Novant Health has been granted special consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Consultative Status for an organization enables it to engage actively with ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies, as well as with the U.N. Secretariat, programs, funds and agencies.

“This gives Novant Health a platform on the international stage to contribute to work in the areas of women’s and children’s health and wellness and population health, as well as poverty and food security,” a news release stated.

Winston-Salem-based Novant Health is operator of Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center.

“Novant Health women’s health and wellness will continue to provide exceptional care to the women in our local communities,” Chere Gregory, senior vice president of Novant Health’s women’s health and wellness service, said in the release. “With this collaboration, we will be able to increase the work we do abroad. It will give us the ability to identify host countries where we can work to improve health care and disease prevention for women and children.”

Novant Health has built a “multidisciplinary approach in caring for women,” said Ashleigh Hargrave, director of Novant Health’s women’s health and wellness.

“The women’s health and wellness service line strives to treat women as whole individuals, looking beyond the common areas of health which for many years focused only on obstetrics and gynecology. While obstetrics and gynecology is of paramount importance, we also look at gender-specific areas of care in every medical specialty,” Hargrave said.

The programs include women’s heart health, domestic and intimate partner violence education and prevention, weight management, normal social and physical adolescent development, women’s midlife programs, caregiver support and resilience and overall disease prevention.

Consultative status to the U.N. Economic and Social Council is the highest status granted by the U.N. to non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, allowing such organizations to participate in U.N. work. Depending on its level, the status gives the organizations “a number of rights to participate in the work of the U.N., to present their views and deliver testimony,” the release stated.

As of January, there were 143 organizations in general consultative status, 3,544 in special consultative status and 978 on the roster.

The role of the Economic and Social Council is to promote higher standards of living, full employment, social progress and development; solutions for economic, social and health problems; international cooperation and universal respect for human rights and freedoms.