The Special Session on Gender at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness at Busan can be marked down in history as a catalyst of change for women’s health. The panel discussion, which was hosted by Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, and Kum-lae Kim, Korea’s Minister for Gender Equality and Family, and moderated, by Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director, UN Women, initiated the discussion of gender equality for development effectiveness.

The evidence and thoughts presented were the empowerment of women and reduction in gender gaps in health, education, labor markets, and other areas are associated with lower poverty, higher economic growth, greater agricultural productivity, better nutrition and education of children, and a variety of other outcomes. Against this platform, the Evidence and Data for Gender Equality (EDGE) Initiativewas launched. EDGE will be lead and managed by the UN Statistics Division and UN Women. Included in this initiative are the following markers:

·      The development of an online database for a harmonized set of indicators on education, employment, and entrepreneurship, among others

·      A set of common, pilot activities in a small number of partner countries to develop protocols and data collection methods for sex-disaggregated data on entrepreneurship and assets, two areas with large data gaps.

The first three-year phase of EDGE is being conducted between March 2012 and February 2015. It will focus on the ‘three Es’: women’s education, employment and entrepreneurship.

This is an exciting time. It is my hope that such an initiative will ignite change within women’s healthcare and women’s role in medicine. As countries, including and especially the U.S., continue to develop standards and strengthen their national systems on gathering gender statistics, EDGE will further promote and enhance such efforts. 

Why the need for gender statistics in health and medicine particularly?

There is far too much emphasis on sexuality and feminism under the umbrella of “gender,” as opposed to studying biological, structural and functional distinctions between the health of a female body and the health of a male body. As a result, inadequate delivery of healthcare and medicine continues to take place at an alarming rate, epidemics are given permission to continue, innovation and integrity plateaus and the global population suffers from the lack of education, support, investment and resources for women’s health. Just today the Lancet published an article entitled, “Thyroid disease—more research needed”. It states that there is an estimated 200 million individuals who have a thyroid disorder. Clearly this is an epidemic.  The brief article concludes that women are 7 times at risk for such diseases than men. Just one of the many examples as to why accurate gender statistics and education is need.

Yesterday I attended a panel which was moderated by Ken Ong, MD, MPH, CMIO of New York Hospital Queens, Chair of the Informatics Council of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System, and adjunct faculty of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, at the New York City Academy of Medicine. The topic was on the 2nd Edition of Medical Informatics: An Executive Primer. The impressive panel of industry experts engendered me to really hone in on and ideate upon the areas in which creative innovation can help ensure that implementation of medical informatics within the era of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A lot of work needs to be done in order to streamline and structure meaningful use criteria, establish user-friendly training as well as strengthen the workforce and workflow within medical practices and institutions.

As I embark on my ideation journey to generate new ideas and creative solutions, I will post any thought provoking stories, discoveries and innovations here. Today I came across this recent pioneering partnership between WellPoint, America's largest health benefits company, and IBM Watson. The purpose of their union is to to use technology to bring better service and outcomes to patients. Though such a union's model will be fiscally unattainable to many practices and centers, the advancements and case studies that are produce are sure to be valuable and insightful. The clip below shows the genesis of the partnership and the plans for its future.  

The Mama Glow site has now launched (www.mamaglow.com).  Mama Glow is a maternity lifestyle brand and holistic wellness hub for women to explore their creative edge through wellbeing. Founded by Latham Thomas, prenatal wellness expert and founder of Tender Shoots Wellness, Mama Glow! is also the title of her forthcoming book on pregnancy and wellness which has been endorsed by wellness giants including Dr. Christiane Northrup, Richard Ash M.D., Frank Lipman M.D, and Kris Carr. The book features influential moms including Christy Turlington-Burns, Veronica Webb, Rachel Roy, Haley Binn, Rebecca Minkoff, and more. The book will be released in September of 2012.

The Mama Glow!™ Film Festival at WellNEST was created by Latham Thomas, along with Haley Binn, mother and contributor for Hamptons Magazine, and Rachel Paletsky, an advocate for integrative alternative medicine practices and founder and creative director of WellNEST and WellNEST Studio.

The Mama Glow Salon Series is a platform for birthing conversations around film, panels and cocktail hour. With approximately 110 attendees, the series is a way to engage with our audience inbetween the annual Mama Glow!™ Film Festival.


As the brand's creative director, I look forward to sharing with you our exciting journey!