News

August 19, 2026

New opinion piece calls for rethinking how family planning success is measured globally

A new opinion article published in Frontiers in Global Women's Health proposes moving beyond coverage-based indicators to assess whether women's contraceptive use reflects genuine choice. The article was authored by ICEH researcher Franciele Hellwig, together with Aluisio J.D. Barros. For decades, family planning programs have been evaluated primarily through coverage indicators, such as contraceptive prevalence and demand satisfied, that capture whether women use contracept

August 18, 2026

ICEH joins global initiative and presents research progress on climate and child health in Oxford

Researchers from the ICEH took part on June 26th in the Children and Climate Initiative Summer Meeting, where they presented the group's latest research progress. The ICEH team — represented at the event by Aluisio J. D. Barros, Leonardo Zanini Ferreira, and Gabriela Marques — is part of the initiative’s Global Health & Data Science expert group, bringing an epidemiological perspective to the investigation of the effects of climate change on children’s health

August 14, 2026

Partnership between ICEH and Brazil's Ministry of Health delivers immersive course on inequality analysis in the SUS

In a week-long programme, researchers from the International Center for Equity in Health led a workshop with Secretariat of Health and Environmental Surveillance (SVSA) staff on methods to measure, visualise and communicate health inequalities From August 10 to 14, the SVSA hosted researchers from the International Center for Equity in Health (ICEH) at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) in Brasília for an intensive course aimed at Ministry of Health staff. Made possible thr

August 04, 2026

ICEH in Nigeria: training the next generation of epidemiologists and a spotlight on the Equiplot in the Dictionary of Epidemiology

At an International Epidemiological Association (IEA) event in Abuja, director Aluisio Barros led sessions on inequality metrics and took part in the official presentation of the new edition of the Dictionary of Epidemiology The director of the International Center for Equity in Health (ICEH/UFPel), Aluisio Barros, was part of the faculty of the Early Career Epidemiologists Workshop, held by the International Epidemiological Association (IEA) from 19 to 25 July in Abuja, Nigeria. The event br

July 03, 2026

ICEH strengthens international collaboration at the Countdown to 2030 Annual Meeting 2026

The Countdown to 2030 Country Annual Meeting 2026, held from 29 June to 3 July in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, brought together representatives from 36 African countries, along with researchers and international partners, to strengthen the use of evidence in policies aimed at improving the health of women, children, and adolescents. The International Center for Equity in Health (ICEH) was represented by Fernando Wehrmeister, Cauane Blumenberg, Adriana Kramer, Thais Martins, and Rafaela Zazyki. Orga

June 30, 2026

ICEH study introduces new composite indicator to monitor global Maternal and Newborn Health

A new study led by the International Center for Equity in Health at the Federal University of Pelotas (ICEH/UFPel) introduces the MNHci (Maternal and Newborn Health Composite Indicator), a novel composite measure designed to assess the co-coverage of essential maternal and newborn health interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Published in the journal Public Health, the study builds on technical discussions with experts from the international Countdown to 2030 initiative. A

June 10, 2026

New study presents methods to improve health coverage estimates and projections in low- and middle-income countries

A new article published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A presents statistical methods designed to improve the estimation and projection of maternal and child health indicators in low- and middle-income countries. The study includes the participation of ICEH researcher Leonardo Ferreira. In settings where health data vary in quality and availability, statistical models provide valuable alternatives for estimating and forecasting the coverage of essential health intervention

May 28, 2026

May 28: Brazil’s National Day for the Reduction of Maternal Mortality

Maternal mortality remains one of the major challenges in global health and an important marker of social inequalities and unequal access to health services. According to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO et al., 2023), around 287,000 women died from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth in 2020, equivalent to one maternal death every two minutes. The global maternal mortality ratio was estimated at 223 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Inequalities between

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