Center for Global Health Re-Designated as a WHO Collaborating Center

The maternal and child health program within the Colorado School of Public Health’s Center for Global Health announced that it has been re-designated by the World Health Organization as a WHO Collaborating Center for Promoting Family and Child Health.

The program, which is a partnership between Children’s Hospital Colorado (Children’s Colorado) and the Colorado School of Public Health, is the only maternal and child health collaborating center in North America.

WHO collaborating centers are institutions such as research institutes, parts of universities or academics that are designated, in four-year increments, by the Director-General to carry out activities in support of the WHO programs. Currently, there are more than 800 WHO Collaborating Centers in over 80 countries working with the WHO on areas such as nursing, occupational health, communicable diseases, nutrition, mental health, chronic diseases and health technologies. 

“This re-designation means that the Center for Global Health will continue to be actively engaged in developing transformational maternal and child health interventions and programs,” said Stephen Berman, M.D., F.A.A.P., director of the Center for Global Health. “Since being designated in 2012, we’ve been able to expand on a global scale several key programs including Helping Babies Breathe^®, the Pediatrics in Disasters training curriculum and vaccine related research, education, service programs and policy development, as well as expand services at the Trifinio Center for Human Development, which provides care to children and families living in an impoverished region located southwest of Guatemala.”  

Through the re-designation, the Center for Global Health’s maternal and child health program will continue to focus on four major program outcomes in partnership with the WHO and its regional affiliate, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO):

• Assist countries in reducing health inequity and excessive morbidity and mortality for maternal, infant, child and adolescent resource-limited populations by providing technical assistance to WHO/PAHO, Ministries of Health and academic medical and public health centers.
• Assist countries in accelerating vaccine research and implementation to impact the inequitable infant and maternal morbidity and mortality among poor resource populations.
• Train vulnerable communities and countries in disaster preparedness in ways that will prioritize the care of vulnerable children.
• Assist WHO/PAHO in developing and assessing the introduction of mobile technologies that will enhance maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health.

“The Center for Global Health is honored to be a part of this distinguished group and have the re-designation of WHO Collaborating Center,” added Dr. Berman. “By working collaboratively with the WHO, the Center for Global Health is addressing the need for sustainable economic development in the poorest areas of the world in ways that will provide opportunities for families to improve their economic conditions, provide educational opportunities to their children and reduce excessive maternal and child mortality."