Page 6 - CASA Bulletin 2019 Vol6 No2

CASA Bulletin of Anesthesiology
本期专栏
A Milestone for NPLD-GHI - 10 Years and Counting
“中国行”里程碑:十年共风雨，携手新征程
Francis S . Stellaccio, MD
Tempus fugit!! In June, No Pain Labor and Delivery - Global Health Initiative (NPLD-GHI)
completed its 10th mission year of educating Chinese women and their health care providers about the safe and the effective use
of continuous neuraxial labor analgesia, more commonly known as an epidural, during labor and delivery of their babies .
So, what was the impetus for creating NPLD-GHI? To begin with, data from World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that China has one of the highest rates of cesarean delivery of any nation — nearly half of all live births are delivered by cesarean section . Many studies have shown that women who requested cesarean delivery without medical indication are at a higher risk of related complications or death . Additionally, babies delivered by cesarean section are more likely to have respiratory problems, obesity, and other metabolic diseases. These findings highlighted the urgency of controlling and/or reducing the cesarean section rate in China .
Secondly, in September 2000, the United Nations established a “blueprint” agreed to by all the world’s leading countries (191) . Known as the Eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it commits world leaders to eradicate extreme poverty & hunger, combat disease, reduce illiteracy, improve maternal health, reduce child mortality, ensure environmental sustainability, promote gender equality and develop global partnership for development .
The combination of the WHO data on cesarean sections and the challenge of the UN’s MDG #5 — to improve maternal health world-wide — inspired Dr . Ling Qun Hu to develop a sustainable program focusing on correcting the unnecessarily high cesarean delivery rate and improving the poor utilization of neuraxial labor analgesia not only in his native China, but also, eventually, elsewhere in the world. In 2006, NPLD-GHI was officially created. Dr. Hu began
collaborating closely with his colleagues at Northwestern University, as well as, at other major
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