Since the Alma Ata Declaration in 1978, community health volunteers (CHVs) have been at the forefront, providing health services, especially to underserved communities, in low-income countries. However, consolidation of CHVs position within formal health systems has proved to be complex and continue...s to challenge countries, as they devise strategies to strengthen primary healthcare. Malawi’s community health strategy, launched in 2017, is a novel attempt to harmonise the multiple health
service structures at the community level and strengthen service delivery through a team-based approach. The core community health team (CHT) consists of health surveillance assistants (HSAs), clinicians, environmental health officers and CHVs. This paper reviews Malawi’s strategy, with particular focus on the interface between HSAs, volunteers in community-based programmes and
the community health team. Our analysis identified key challenges that may impede the strategy’s implementation:
(1) inadequate training, imbalance of skill sets within CHTs and unclear job descriptions for CHVs; (2) proposed community-level interventions require expansion of pre-existing roles for most CHT members; and (3) district authorities may face challenges meeting financial obligations and filling community-level positions. For effective implementation, attention and further deliberation is needed on the appropriate forms of CHV support, CHT composition with possibilities of co-opting trained CHVs
from existing volunteer programmes into CHTs, review of CHT competencies and workload, strengthening coordination and communication across all community actors, and financing mechanisms. Policy support through the development of an addendum to the strategy, outlining opportunities for task-shifting between CHT members, CHVs’ expected duties and interactions with paid CHT personnel is recommended.
more
The manufacturing process is one of the key steps where quality control is required to ensure quality of medicinal products, including herbal medicines. Good manufacturing practices (GMP) is one of the most important tools for this measure.
Second Generation, WHO Country Cooperation Strategy, 2010–2015, Namibia
Rappart sur les populations clés.
The OECD's "Alcohol Consumption" indicator measures the annual sales of pure alcohol in liters per person aged 15 and older. This metric helps assess long-term trends in alcohol consumption across countries. It's important to note that the methodology for converting alcoholic beverages to pure alcoh...ol may vary between nations. Additionally, official data typically do not account for tourist consumption or unrecorded alcohol intake, such as homemade or illegally produced alcohol. While this indicator provides insight into overall consumption patterns, it does not capture harmful drinking behaviors like heavy episodic drinking.
more
Resources for the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders (SUD)
WHO’s Essential Medicines List and List of Essential Diagnostics are core guidance documents that help countries prioritize critical health products that should be widely available and affordable throughout health systems. The updated Essential Medicines List adds 23 medicines for children.
As the Group of Eight (G8) world leaders meet in Saint Petersburg, Russia for this year’s G8 Summit, it is important to take stock of international efforts to finance the response to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Financing a sufficient and sustained response to the epidemic has emerged as one of t...he world’s greatest challenges, and one that will be with us for the foreseeable future. Often, those countries most affected are also least able to respond, increasing their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and in turn further complicating their ability to address the epidemic, as is the case for many nations in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, concerns have been raised about “second wave” nations, particularly China, India, and Russia, which stand on the brink of generalized epidemics if more is not done now
more