Trop Med Int Health. 2015 Apr; 20(4): 448–454. Open Access
Background: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 aims to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. While a substantial effort has been made to quantify progress towards SDG3, less research has focused on tracking spending towards this goal. We used spending estimates to
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measure progress in financing the priority areas of SDG3, examine the association between outcomes and financing, and identify where resource gains are most needed to achieve the SDG3 indicators for which data are available. Methods: We estimated domestic health spending, disaggregated by source (government, out-of-pocket, and prepaid private) from 1995 to 2017 for 195 countries and territories. For disease-specific health spending, we estimated spending for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis for 135 low-income and middle-income countries, and malaria in 106 malaria-endemic countries, from 2000 to 2017. We also estimated development assistance for health (DAH) from 1990 to 2019, by source, disbursing development agency, recipient, and health focus area, including DAH for pandemic preparedness. Finally, we estimated future health spending for 195 countries and territories from 2018 until 2030. We report all spending estimates in inflation-adjusted 2019 US$, unless otherwise stated.
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In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), one maternal death was registered every hour in 2020. That same year, the trend in the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) for the Region of the Americas regressed alarmingly and unprecedentedly to the levels seen two decades ago. In addition to indicating a wors
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ening of health outcomes, these figures also signal a deepening of inequalities, representing thousands of individual, unacceptable tragedies that in most cases could have been preventable. Maternal death is the result of a multifactorial process in which structural elements such as the economic system, environmental conditions, and culture interact. Other factors related to social inequality are also present, such as racism, poverty, gender inequality, and lack of access to the education system. The current situation calls for urgent mobilization of the health systems of LAC countries in order to strengthen efforts to combat maternal mortality, especially in countries that are still far from achieving the SHAA2030 regional target. For this reason, a preventive, health-promoting, life-course-based approach is needed, with models of care centered on women, families, and the community Scientific evidence shows that health systems with a solid foundation in primary health care (PHC) achieve better outcomes, greater equity, and reduced health expenditures. To address this, PAHO proposes a strategy, aimed primarily at women who are in the most vulnerable situation, who are the ones who represent the greatest burden of maternal mortality, to accelerate the reduction of maternal mortality in the Region of the Americas, based on the expansion and strengthening of PHC.
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Investigación original / Original research
Panam Salud Publica. 2016;39(1):38–43.
Worldwide, more people are on the move now than ever before, yet many refugees and migrants face poorer health outcomes than the host populations. Addressing their
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health needs is, therefore, a global health priority and integral to the principle of the right to health for all. The key is to strengthen and maintain health systems by ensuring that they are refugee- and migrant-sensitive and inclusive.
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Background
How to finance progress towards universal health coverage in low-income and middle-income countries is a subject of intense debate. We investigated how alternative tax systems aff ect the breadth, depth, and height of
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health system coverage.
Methods
We used cross-national longitudinal fi xed eff ects models to assess the relationships between total and diff erent types of tax revenue, health system coverage, and associated child and maternal health outcomes in 89 low-income and middle-income countries from 1995–2011.
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The WHO document, "High-level technical meeting on noncommunicable diseases and mental health in small island developing states: summary brief," outlines the outcomes of a January 2023 meeting in Ba
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rbados, focusing on NCDs and mental health challenges in small island developing states (SIDS). Key topics included the need for sustainable financing, addressing the impact of climate change, improving emergency preparedness, strengthening multisectoral collaboration, and managing commercial determinants of health. The document emphasizes building political support and international cooperation to reduce the NCD and mental health burden in SIDS, with recommendations for policy coherence and increased support for these vulnerable regions.
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Having completed this course, learners will be able to: Describe and analyze the opportunities, challenges and limits of Global Health Diplomacy. Examine the diplomatic, financial, and geopolitical context that underlies global
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health decision-making. Explain the role of the many players in the space, including governments, philanthropists, and multilateral institutions . Course Objective The field of global health is often thought of purely in medical or public health terms, but there are important geopolitical and policy dimensions of global health that underlie programmatic responses to global health challenges. By completing this course, learners will be able to explain the specific institutions and initiatives that are fundamental to current global health diplomacy activities and functions, and how these influence global health outcomes. Learners will further be able to summarize real-world examples where global health diplomacy either helped or limited global health outcomes, and explain the reasons for those outcomes.
Accessed July 27th, 2019
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Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health 25 - 29 January 2011 | Bangkok, Thailand | Empower health workers for health
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outcomes | Reviewing progress, renewing commitments to health workers towards MDGs and beyond
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Infectious disease epidemics pose a threat to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) both directly—by worsening women’s and children’s health
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outcomes—and indirectly—by reducing their access to services.1–4 Greater investment is therefore needed to mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 and avoid a reversal of recent gains in RMNCH coverage and outcomes.1 However, COVID-19 has reduced household and government budgets,5 and there are concerns about the extent to which resources have been diverted away from RMNCH.
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This discussion guide is designed to assist individuals and
agencies working toward developing trauma-informed
approaches to service delivery. It describes how common
traumatic experiences are for individuals accessing health
and social services
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, and it provides information to help service
providers recognize the adaptations people make to cope with
trauma. Trauma awareness is a foundation for developing
trauma-informed services, which integrate knowledge about
trauma into policies, procedures, and practices. Traumainformed
services actively seek to avoid re-traumatization and
have been shown to improve client engagement, retention, and
outcomes. This guide includes practice examples, suggested
resources, and sample questions to stimulate further discussion.
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Stock-outs of antimalarials cause unnecessary deaths among an estimated 219 million people afflicted worldwide. Good pharmaceutical information systems can avoid stock-outs with timely, accurate data and high reporting rates that ensure the continuous availability of critically-needed antimalarials.
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The US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Systems for Increased Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program, with support from the US Government’s Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI), is working with the Government of Guinea to improve the national malaria reporting system. By the end of September 2013, after only a few months of training in all 19 PMI-supported zones, reporting rates had improved significantly, reaching an average completion rate of 85 percent for health facilities during the previous quarter.
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Climate hazards, including extreme heat, are associated with increased risks of developing complications that lead to adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. These may include multiple causes of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality such as
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gestational diabetes, hyper tensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm birth, low birth weight and stillbirth. In addition to the health risks related to poor nutrition, water, hygiene and sanitation, the effects of exposure to climate hazards and their aftermath during and after pregnancy can affect mental health and contribute to intergenerational trauma. They may increase stress, anxiety and depression – known risk factors for adverse perinatal outcomes.
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The "Global mapping report on multisectoral actions to strengthen the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions" by the WHO provides insights into how different countries are implementing multisectoral ap
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proaches to address NCDs and mental health issues. It highlights the importance of collaboration across sectors—such as health, education, finance, and urban planning—to tackle risk factors like tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and harmful alcohol use. The report categorizes actions into four pillars: governance, leadership, operational practices, and resources. It showcases examples from various countries and calls for improved multisectoral efforts to reduce the global burden of NCDs and enhance mental health outcomes.
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Public Health Fact Sheet
Involving the Community in Responding to TB/HIV: Outcomes of Community-Led Monitoring and Advocacy
Accessed November 2017
Around the world, millions of refugees and migrants in vulnerable situations, such as low-skilled migrant workers, face poorer health outcomes than their host communities, especially where living an
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d working conditions are sub-standard, according to the first WHO World report on the health of refugees and migrants. This has dire consequences for the probability that the world will not achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for these populations.
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One Health is a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach — working at the local, regional, national, and global levels — with the goal of achieving optimal health
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outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
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Poor diets are the major cause of death and disease globally, driving high levels of obesity and noncommunicable diseases. Cheap, heavily marketed, ultra-processed, energy-dense and nutrient-poor food and drinks that are high in fat, sugar and salt play a major role. The high-sugar content of these
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products leads to consumption levels much higher than recommended. The World Health Organization recommends that sugar intake should be reduced to just 5% of energy intake by using fiscal policies and food and drink reformulation strategies. Over the previous decade, the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has implemented several policies aimed at reducing sugar intake. We compare the soft drinks industry levy and the sugar reduction programme, examining how differences in policy design and process may have influenced the outcomes. Success has been mixed: the mandatory levy achieved a reduction in total sugar sales of 34.3%, and the voluntary reduction programme only achieved a 3.5% reduction in sugar levels of key contributors to sugar intake (despite a target of 20%). Both policies can be improved to enhance their impact, for example, by increasing the levy and reducing the sugar content threshold in the soft drinks industry levy, and by setting more stringent subcategory specific targets in the sugar reduction programme. We also recommend that policy-makers should consider applying a similar levy to other discretionary products
that are key contributors to sugar intake. Both approaches provide valuable learnings for future policy in the United Kingdom and globally
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The global economic crisis that began to unfold in 2008 has raised serious concerns about the ability of developing countries to meet targets for improvements in population health outcomes, and abou
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t the ability of developed countries to meet their commitments to fund health programmes in developing countries. This uncertainty underscores the importance of tracking spending on global health, to ensure resources are directed efficiently to the world's most pressing health issues.
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Our target end-users are those with limited literacy. It is a challenging task to achieve success in this group as so much of what is "obvious" to those of us with good literacy skills is totally obscure to those who have never had the opportunity to learn the meaning of e.g. an arrow shape and what
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it is meant to represent. Our pictograms have been tested mainly in our local Xhosa population, so we cannot guarantee universal generalisability (as is the case for any other pictograms). Categories in the database include Dosage and frequency; Route of administration; Additional medicine instructions; Side effects or indications; Storage of medicines; Tablets, capsules, bottles, droppers; Miscellaneous; TB-related pictograms
A common application relates to their use with medicines where they may serve to convey instructions, precautions, storage requirements, warnings, as well as medicine indication or side effects to patients or consumers. Many examples of diverse application of pictograms in the health literature have been described including health promotion materials, wound care instructions, asthma prevention and treatment, injury prevention, discharge instructions, self-care guidance, paediatric anaphylaxis plan, organ and body donation, CT scan risks and benefits, driving risks, safety symbols, decision aids for treatment, and patient-reported outcomes dashboards, amongst others.
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