Germany has become a visible actor in global health in the past 10 years. In this Series paper, we describe how this development complements a broad change in perspective in German foreign policy.
Universal health coverage ensures everyone has access to the health services they need without suffering financial hardship as a result. In December 2012, a UN resolution was passed encouraging gove...rnments to move towards providing universal access to affordable and quality health care services. As countries move towards it, common challenges are emerging -- challenges to which research can help provide answers.
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CBM Primary Health Care Toolkit - Part 1 - Flipcharts (English)
Informal health workers are important care providers in the region and continue to be so during the current Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak. Many are well respected and trusted members of the com...munity who can mobilise large numbers of people for a particular activity and lend legitimacy to a particular programme.
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Our spiritual health profoundly impacts our physical health, well-being, and quality of life. Just as medical professionals care for our bodies and... minds, spiritual care practitioners care for our spirits. The increasing need for spiritual care makes these practitioners even more crucial. However, many of us have limited access to quality, professional spiritual care. At times of struggle, this lack of spiritual care can have a negative impact on our health and well-being.Investigators and researchers are creating a growing body of evidence for the innumerable benefits of professional spiritual care, yet many people still do not have a lot of accurate information about these practitioners. To create this publication, the six largest healthcare chaplaincy organizations in North America collaborated to share the facts about spiritual care and practitioners’ roles, training, and standards.By providing evidence and dispelling myths, the thousands of spiritual care practitioners represented by these organizations hope to increase access to spiritual care for the benefit of all.
accessed July 2020
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1. Provide treatment for mental disorders in primary care
2. Ensure wider accessibility to essential psychotropic drugs
3. Provide care in the community
4. Educate the public
5. Involve communit...ies, families and consumers
6. Establish national policies, programmes and legislation on mental health
7. Develop human resources
8. Link with other sectors
9. Monitor community mental health
10. Support relevant research.
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Assessment and Guidance for Strengthening Integration of Mental Health into Primary Health Care and Community-Based Service Platforms in Ukraine
In this paper we aim to provide information on the importance of efficiency measurement of health care facilities in developing countries. We state that efficiency measurement can be a substantial c...ontribution to saving lives. Therefore we analyse the performance of health centres in rural Burkina Faso making use of data which were taken from a comprehensive long-term cost information system. In the subsequent parts of this article, the study site is described and the DEA method outlined. The ensuing analysis of the data is carried out in two stages. Firstly, quantitative aspects concerning relative efficiency are presented. Secondly, the measures of performance are explained. The implications of the results are then discussed.
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Disability inclusive practices for strengthening comprehensive eye care
In 1989, the Republic of Benin was facing a great social and
economical crisis. Civil servants of all the sectors in public
administration were on strike. People did not know where to
go for their health ...">care. Salaries were not paid for more than
six months and life for the general population was very dificult.
The country was about to degenerate into civil war as a
result of the civil unrest in the country.
Thanks to the assistance from the French, and Canadian
and American Mennonite missionaries, the Bethesda Health
Centre was started in 1990 with US$ 1,000 granted by theses
partners. Today, the Health Centre of Bethesda has expanded
and has become a large Hospital in Cotonou. It hosts each
year about 100,000 patients and has developed the department
of paediatrics, ophthalmology, stomatology, cardiology,
obstetrical gynaecology, X-rays, etc. The Hospital has also
put in place an AIDS service which has been promoted by the
government to the status of an AIDS Treatment Centre.
In an integrated vision, Bethesda has established other departments.
In 1993, the Sanitation department was established
to implement sanitation and environmentally-friendly
projects aimed at reducing the high incidence of some diseases
frequently treated at the hospital. In 1996, the decision
was made to establish a micro-inance department called
PEBCo. This initiative, which currently has 10,000 clients,
uses community savings to promote income-generating activities.
Since many women were obliged to use the loans for
family needs (health care, children schooling, etc.), they were
unable to reimburse them as planned. Hence the Bethesda
non-government organization (NGO) recently began an initiative
to provide a community-based health insurance option
for the population in 2006. There are now 12,000 members.
This paper focuses on the presentation of Benin and the program,
but also describes how the project could be better improved
and what were its beneits and impacts.
Field Actions Science Reports
The journal of field actions
Vol. 4 | 2010
Vol. 4
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WHO-OHCHR launch new guidance to improve laws addressing human rights abuses in mental health care
Ahead of World Mental Health Day, the World <...span class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">Health Organization (WHO) and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) are jointly launching a new guidance, entitled "Mental health, human rights and legislation: guidance and practice", to support countries to reform legislation in order to end human rights abuses and increase access to quality mental health care.
Human rights abuses and coercive practices in mental health care, supported by existing legislation and policies, are still far too common. Involuntary hospitalization and treatment, unsanitary living conditions and physical, psychological, and emotional abuse characterize many mental health services across the world.
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The health of the people and health services are in crisis, and together as partners this plan commits us to strategies aimed at achieving our goal of:
Strengthened primary ...te-to-highlight medbox">health care for all, and improved service delivery for the rural majority and the urban disadvantaged.
Original file: 67 MB
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This field study to assess the pharmaceutical situation was undertaken in Ghana in May-June 2008 using a standardized methodology developed by the World Health Organization. The study assessed medicines availability and affor...dability, geographical accessibility, quality and rational use among other issues. The survey was conducted in six regions. In each region, 6 public health care facilities, 12 private pharmacies and 1 warehouse were surveyed.
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This Eye health strategic plan presents the Ministry of Health’s five
year proposed strategies for eye care in Kenya. It sets the strategic
dir...ection for the National Eye Health Care System and presents
information on the priorities, objectives and indicators that the
Ministry has adopted especially with regard to the main eye diseases
and conditions in the country and health system strengthening.
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A Systematic Review, Country Case Studies, and Recommendations for Integration into National Health Systems
Alliance Report
Participation of community health workers (CHWs) in the provision of pr...imary health care has been experienced all over the world for several decades, and there is an amount of evidence showing that they can add significantly to the efforts of improving the health of the population, particularly in those settings with the highest shortage of motivated and capable health professionals.
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As the culminating volume in the DCP3 series, volume 9 will provide an overview of DCP3 findings and methods, a summary of messages and substantive lessons to be taken from DCP3, and a further discussion of cross-cutting and synthesizing topics across the first eight volumes. The introductory chapte...rs (1-3) in this volume take as their starting point the elements of the Essential Packages presented in the overview chapters of each volume. First, the chapter on intersectoral policy priorities for health includes fiscal and intersectoral policies and assembles a subset of the population policies and applies strict criteria for a low-income setting in order to propose a "highest-priority" essential package. Second, the chapter on packages of care and delivery platforms for universal health coverage (UHC) includes health sector interventions, primarily clinical and public health services, and uses the same approach to propose a highest priority package of interventions and policies that meet similar criteria, provides cost estimates, and describes a pathway to UHC.
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