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Several instruments at both the global and regional levels to which countries in the WHO African Region are party call for action by governments to strengthen national health research systems (NHRS). This paper debates the extent to which Malawi has fulfilled this commitment. [from abstract]

This working paper explores the topic of social service workforce strengthening as it relates to child care reform. It is intended to be a useful resource for reform efforts and a practical and accessible overview for use by policy-makers, practitioners, and service providers in contexts that are either considering the implications of care reforms for their social service workforce or are already engaged in the process. The paper illustrates key issues by drawing on the experiences of Indonesia, Moldova, and Rwanda, three countries in the process of reform. [from

This report explores the role of strategic planning in Turkey’s successful transformation of its health sector since 2002. It analyses the evolution of strategic planning for health from an informal tool to an official and highly structured process that closely follows the steps identified in accepted models of strategic planning. [from abstract]

The aim of this study is to assess the factors affecting performance of nurses in Prince Sultan Military Medical City (PSMMC) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [from abstract]

This paper speaks to this agenda, and describes an ongoing pilot study from the state of Punjab in India with a focus on the implications of UHC models on HIS. Five key implications on HIS are identified: Expanding basket of services; Population basing of services; Ensuring continuity of care; Resource allocation choices; Monitoring financial protection and costs of care. [from abstract]

A first part of the study consisted of a detailed analysis of regulatory documents and strategic plans related to the Congolese health system and health informatics development. In a second part, field visits and semi-structured interviews were organized with a representative sample of relevant health structures throughout the country. [from abstract]

Older persons report poor health status and greater need for healthcare. However, there is limited research on older persons’ healthcare disparities in Uganda. Therefore, this paper aimed at investigating factors associated with older persons’ healthcare access in Uganda, using a nationally representative sample. [from abstract]

This paper presents the study and analysis of some articles that were selected according to their potential contributions to the introduction of information technology (IT) in the Healthcare industry in West Africa. [from introduction]

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors intersect to influence CHW performance. A systematic review with a narrative analysis was conducted to identify contextual factors influencing
performance of CHWs. [from abstract]

The intended goal was to obtain direct feedback about ethical issues and ethical training
needs from practitioners themselves who work in rural settings. Results identified three primary
ethical issues: dual relationships, confidentiality, and competence; and three primary ethical training needs: boundaries, state rules and regulations, and supervision. [from abstract]

Skilled birth attendance (SBA) has been shown to reduce maternal mortality and improve birth outcomes. Because skilled professionals are supposed to be present in health facilities, increasing facility deliveries is expected to increase SBA. However, in a country with a critical shortage of skilled health personnel, is this always the case? We present data from three studies conducted in Zambia to understand SBA and delivery practices in health facilities. [from abstract]

The Health Workforce Productivity Analysis and Improvement Toolkit describes a step-wise process to measure the productivity of facility-based health workers, understand the underlying causes of productivity problems, and identify potential interventions to address them and improve health service delivery and achieve health goals. This toolkit focuses specifically on the productivity of facility-based health workers and not that of the health system as a whole. [from introduction]

This paper explores recent developments in female contraception, using them to illustrate how adaptation of existing methods, improved service delivery and understanding contraceptive behaviour might increase contraceptive uptake and correct and consistent use, and how the development of new methods holds some promise for capitalizing on the potential non-contraceptive benefits. [from abstract]

Women have been shown to accept surgical intervention methods of contraception than men. Despite the fact
that vasectomy is safer, simpler and effective, it is underutilized and relatively unknown in Nigeria. This study therefore, investigates the knowledge and acceptance of ‘vasectomy as a male contraceptive method in Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria.

Burnout can create problems in every aspect of individual’s’ human life. It may have an adverse effect on interpersonal and family relations and can lead to a general negative attitude towards life. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether burnout is associated with the mental health status of health care providers. [from abstract]

The goal of this paper is to identify the frequency and intensity of the perception of adverse professional consequences and their association with burnout syndrome and occupational variables. [from abstract]

Female sex workers (FSWs) in Ghana have a 10-fold greater risk for acquiring HIV than the general adult population, and they contribute a substantial proportion of the new HIV infections in the country. Although researchers have conducted behavioral and biological surveys, there has been no review of the contextual, programmatic, and epidemiological changes over time. The authors conducted a historical review of HIV prevention programs in Ghana. [from abstract]

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), men who have sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers (FSW) have the highest HIV prevalence but have the least access to services due to their marginalization within Congolese society.

Regular voluntary counseling and testing is a key component of the fight against HIV/AIDS. In Benin, the project SIDA-1/2/3 established to decrease HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STIs) among female sex workers (FSWs), implemented a multifaceted intervention, including outreach activities. The objective of this article was to present potential advantages and limitations of 3 categories of outreach interventions designed to increase the use of testing services among FSWs in Benin. [from abstract]

The mHealth Compendiums document a range of mHealth applications being implemented primarily in Africa. This volume was published in November 2013 and is the third edition in the series. It contains twenty-four new case studies which document mHealth innovations, many of which seek to contribute to USAID’s two overarching objectives of eliminating preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths and achieving an AIDS free generation.

Mobile and wireless technologies assist health projects in accurately assessing the needs of a target population, collecting and disseminating relevant information, and delivering cost effective health services. [from introduction]

Between June and October 2014, the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) consulted 26 international maternal health researchers to gather perspectives on the most critical and neglected areas for knowledge generation to improve maternal health in low- and middle-income countries. [from introduction]

It is hoped that this background paper supported by the interactive discussions at the convention will help all of us including the People’s Council of Education to initiate a strong countervailing process and movement which will stimulate a re-thinking in the direction content and relevance of health sciences education in the country making it more relevant to people’s needs and health for All. [from introduction]

The time has come to move from a focus on health security and international crisis response, to a system of global
governance capable of addressing infectious disease outbreaks in an orderly, organised and sustainable manner. [from abstract]

This study is a rare attempt to explore the perspectives of health providers on the contract service policy, and investigate the demand side’s attitude toward the public health services delivered under the contract policy. This evidence from Xinjian County, Jiangxi Province, the first and most representative pilot site of the contract service, could serve as a reference for policymakers to understand the initial effects of the policy, whereby they can regulate and amend some items before extending it to the whole country. [from abstract]

Access to education was identified as a key international priority by UNESCO as far back as 1998 when it called for “equality of access”. A qualitative research design framed in phenomenology was used to conduct structured
interviews with academic leaders in optometry across SSA. Finance for tuition and student maintenance,
lack of knowledge of optometry and optometrists, high admission criteria, limited spaces at institutions, poor
mathematics and science results, gender inequalities and geographical location were cited as barriers to
optometric education. [adapted from abstract]

Integrated community case management (iCCM) has been recommended by the World Health Organization to reduce mortality among children in populations with limited access to facility–based health care providers. Although many countries have introduced iCCM, interpretation of the impact is difficult due to many other activities occurring in the community. This paper suggests a method for using the Lives Saved Tool to model the independent impact of iCCM on child mortality. [from abstract]

Since 2010, 28,000 female health extension workers (HEWs) received training and support to provide integrated community based case management (iCCM) of childhood pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and severe malnutrition in Ethiopia. We conducted a modeling exercise using two scenarios to project the potential reduction of the under five mortality rate due to the iCCM program in the four agrarian regions of Ethiopia. [from abstract]

Global Health Initiatives (GHIs) respond to high-impact communicable diseases in resource-poor
countries, including health systems support, and are major actors in global health. GHIs could play an important role
in countries affected by armed conflict given these countries commonly have weak health systems and a high
burden of communicable disease. The aim of this study is to explore the influence of two leading GHIs, the Global
Fund and the GAVI Alliance, on the health systems of conflict-affected countries. [from abstract]

In 2010, Ethiopia added pneumonia to diarrhea, malaria and severe acute malnutrition, targeted for treatment in the integrated community case management (iCCM) strategy. This article describes the national scale-up of iCCM implementation and early lessons learned. [from abstract]