What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and What We Need to Do
Zanoni BC, et al. BMJ Glob Health 2016;1:e000004. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2015-000004
July 2014
This report was made possible through support provided by the One Million Community Health Workers Campaign, mPowering Frontline Health Workers, Intel, and USAID. This report was author...ed by Cindil Redick for mPowering Frontline Health Workers under the terms of Contract No. GHS-A-00-08-00002-00. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID.
more
BMC Public Health, Volume 18, Article number: 303 (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5208-0
Published: 02 March 2018
The right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is enshrined in many international human rights treatie...s. However, studies have shown that people with mental disabilities are often marginalized and discriminated against in the fulfillment of their right to health. The aim of this study is to identify and reach a broader understanding of barriers to the right to mental health in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Eleven semi-structured interviews were carried out with health professionals and administrators.
more
The information contained in this document, be it guidelines, recommendations, diagnostic algorithms or treatment regimens, are offered in this document in the public interest. To the best of the knowledge ...>of the guideline writing team, the information contained in these guidelines is correct. Implementation of any aspect of these guidelines remains the responsibility of the implementing agency in so far as public health liability resides, or the responsibility of the individual clinician in the case of diagnosis or treatment.
more
Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) experience a high disease burden for epilepsy, a chronic neurological condition.The authors evaluate the cost-effectiveness of community health workers (CHWs...) to improve adherence to medication for epilepsy in South Africa. They found that utilizing CHWs to improve medication adherence was cost-effective.
more
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste has the highest TB incidence rate in the South East Asian Region - 498 per 100,000, which is the seventh highest in the world. In Timor-Leste TB is the eighth ...most common cause of death.
The salient observations are as follows:
In 2018, 487 (12.5%) of the 3906 notified TB patients were tested for RR-TB and only 12 lab confirmed RR-TB patients were initiated on standard MDR-TB treatment of 20-months duration, (a 3-fold increase in RR-TB detection compared with 2017). This amounts to treatment coverage of only 17% of 72 estimated MDR/RR-TB among notified TB patients (3906) and 5% of 240 estimated incident MDR-TB patients as compared to 62% treatment coverage of 6300 incident drug sensitive TB patients estimated in TLS. The treatment success in the 2016 annual cohort of 6 MDR-TB patients has been reported at 83%. 80% of TB patients know their HIV Status with around 1% TB-HIV co-infection, 37/ 77 (48%) TB-HIV Co-infection Detected. Of the 387 PLHIV currently alive on ART, exact status on TB screening and testing is unknown. % of PLHIV newly enrolled in HIV care who received IPT is not known.
In 2018, the mortality rate for TB was 94 deaths per 100,000 people (1200 per annum) in TL with an increasing mortality trend (Figure 1), despite TB services being available for nearly two decades.
A survey of catastrophic costs due to TB (2016) highlights that 83% of TB patients are reported to be facing catastrophic costs due to the disease. This is the highest rate in the world.
more
An interdisciplinary approach to address global health challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, loss of biodiversity, human migration has been framed by the One ...te-to-highlight medbox">Health approach. This approach is promoted at global level by the Tripartite of the World Health Organisation, the World Animal Health Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, recently joint by the United National Environment Program to form the Quadripartite. The German government through its Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development supports this approach with its One Health strategy and investment in several technical cooperation projects.
more
This document describes the key areas that national governments should consider for the introduction and scale-up of point-of-care (POC) diagnostic...s within national programmes, as new innovative POC technologies are being introduced into the market. The next steps taken to include these new innovations within the broader context of national diagnostic networks of conventional laboratories could influence the achievement of the 2030 Fast Track targets for ending the AIDS epidemic.
POC diagnostics, when strategically introduced and integrated into national diagnostic networks, may help catalyse changes that improve the way diagnostics and clinical services are delivered. This document distils this understanding based on programmatic and market experiences of introducing POC diagnostics through catalytic investments in POC HIV technologies across numerous countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
more
South Africa reported it fist case of COVID-19 on 5 March 2020. While the first cases were imported, local transmission has led to a rapid increase... in the number of cases. As of 21 April 2020, more than 3,400 cases and 58 deaths had been confirmed. On 15 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster, and the government has since taken several measures to curb the spread of the virus, including closing borders, implementing strict social distancing measures and a 35-day nation-wide lockdown. These measures, along with the global economic shock caused by the pandemic, are expected to generate rising needs requiring an immediate and urgent response. Although South Africa is considered an upper-middle-income country, the amount of disparities—social, economic, and gender—make the country particularly vulnerable during this emergency.
more
Little is known about asthma control in the rising number of African children who suffer from this condition. The Achieving Control of Asthma in Ch...ildren in Africa (ACACIA) study is an observational study collecting evidence about paediatric asthma in urban areas of Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The primary objectives are: (1) to identify 3000 children aged between 12 years and 14 years with asthma symptoms; and (2) to assess their asthma control, current treatment, knowledge of and attitudes to asthma and barriers to achieving good control. Secondary objective is to develop interventions addressing identified barriers to good symptom control.
Each centre will undertake screening to identify 500 school children with asthma symptoms using questions from the Global Asthma Network’s questionnaire. Children identified to have asthma symptoms will fill in a digital survey, including: Asthma Control Test, questions on medication usage and adherence, medical care, the Brief-Illness Perception questionnaire and environmental factors. Exhaled nitric oxide testing and prebronchodilator and postbronchodilator spirometry will be performed. A subgroup of children will participate in focus group discussions. Results will be analysed using descriptive statistics and comparative analysis. Informed by these results, we will assess the feasibility of potential interventions, including the adaption of a UK-based theatre performance about asthma attitudes and digital solutions to improve asthma management.
more
4th edition. A manual for clinics, community health centers and district hospitals
Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET): Disussion Paper 110
This report compiles evidence from published, grey literature and key informants on the UNMHCP
...since its introduction in Uganda’s health system, and findings were further validated during a oneday
national stakeholder meeting.
Three main factors motivated introduction of the UNMHCP. First, Uganda, along with other lowincome countries, was unable to implement holistically the primary healthcare (PHC) concepts as set out in the Alma Ata Declaration. Second, the macro-economic restructuring carried out in the 1990s, which was an international conditionality for low-income countries to access development financing, influenced the trend towards more stringent prioritisation of health interventions as a means of rationing and targeting use of resources. Third, the government sought to achieve equity with a service package that would be universally available for all people.
more
A Rapid Appraisal of Priorities, Policies and Practices