Levels and Inequities
DHS Further Analysis Reports No. 110
This study shows large variations in maternal health indicators across high-priority counties in Kenya. Nairobi exceeds the national average on all maternal health indicators in this study, while other highpriority counties consist...ently are disadvantaged compared with Kenya as a whole in most maternal health indicators. Kisumu exceeds the national average in use of antenatal care, delivery in a health facility, and postnatal care, but not other indicators. Nakuru has fewer women with fertility risk and fewer women who report that the distance they must travel to reach a health facility is a problem.
This study identifies a number of inequities in maternal health indicators across socio-demographic characteristics in the high-priority counties—most in the distribution of delivery care and least in antenatal care. Inequities are also observed in fertility risk and postnatal care.
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To understand the patterns of Rwanda’s achievements in health development, it is important to explore how Rwanda addresses the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) particularly those related to routine conditions in which people are born, live and work. It is in this particular context that a case ...study on Rwanda’s Performance in Addressing Social Determinants of Health was conducted by the Rwanda Ministry of Health, with technical and financial support from the World Health Organization (WHO). The overall goal of the exercise was to document Rwanda's recent initiatives that contribute to the advancements of the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health.
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The Ministry of Health has developed the first version of the Service Standards and Service Delivery Standards for the health sector in Uganda. The main objective is to provide a common understanding of what is expected by the public, service users and service providers in ensuring provision of cons...istently high quality service delivery. These standards also provide a roadmap for improving the quality, safety and reliability of healthcare in Uganda.
The application of these standards is expected to improve transparency and accountability in service delivery; fairness and equity in service provision; building a culture of quality management; regulation, management and control of public and private providers; and management of expectations of service recipients.
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The Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies is a collaborative partnership which supports and promotes evidence-based health policy making in the Asia Pacific Region. Based in WHO’s Regional Office for South-East Asia, it brings together governments, international agencies, foundat...ions, civil society and the research community with the aim of linking systematic and scientific analysis of health systems in the Asia Pacific Region with the decision-makers who shape policy and practice.
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The report reflects on the trends, achievements and challenges in global health over the past decade during which Dr Margaret Chan has been Director-General of WHO. It discusses the role of WHO in dealing with such issues as the rise of noncommunicable diseases, leaps in life expectancy, and emergin...g threats like climate change and antimicrobial resistance.
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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 treatment, inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities or practices, or providers who lack adequate training an...d 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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Policy Note: Thailand Health Systems in Transition
By 2002, Universal Health Coverage was achieved through three public insurance schemes: the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme (CSMBS) for civil servants and their dependents, Social Health Insurance (SHI) for formal sector employees, and the U...niversal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for the remainder of the population.
The establishment of these three schemes has changed the way health care is financed. A supply-led system, under which all Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) health facilities received an annual budget allocation from the MOPH, has now been completely replaced by a system in which the three public purchasers - separated through a purchaser-provider split - manage a demand-led system of financing.
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Prevention, Assessment and Management
Inequality of access to palliative care and symptom relief is one of the greatest disparities in global health care (1). Currently, there is avoidable suffering on a massive scale due to lack of access to palliative care and symptom relief in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (1). Yet basic p...alliative care that can prevent or relieve most suffering due to serious or life-threatening health conditions can be taught easily to generalist clinicians, can be provided in the community and requires only simple, inexpensive medicines and equipment. For these reasons, the World Health Assembly (WHA) resolved that palliative care is "an ethical responsibility of health systems"(2). Further, most patients who need palliative care are at home and prefer to remain there. Thus, it is imperative that palliative care be provided in the community as part of primary care. This document was written to assist ministries of health and health care planners, implementers and managers to integrate palliative care and symptom control into primary health care (PHC).
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"This is the final report of the six-year collaboration between the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse and the Gulbenkian Global Mental Health Platform, an initiative of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation aimed at reducing the global burden of mental health through the development a...nd application of evidence and good practices to global mental health."
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Exposure to air pollution causes 7 million deaths worldwide every year and costs an estimated US$ 5.11 trillion in welfare losses globally. In the 15 countries that emit the most greenhouse gas emissions, the health impacts of air pollution are estimated to cost more than 4% of their GDP. Actions to... meet the Paris goals would cost around 1% of global GDP. The report provides recommendations for governments on how to maximize the health benefits of tackling climate change and avoid the worst health impacts of this global challenge.
It describes how countries around the world are now taking action to protect lives from the impacts of climate change – but that the scale of support remains woefully inadequate, particularly for the small island developing states, and least developed countries. Only approximately 0.5% of multilateral climate funds dispersed for climate change adaptation have been allocated to health projects
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The main objective of this guidance is to provide scientific advice, based on an evidence-based assessment of targeted public health interventions, to facilitate effective screening and vaccination for priority infectious diseases among newly arrived migrant populations to the EU/EEA. It is intended... to support EU/EEA Member States to develop national strategies to strengthen infectious disease prevention and control among migrants and meet the health needs of these populations.
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Miscellaneous
Chapter J.7
Advocacy ,Social Mobilization ,Behavior Change Communications
An Economist Intelligence Unit briefing paper | The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) undertook a study aimed at assessing the degree of commitment of 15 countries within the AsiaPacific region to integrating those with mental illness into their communities. The research was commissioned and funded... by Janssen Asia Pacific, a division of Johnson & Johnson Pte. Ltd. This report focuses on the results of this benchmarking study, called the Asia-Pacific Mental Health Integration Index. Drawing on lessons from the EIU’s 2014 European Mental Health Integration Index, this edition index compares the level of effort in each of the countries on indicators associated with integrating individuals suffering from mental illness into society. Data for the Index was collected between March and May 2016. The set of 18 indicators were grouped into four categories.
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In: Mental health nursing: dimensions of praxis. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 427-442. ISBN 9780195566963
This chapter introduces you to the importance of culturally based health and well-being and to health care delivered by mental health nurses. There is a need for mental h...ealth professionals to incorporate knowledge about these beliefs and to develop the skills to work with clients from cultures other than their own if they are to care for them effectivel
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A comprehensive summary of mental health research, providing a unique handbook of key facts and figures, covering all key areas of mental health
The Health Systems in Transition (HiT) series consists of country-based reviews that provide a detailed description of a health system and of reform and policy initiatives in progress or under development in a specific country.
NSW Health Disaster Mental Health, handbook 3
The Disaster Mental Health Manual and associated handbooks are intended as a resource for mental health staff who are seeking background information and practical guidance and resources to assist in a disaster mental health response.
This report explores community-focused change initiatives in the financing, organization, and delivery of mental health services in Peru from 2013 to 2016. It examines the national dimension of reforms but focuses above all on implementation and results in the economically fragile district of Caraba...yllo, in northern Lima.
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