The New York Times explores efforts across the U.S. to craft and implement affordable solutions to infrastructure problems around the world, and programs geared toward supporting the work of local entrepreneurs to build solutions to the problems on the ground.

Former Pres. Clinton: ‘We Will Create Better Tomorrows By Building Haiti Back Better’ Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, U.N. special envoy for Haiti, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece that “early estimates indicate that nearly 3 million people – almost a third of Haiti’s population – may need aid, making this one…

The Los Angeles Times examines the International Medical Corps’ work in Afghanistan. “Although less well known than the Nobel-winning Doctors Without Borders, the [International Medical Corps] shares a reputation with its gutsy counterpart for working in places where no one else will go. … In parts of Afghanistan where government forces have…

VOA News examines obstetric fistula in Africa and looks at health officials’ efforts to prevent and treat the condition. “Poverty is the biggest factor. Access to a Caesarean section to relieve the pressure of obstructed labor is the most common way of preventing an unborn child from pressing so tightly in the birth canal that it cuts off blood flow to surrounding tissue,” the news service writes.

‘Accompaniment’ Can Reform Health Care Around The World “We don’t need to start fresh to create patient-centered medical homes. We just need to look to community-based models of care that are effective but often go unrecognized,” according to a Boston Globe opinion piece by Heidi Behforouz, the director of the…

Two women have become the first to die from H1N1 (swine flu) in Gaza, health officials said Monday, Agence France-Presse/Inquirer.net reports.

Lancet World Report examines how a small group of village volunteers trained in basic health care are helping to improve the health of Ugandan children.

The Los Angeles Times writes: “Sierra Leone is one of those nations where decades of foreign aid have failed to appreciably lift the fortunes of the people. The country is a charity case: 60% of its public spending comes from foreign governments and nonprofit organizations. Since 2002, it has received more than $1 billion in aid,” the newspaper writes.

Three quarters of people in South Sudan, which has a population of 8 million, do not have access to health care, and 10 percent of children there and in Darfur die before the age of 1, Mohammad Abdur Rab, the WHO’s representative to Sudan, said Thursday, Reuters/ABC News reports.

Germany Grants $34M For HIV/AIDS Work In Central Africa The Organisation for the Coordination of the Struggle Against Epidemics in Central Africa (OCEAC) on Tuesday announced that the German government has granted $34 million to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in central Africa, Agence France-Presse reports. “The Germany-backed project…