Vital Stories

A new billboard campaign in the West African city of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso features a photograph of a 47-year-old woman with diabetes named Kadi, whose legs have been amputated below the knee. She reveals: “I thought sugary drinks gave me energy to walk. Now I can’t walk at all.”

Unequal access to quality health care and decades of legal, social and economic barriers mean that black Americans continue to pay the price of structural racism with their health, as evidenced by shorter life spans, poorer outcomes in medical treatment, staggeringly high maternal mortality rates and more.

It has been a year of growth and transformation at Vital Strategies as we continue to bridge the gap between public health needs and their solutions. Here, we look back at some of our favorite photos from work across more than 70 countries and a dozen different issue areas in 2019.

From the entire Vital Strategies team across 40 countries, we wish you a healthy and happy new year.

With the right policies and priorities, cities can lead a transformation in health, to a future where each sector of society can do its part to help people live longer, healthier lives.

Advances in epidemiology and technology mean that for the first time, counting every human life is possible.

Criminalization and punishment are outdated, ineffective, and harmful responses to the overdose crisis, and prosecuting someone for “drug delivery resulting in death” is an example of the failed policies of the past.

We sat down with Nandita Murukutla, Vice President of Global Policy and Research at Vital Strategies to get her takeaways from the Vital Talks event and learn about the forthcoming report, “Fueling an Unhealthy Future,” that places a spotlight on the fossil fuels industry.

On World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, Bogotá and other cities joins the global community in honoring loved ones lost and recognizing that no death on the road is acceptable.

This World Diabetes Day is a timely reminder that governments need to do more to implement policies that reduce the risk factors for diabetes, to protect future generations from the human and economic cost of this preventable killer.