The annual GBCHealth Conference began in New York on Thursday, and “the conference is specifically addressing the need to work harder to reach the difficult health-related goals concerning reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis,” Thomson Reuters Foundation reports. “[F]or the first time, reproductive health issues are included this year in the agenda,” the news service notes, adding the conference “devoted its first session to family planning, calling it ‘a best buy for global health.'” The news service continues, “According to the Population Reference Bureau, every $1 invested in family planning can save up to $9 in other development costs,” and “the current unmet need for modern contraceptives in developing nations could be satisfied by investing $4.1 billion, which would save $5.7 billion annually in maternal and newborn health care costs, according to the Guttmacher Institute.” Thomson Reuters Foundation notes the “GBCHealth Frontline Hero Award was presented Thursday to Christine Kaseba-Sata, the first lady of Zambia and for 30 years an obstetrician and gynecologist who has made women’s reproductive health one of her signature campaigns” (Anderson, 5/17).