The Panorama Perspectives: Conversations on Planetary Health report series aims to inspire new thinking, conversations, and engagement with planetary heal...th and other integrated concepts. Collaboration and open knowledge sharing across sectors are necessary to solve the complex global health and development problems of today. These reports are intended as practical tools, presenting actionable opportunities to advance planetary health.Each report expands on knowledge gathered from many sources, including analysis of publicly available reports and data; forums and events; group discussions; and individual conversations
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Phiri et al. Human Resources for Health (2017) 15:40
DOI 10.1186/s12960-017-0214-3
The overall objective of the Global Action Plan is to enhance collaboration among 12 global organizations engaged in health, development and humanitarian responses to accelerate country progress on ...the health-related SDG targets. The Plan presents a new approach to strengthening collaboration among and joint action by the organizations, building on an initial joint commitment made in October 2018. The Plan is primarily intended to be strategic but provides some operational detail to guide implementation while also allowing flexibility for adjustment based on regular reviews of progress and learning from experience. Although the purpose of the Global Action Plan is not to provide or seek additional resources, the Plan will enable better use of existing resources as a result of improved collaboration, recognizing that each agency has its own unique mandate and area of expertise.
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The Government of India is embarking on a mammoth task to prevent COVID-19 spread among communities. The Rapid Evidence Synthesis team received a request to support the planning and development of resources for ensuring preparedness of FLHWs for COV...ID-19 . The rapid evidence synthesis was conducted in a period of three days.
The findings highlight what we can learn from recent pandemics such that we are prepared for potential scenarios and challenges due to COVID-19. Key issues which decision-makers need to consider, based on available evidence
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This report describes findings from a telephone survey with 1,284 people conducted in February 2021. The survey examined how people respond to public health and social measures (PHSMs) to prevent CO...VID-19. The sample is representative of households with access to a landline or cell phone, but does not include people without access to phones. As phone penetration varies by country, findings should be interpreted with caution.
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Intended for use primarily by those responsible for developing policies and directing the working practices of nurses, midwives and other frontline health...-care providers, these guidelines aim to promote and strengthen the case against the medicalization of female genital mutilation and support and protect nurses, midwives and other health personnel in adhering to WHO guidelines not to close an opened-up infibulation.
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Fully functioning water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and health care waste management services are a critical aspect of infection prevention and con...trol (IPC) practices, and ensuring patient safety and quality of care. Such services are also essential for creating an environment that supports the dignity and human rights of all care seekers, especially mothers, newborns, children and care providers.
WASH and waste services are also critical for preventing and effectively responding to disease outbreaks. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in these basic services (Box 1). These gaps threaten the safety of patients and caregivers, and have environmental consequences, especially as a result of large increases in plastic health care waste. In short, WASH is a critical foundation for improving quality across the health system (1).
Many facilities lack plans and budgets for WASH, which has impacts on IPC. This lack of services, and of systems to improve them, compromises the ability to provide safe and quality care, and places health care providers and those seeking care at substantial risk of infection and loss of dignity. Unhygienic health care facilities without drinking water or functional toilets are also a disincentive to seeking care and undermine staff morale – these factors can have a critical impact on controlling infectious disease outbreaks.
Climate change and its impacts on WASH and health services, gender-specific needs, and equity in service provision and management all require rigorous attention, adaptable tools and regular monitoring.
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The Core Set of Indicators and respective Indicator Data Sheets aim to pave the way towards a common understanding, greater consistency and comparability across countries ...ighlight medbox">and alignment of results chains of German Development Cooperation in the field of health and social health protection with the internationally recognized health systems framework of WHO and International Health Partnership (IHP+).
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The USAID | DELIVER PROJECT, Task Order 4, developed this guide for quantifying health commodities; it will assist technical advisors, program managers, warehouse managers, procurement officers, and... service providers in (1) estimating the total commodity needs and costs for successful implementation of national health program strategies and goals, (2) identifying the funding needs and gaps for procuring the required commodities, and (3) planning procurements and shipment delivery schedules to ensure a sustained and effective supply of health commodities.
The step-by-step approach to quantification presented in this guide is complemented by a set of product-specific companion pieces that include detailed instructions for forecasting consumption of antiretroviral drugs, HIV test kits, antimalarial drugs, and laboratory supplies.
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Primary health care offers a cost–effective route to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). However, primary health-care syst...ems are weak in many low- and middle-income countries and often fail to provide comprehensive, people-centred, integrated care. We analysed the primary health-care systems in 20 low- and middle-income countries using a semi-grounded approach. Options for strengthening primary health-care systems were identified by thematic content analysis. We found that: (i)despite the growing burden of noncommunicable disease, many low- and middle-income countries lacked funds for preventive services; (ii)community health workers were often under-resourced, poorly supported and lacked training; (iii)out-of-pocket expenditure exceeded 40% of total health expenditure in half the countries studied, which affected equity; and (iv)health insurance schemes were hampered by the fragmentation of public and private systems, underfunding, corruption and poor engagement of informal workers. In 14 countries, the private sector was largely unregulated. Moreover, community engagement in primary health care was weak in countries where services were largely privatized. In some countries, decentralization led to the fragmentation of primary health care. Performance improved when financial incentives were linked to regulation and quality improvement, and community involvement was strong. Policy-making should be supported by adequate resources for primary health-care implementation and government spending on primary health care should be increased by at least 1% of gross domestic product. Devising equity-enhancing financing schemes and improving the accountability of primary health-care management is also needed. Support from primary health-care systems is critical for progress towards UHC in the decade to 2030.
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This Interim Guidance outlines how key public health and social measures needed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread and the impact of the disease... can be adapted for use in low capacity and humanitarian settings. The recommendations outlined here need to be adjusted to the scale of transmission, context and resources, in order to achieve the objective of managing COVID-19, namely to reduce transmission and facilitate the detection and management of infected and exposed individuals within the population. The Guidance is intended for humanitarian and development actors of all operational levels working with communities ocal authorities involved in COVID-19 preparedness and response operations in these settings, in support of national and local governments and plans. Additional considerations for support to residents of urban informal settlements and slums are available in Annex 1.
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The harmonized training package for Point-of-use-fortification using micronutrient powders has been developed to guide in training frontline health workers. The micronutrient powders will be distributed at the ...box">health facilities where instructions on use will be provided by Health Care Providers. Community Health Volunteers will educate, counsel, and mobilize caregivers at the community level to visit health facilities for nutrition assessment and provision of the micronutrient powders.
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