Four simple steps to practice quality improvement at health facility level
This paper explores access to water, sanitation, and health in pastoral communities in northern Tanzania. It argues that the concept of gender, use...d on its own, is not enough to understand the complexities of sanitation, hygiene, water, and health. It explores pastoralists’ views and perspectives on what is ‘clean’, ‘safe’, and ‘healthy’, and their need to access water and create sanitary arrangements that work for them, given the absence of state provision of modern water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure. Although Tanzania is committed to enhancing its citizens’ access to WASH services, pastoral sanitation and hygiene tend to be overlooked and little attention is paid to complex ways in which access to ‘clean’ water and ‘adequate sanitation’ is structured in these communities. This paper offers an intersectional analysis of water and sanitation needs, showing how structural discrimination in the form of a lack of appropriate infrastructure, a range of sociocultural norms and values, and individual stratifiers interact to influence the sanitation and health needs of pastoralist men, women, boys, and girls.
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This report contains the results of an in-depth Training Needs Assessment (TNA) of Health Workers in the 4 project counties of the republic of Keny...a – Nakuru, Kisumu, Nairobi and Bungoma. The assessment, facilitated by the UPOPs Project in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, took place in the month of September 2017. This assessment focused on health workers at County and County referral health facilities.
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RESULTS: Between 76 and 97% of the PHCS offered RMCAH services before the lockdown. Except in antenatal, delivery and adolescent care, there was a decline of between 2 and 6% in all the services dur...ing the lockdown and up to 10% decline after the lockdown with variation across and within States. During the lockdown. Full-service delivery was reported by 75.2% whereas 24.8% delivered partial services. There was a significant reduction in clients' utilization of the services during the lockdown, and the difference between States before the pandemic, during, and after the lockdown. Reported difficulties during the lockdown included stock-out of drugs (25.7%), stock-out of contraceptives (25.1%), harassment by the law enforcement agents (76.9%), and transportation difficulties (55.8%). Only 2% of the PHCs reported the availability of gowns, 18% had gloves, 90.1% had hand sanitizers, and a temperature checker was available in 94.1%. Slightly above 10% identified clients with symptoms of COVID-19.
CONCLUSIONS: The large proportion of PHCs who provided RMCAH services despite the lockdown demonstrates resilience. Considering the several difficulties reported, and the limited provision of primary protective equipment more effort by the government and non-governmental agencies is recommended to strengthen delivery of sexual and reproductive health in primary health centres in Nigeria during the pandemic.
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A training package for building capacity of healthcare teams in health facilities for continous quality improvement of maternal and newborn healthcare. The focus is on the care of mothers and newbor...ns at the time of child birth since a large proportion of maternal deaths, newborn deaths and stillbirths happen around that time.
The 4-Step POCQI (Point of care Quality Improvement) package includes Coaching manual and Learner manual that present a demystified and simple model of quality improvement at the level of health facilities using local data to identify quality gaps, analyse underlying causes and improve health care practices in their own specific context without much additional resources.
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This guidance note developed by UNICEF helps WASH staff in their preparedness and response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. It provides an overview of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and its intersection with water, sanitation and hygiene (W...ASH). It also provides key actions that staff can implement to help prevent infection and its spread in health-care facilities: from human to human, among health care workers and patients, through droplets, and by touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. WASH, including waste management and environmental cleaning, is essential for IPC
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PERC produces regional and member state situation analyses, updated regularly.
These guidelines are designed for ICRC and other health professionals – nurses, midwifes, doctors – who either lack experience in antenatal care or are not used to working ...-to-highlight medbox">in countries where medical infrastructure is underdeveloped or non-existent
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Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Management Dissertation
This is one of seven Medical Peace Work courses.
March 2021. “A Decade of Destruction: Attacks on health care in Syria,” highlights with chilling detail how this 10-year war strategy has turned hospitals from safe havens into no-go zones where... Syrian civilians now fear for their lives.
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Snakebite envenoming is a serious public health problem in Central America, where approximately 5,500 cases occur every year. Panama has the highest incidence and El Salvador the lowest. The majorit...y, and most severe, cases are inflicted by the pit viper Bothrops asper (family Viperidae), locally known as ‘terciopelo’, ‘barba amarilla’ or ‘equis’. About 1% of the bites are caused by coral snakes of the genus Micrurus (family Elapidae). Despite significant and successful efforts in Central America regarding snakebite envenomings in the areas of research, antivenom manufacture and quality control, training of health professionals in the diagnosis and clinical management of bites, and prevention of snakebites, much remains to be done in order to further reduce the impact of this medical condition. This essay presents seven challenges for improving the confrontation of snakebite envenoming in Central America. Overcoming these challenges demands a coordinated partnership of highly diverse stakeholders though inter-sectorial and inter-programmatic interventions.
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Annals of Global Health, 87(1), p.43. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.3269;
The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, and stress) ...lass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">in Bangladesh and the factors associated with these symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
They found that about 64%, 87%, and 61% of the respondents in Bangladesh reported high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively and this varied between divisions (regions), more in women, those who self-quarantined, and those that experienced classical symptoms of COVID-19. We think there is a need for mental health support in this population to minimise the long term effects.
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Important Guideline for Ebola prevention and control
It is designed for the following uses:
- for prevention through preparedness--to help African health facilities make advance preparations for responding with appropriate precautions when a VH...F (including Ebola) case is suspected.
- for planning and conducting in-service training to strengthen standard precautions and VHF isolation precautions.
- as a rapid reference when a VHF (i.e. Ebola) case appears at a health facility where no previous VHF preparations have been made.
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Human Resources for Health201816:49; https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-018-0315-7
Version: 2.0 Date: 19.3.2020