Oasis Newsletter May 2022

Remembering Dr. Martha Campbell (by Alisha Graves)

Dr. Martha Campbell, who founded Venture Strategies for Health and Development in 2002, died in February. Martha was an inspiration to many - and a mentor to me. She is the first person to wake me up to the population “factor” (her preferred term). At one of my first lectures in public health at UC Berkeley, Martha explained that the world’s population stayed under one billion for all of human history until the industrial age and had increased seven-fold since then. Martha brought my attention - and the attention of many others - to the importance of population as a factor in sustainability and development. And she insisted - as I continue to do - that being concerned about population does not preclude a commitment to uphold individual reproductive rights. She reminded us that fertility is low in societies where girls are educated, where women’s rights are respected and where good, voluntary family planning services are widely available. I endeavor to carry on the work of OASIS - the new name of Venture Strategies for Health and Development - with the same passion she brought to this work. 

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