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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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

he present study investigated awareness of pregnancy danger signs, symptoms and associated factors among a group of South African pregnant women attending prenatal care clinics in rural setting. [from abstract]

Although hospital pharmacists are recognized for its importance as health care provider in many developed
countries, in most developing countries it is still underutilized. The aim of the present study was to summarize the
current scenario of pharmacy practices in four hospitals of Bangladesh and to identify the pharmacist’s roles in
these situations. [from abstract]

Attracting healthcare professionals (HCPs) to rural areas and retaining them there remains a challenge. Current retention strategies focus on the factors that cause people to leave rural areas, but these strategies continue to fail to retain HCPs in these areas, and the situation in which there is a lack of quality and inadequacy of the type of health services is perpetuated. The literature describes factors that attract healthcare workers to work in rural areas, and this study contributes to a deeper understanding of this. [from abstract]

Strengthening primary health care in South Africa is a prerequisite for the successful introduction of National
Health Insurance. Primary care doctors from both the public and private sectors are an essential contributor to achieving this goal. In order to prepare these doctors for their future role, a national diploma training programme is being developed. This study aimed to evaluate the learning needs of primary care doctors and to assist with the design of the diploma. [from abstract]

This paper employs a qualitative meta-analysis in unpacking the dynamism of intermediary practice in South Africa. The authors consider mobile application design in accessing and using health information. A number of critical design considerations are presented, including the role of context as a static and dynamic modality. The authors ultimately derive an information model, which assimilates four intersecting dimensions of context. [from abstract]

This study aims to evaluate and develop recommendations on how the HIV/AIDS program in Peru can achieve better Value for Money. [from abstract]

Reduction of maternal mortality is a global priority particularly in developing countries including
Ethiopia where maternal mortality ratio is one of the highest in the world. The key to reducing maternal mortality ratio is increasing attendance by skilled health personnel throughout pregnancy and delivery. However, delivery service is significantly lower in Tigray region. Therefore, this study aimed to assess factors affecting choice of place of child birth among women in Ahferom woreda. [from abstract]

In spite of the advances in modern medical technologies in dealing with ill-health, a section of society continues to use divination in their search for therapy. Using a qualitative survey, this study sought to gain insight into reasons why this practice is pervasive. [from abstract]

Nowadays task sharing is a way to optimize utilization of human resources for health. This study was
designed to assess the effect of task sharing, mutually between midwives and Family Health Workforces (FHWs), on
the number of needed staff across the Iranian Health Posts. [from abstract]

This study aimed to examine the effect of quality of services provided in private hospitals on the patient’s trust. [from abstract]

This study was performed to illustrate structural and contextual dimensions of organizational structure and relationship between them in Iranian primary health care system at local level. [from abstract]

This paper uses a secondary data analysis of existing documents by the Ministry of Public Health, Institut National de la Statistique, des Etudes Economiques et Démographiques(INSEED), the Ministry of Economy and Agence Française de Cooperation to analyze critically the shape and performance of health systems in Chad based on key concepts and
components of the right to health contained in article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and on General Comment 14. [from abstract]

Malaria is holo-endemic in Burkina Faso and causes approximately 40,000 deaths every year. In 2010, health authorities scaled up community case management of malaria with artemisinin-based combination therapy. Previous trials and pilot project evaluations have shown that this strategy may be feasible, acceptable, and effective under controlled implementation conditions. However, little is known about its effectiveness or feasibility/acceptability under real-world conditions of implementation at national scale. [from abstract]

This review analyses various approaches to health workforce planning and presents the Six-Step Methodology to Integrated Workforce Planning which highlights essential elements in workforce planning to ensure the quality of services. [from abstract]

Primary Care reform in Canada and globally has encouraged the development of interprofessional
primary care initiatives. This has led to significant involvement of non-physician Health Care Providers (NPHCPs) in the teaching of medical trainees. The objective of this study was to understand the experiences, supports and challenges facing non-physician health care providers in Family Medicine education. [from abstract]

District clinical specialist teams were formed in 2012. One member of the team is the family physician. The role of the district family physician is discussed and the case made for focusing on the organisational health of the medical teams practising family medicine within the district as an effective way to improve the quality of medical care delivered in the district. [from abstract]

We have introduced an e-learning platform in the medical department of the Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Malawi. With the support of computer-assisted instruction, we aimed to improve the quality of medical training and education, as well as access to current medical materials, in particular for interns. From March to April 2012, we conducted a qualitative evaluation to assess relevance and appropriateness of the e-learning platform. Data was collected via face-to-face interviews, a guided group discussion and a checklist based observation log. [from abstract]

The aim of this study was to identify, summarise and synthesise available research addressing health care providers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. [from abstract]

The main aim of this study is to assess job satisfaction and associated factors among healt
h workers at public hospitals in west Shoa zone of Oromia Region. [from abstract]

To study institutionalization of the World Health Organization’s Safe Childbirth Checklist (SCC) in a tertiary care center in Sri Lanka. [from abstract]

The aim of this descriptive, interventional study is to highlight positive steps taken by governments to re-establish and revitalise PHC, especially by empowering communities, the challenges, and lessons learned as potentials for improvement of a universal, qualitative PHC system in Nigeria. [from abstract]