what matters to us right now.  There were several new topics added this year, suggested at our membership meeting by Section members in November, including:

v  the role and involvement of men in MCH

v  women’s health issues across the life course, such as obesity

Both of these expand our traditional area of focus and expertise but are very relevant to the provision of comprehensive health services.  In particular, the role of men in MCH is interesting and controversial.   As I write this, in Kigali, Rwanda, a particularly innovative and successful local program requires women in prenatal care to bring the fathers along for prenatal visits, so they can be tested as a COUPLE for HIV.  The ethical problems are interesting.  What about the single mother who doesn’t know who the father is?  What about the women whose partner is married to another woman?  However, the program is very successful, since approximately 80 percent of women do bring their partners for couples testing. This success enhances male involvement and reduces stigma, and in the end no woman is denied the test if she cannot come with a partner, so overall the impact on the health of women, infants, and families is quite positive.   Requiring men to attend prenatal care will likely not work everywhere, but beyond that what is our responsibility as providers to make men feel welcome and comfortable in our prenatal and child health clinics? How do we involve men in communities to advocate for their partners and children?  I have seen several interesting studies from Africa and the United States indicating what a poor job we are doing making men feel welcome in general in our MCH programs.  I look forward to the sessions at the 2011 Annual Meeting on this topic and encourage our members to bring your ideas to the table.

What are your priorities for MCH in 2011? Inquiring minds want to know!  Post your ideas on our APHA Maternal and Child Health Section Facebook Page or our SLHNet e-mail list!  We want to hear from you as well!

Also, the MCH Section Mid-Year Meeting is fast approaching! The Meeting will take place March 5 & 6, 2011 at APHA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. We welcome all interested members – contact Lauren Ramos to RSVP for this event at lramos@amchp.org.

Welcome to 2011 – I look forward to working with all of you this year!

Debra Jackson, RNC, MPH, DSc

Chair, MCH Section

Professor

School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape

Cape Town, South Africa