Poor quality health services are holding back progress on improving health in countries at all income levels.
Today, inaccurate diagnosis, medication errors, inappropriate or unnecessary treatm...ent, inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities or practices, or providers who lack adequate training and expertise prevail in all countries.
The situation is worst in low and middle-income countries where 10 percent of hospitalized patients can expect to acquire an infection during their stay, as compared to seven percent in high income countries. This is despite hospital acquired infections being easily avoided through better hygiene, improved infection control practices and appropriate use of antimicrobials.. At the same time, one in ten patients is harmed during medical treatment in high income countries.
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Submitted to the US Agency for International Development by the
Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program.
This manual provides a framework to identify problems and design interventions to improve access to and use of medicines for children. It is a resource for ...both health policy makers and health system managers and presents a structured approach to the steps introduced in the framework in the context of child health.
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It highlights the numerous challenges to quality service provision, along with the organisation’s response to mental health needs, and recommendations for international and regional decision-makers including:
- Advocating and working towards men...tal health policies that support adequate funding for mental health care and government suppor
- Legislation to protect the rights of people with mental disorders and vulnerable communities
- Advocating for multi-year funding to support the sustainability of MHPSS programs
- Creating capacity building opportunities consistent with the IASC guidelines and supported with continuous supervision
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Today there are Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR) programmes in a large number of countries. In many countries, the CBR approach is a part of the national rehabilitation services. However, there is a lack of reliable data about persons with disab...ilities who benefit from CBR and the kind of benefits they receive. This article reviews the disability data collection systems and presents some case studies to understand the influence of operational factors on data collection in the CBR programmes. The review shows that most CBR programmes use a variable number of broad functional categories to collect information about persons with disabilities, combined occasionally with more specific diagnostic categories. This categorisation is influenced by local contexts and operational factors, including the limitations of human and material resources available for its implementation, making it difficult to have comparable CBR data. Therefore, any strategies to strengthen the data collection in CBR programmes must take these operational factors into account.
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Special issue: Mental Health Challenges in Lithuania
Nos. 1-2 '11
Social Determinants of Health Discussion Paper 1 (Debates). This paper was prepared for the launch of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) by its secretariat based at WHO in Genev...a. It was discussed by the Commissioners and then revised considering their input.
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This document presents an integrated strategy for mental health system development that will lead to enhanced service delivery, improved outcomes, and improved human rights for people with mental disorders.
By using the practical guidance provid...ed in this document, countries can ensure that their mental health systems are not haphazard, but rather, the products of careful consideration and planning.
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This document aims to assist policy‑makers, health care providers and researchers to understand key concepts in health ethics and to identify basic ethical questions surrounding ...bute-to-highlight medbox">health and health care. It illustrates the challenges of applying ethical principles to global public health and outlines practical strategies for dealing with those challenges.
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Health Evidence Network Synthesis Report, No. 47
The increasing number of refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants poses a challenge for mental health services in Europe. This review found t...hat these groups are exposed to risk factors for mental disorders before, during and after migration. The prevalence rates of psychotic, mood and substance use disorders in these groups are variable but overall are similar to those in the host populations; however, the rates of post-traumatic stress disorder in refugees and asylum seekers are higher.
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Technical guidance.
This technical guidance aims to inform policy and practice development specifically related to improving the health of older refugees and migrants within the European Union and the larger WHO European Region. Both ageing and mig...ration are in themselves complex multidimensional processes shaped by a range of factors at the micro, meso and macro levels over the life-course of the individual, but also with intertwined trajectories. Relevant areas for policy-making include healthy ageing over the life-course, supportive environments, people-centred health and long-term care services, and strengthening the evidence base and research
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The HEARTS technical package provides a strategic approach to improving cardiovascular health in countries. It comprises six modules and an implementation guide. This package supports Ministries of Health<.../span> to strengthen CVD management in primary health care settings. The practical, step-by step modules are supported by an overarching technical document that provides a rationale and framework for this integrated approach to the management of NCDs.
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A policy brief on the organization of prison health
Training for Health Care Providers
Facilitators’ Manual
USAID Senegal and Health in Africa (HIA) initiative of the World Bank Group engaged the Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) project to conduct an assessment of the priva...te health sector in Senegal. The assessment’s primary focus is family planning, and its secondary focus is maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH), HIV and AIDS, malaria, and nutrition.
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