Browse by Geographic Focus

The eHealth Strategy for South Africa 2012-2016: How Far Are We?

This chapter reviews progress made by the health sector in implementing the eHealth Strategy 2012–2016, which was approved by the Ministry of Health and published in July 2012. The finalisation of this Strategy following
several attempts, and its placement in the public domain, created optimism that a clear vision for improving health information systems in South Africa had been successfully articulated. [from introduction]

Development of a Smartphone-Enabled Hypertension and Diabetes Management Package to Facilitate Evidence-Based Care Delivery in Primary Healthcare Facilities in India: A Formative Research to Inform Intervention Design

Hypertension and diabetes have become a major public health challenge in India. This research work aims to develop a feasible and scalable intervention for hypertension and diabetes, tailored to primary care settings in India. [from abstract]

Dominican Republic Improves Access to Health Services by Strengthening Human Resources Management

In the Dominican Republic, the Ministry of Health is improving to access to high-quality health services by focusing on the health workforce and, in particular, the systems used to manage these valuable human resources. One important outcome has been the discovery of a large number of people on the payroll who were no longer working. The money saved by cleaning the payroll is being reinvested into the health sector. [from resource]

Factors Affecting the Performance of Community Health Workers in India: a Multi-Stakeholder Perspective

Community health workers (CHWs) form a vital link between the community and the health department in several countries. In India, since 2005 this role is largely being played by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), who are village-level female workers. Though ASHAs primarily work for the health department, in a model being tested in Rajasthan they support two government departments. Focusing on the ASHA in this new role as a link worker between two departments, this paper examines factors associated with her work performance from a multi-stakeholder perspective. [from abstract]

Picking Up the Bill - Improving Health-Care Utilisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo Through User Fee Subsidisation: A Before and After Study

Our research brings mixed findings on the effectiveness of user fee subsidisation as a strategy to increase the utilisation of services. Future work should focus on feasibility issues associated with the removal or reduction of user fees and how to sustain its effects on utilisation in the longer term. [from abstract]

A Study of Human Resource Policies and Practices for Primary Health Care System in Delhi

A comprehensive health care services requires effective human resource (HR) management policy to ensure organizational success. Government is primarily concerned with the size of the workforce rather than the contemporary HR practices. This resulted into lack of attention to HR management in health sector. [from abstract]

Mobile health: Connecting Managers, Service Providers and Clients in Bombali District, Sierra Leone

The general objective of the study was to assess the effect of integrating mobile communication strategies, as part of existing health service packages, on maternal and newborn health (MNH) service utilization in one health district, Bombali, in Sierra Leone. [from executive summary]

Strengthening the Pharmaceutical Sector in Afghanistan: A Study Tour of the Afghan National Medicines Services Organization to Turkey

Staff from the Afghan government’s General Director of Pharmaceutical Affairs undertook a five-day study tour to engage with peers in Turkey. They they learned how to design and create relevant strategies, services and partnerships, with a focus on the private sector. Many ways forward emerged that can realistically support a financially sustainable national supply of key pharmaceuticals—many manufactured in Afghanistan. [adapted from resource]

Market Research Needs Assessment: Understanding Health Care Improvement Information Needs of Key Stakeholders in the Uganda Health System

In an effort to support country-wide learning in improvement initiatives, the USAID ASSIST Project conducted an information needs assessment with government and non-governmental organization (NGO) staff working at the national and district levels of the Ugandan health system from March 2014 to June 2014.

Making Health Care about People: Applying People-centered Care Principles to Family Planning Improvement Work in West Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a new strategy on people-centered health care that places a strong focus on the re-orienting the health system as a whole, including the importance of engaging community and patient groups. ASSIST principles of people-centeredness are complementary to the WHO strategy, particularly with respect to coordination and continuity of care, information, and the micro-level interactions between a client and the health care service delivery team that promote or hinder people-centeredness.

District Health Management Information System (DHMIS) Standard Operating Procedures: Provincial Level

These Standard Operating Procedures aim to clarify the responsibilities and procedures for effective management of aggregated routine health services. These SOPs for provinces present basic and practical steps to be followed by
provincial health information management personnel, programme/line managers and clinic supervisors at provincial level to ensure that data is appropriately handled and used to improve service delivery at local level, prior
to submission to next level of the health system, within the specified time frames.

District Health Management Information System (DHMIS) Standard Operating Procedures: National Level

These Standard Operating Procedures aim to clarify the responsibilities and procedures for effective management of aggregated routine health services. These SOPs for the National DoH present basic and practical steps to be
followed by national health information management personnel, programme/line managers and clinic supervisors at national level to ensure that data is appropriately handled and used to improve service delivery at local level, prior
to submission to next level of the health system, within the specified time frames.

How Much Will Health Coverage Cost? Future Health Spending Scenarios in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico

As Latin American countries seek to expand the coverage and benefits provided by their health systems under a global drive for universal health coverage (UHC), decisions taken today – whether by government or individuals – will have an impact tomorrow on public spending requirements. To understand the implications of these decisions and define needed policy reforms, this paper calculates long-term projections for public spending on health in three countries, analyzing different scenarios related to population, risk factors, labor market participation, and technological growth.

The Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV Cascade Analysis Tool: Supporting Health Managers to Improve Facility-Level Service Delivery

The objective of the prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (pMTCT) cascade analysis tool is to
provide frontline health managers at the facility level with the means to rapidly, independently and quantitatively
track patient flows through the pMTCT cascade, and readily identify priority areas for clinic-level improvement
interventions. [from abstract]

The “Empty Void” is a Crowded Space: Health Service Provision at the Margins of Fragile and Conflict Affected States

Definitions of fragile states focus on state willingness and capacity to ensure security and provide essential
services, including health. Conventional analyses and subsequent policies that focus on state-delivered essential services miss many developments in severely disrupted healthcare arenas. The research seeks to gain insights about the large sections of the health field left to evolve spontaneously by the absent or diminished state. ]from abstract]

Impact and Sustainability of an Accredited Paediatric Nursing Training Programme in Ghana

In this qualitative descriptive study, we explored the perceived impact and sustainability of the first accredited
Paediatric Nursing Training Programme (PNTP) in Ghana, established in 2010 by a north-south Ghanaian-Canadian
partnership to address child health care access and quality issues in the country. [from abstract]

Engaging Frontline Health Providers in Improving the Quality of Health Care Using Facility-Based Improvement Collaboratives in Afghanistan: Case Study

Quality of care can be significantly improved by engaging teams of frontline workers to identify problems and find local solutions for those problems. Based on the results achieved in Kunduz, Balkh, and Kabul, the collaborative improvement work was expanded from 2010–2012 to seven more provinces. The results achieved on the ground also led the MoPH to establish a unit for quality and a national health care quality improvement strategy for Afghanistan. [from abstract]

A South African Public-Private Partnership HIV Treatment Model: Viability and Success Factors

The increasing number of people requiring HIV treatment in South Africa calls for efficient use of its human
resources for health in order to ensure optimum treatment coverage and outcomes. This paper describes an innovative
public-private partnership model which uses private sector doctors to treat public sector patients and ascertains the
model’s ability to maintain treatment outcomes over time. [from abstract]

Assessment of Prevalence and Determinants’ of Occupational Exposure to HIV Infection Among Health Care Workers in Selected Health Institutions in Debre Birhan Town, North Shoa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 2014

Health care workers are exposed to different kinds of occupational hazards due to their day to day activities. The most common occupational exposure like body fluids are a potential risk of transmission of blood born infection like human immunodeficiency virus. [from abstract]

The Production, Distribution, and Performance of Physicians, Nurses, and Midwives in Indonesia: An Update

Indonesia launched the national health insurance program - Jaminan Kesehatan National (JKN) - on January 1, 2014, and aims to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) by 2019. Achieving UHC means not only increasing the number of people covered but also expanding the benefits package and ensuring financial protection. Although the JKN benefits package is comprehensive, a key challenge related to the capacity to deliver the promised services is ensuring the availability, distribution, and quality of human resources for health (HRH). [from abstract]

“Volunteers Are Not Paid Because They Are Priceless”: Community Health Worker Capacities and Values in an AIDS Treatment Intervention in Urban Ethiopia

This article analyzes community health workers’ (CHW) capacities for empathic service within an AIDS treatment program in Addis Ababa. I show how CHWs’ capacities to build relationships with stigmatized people, reconcile family disputes, and confront death draw on a constellation of values, desires, and emotions encouraged by CHWs’ families and religious teachings. I then examine the ways in which the capacities of CHWs were valued by the
institutions that deployed them.

How Do Health Extension Workers in Ethiopia Allocate Their Time?

In 2003, the Government of Ethiopia launched the Health Extension Programme and introduced a new cadre, health extension workers (HEWs), to improve access to care in rural communities. In 2013, to inform the government’s plans for HEWs to take on an enhanced role in community-based newborn care, a time and motion study was conducted to understand the range of HEW responsibilities and how they allocate their time across health and non-health activities. [from abstract]

A Scenario-Planning Approach to Human Resources for Health: The Case of Community Pharmacists in Portugal

This study aims to design three future scenarios for Portuguese community pharmacists, recognizing the changing environment as an opportunity to develop the role that community pharmacists may play in the Portuguese health system. [from abstract]

Nursing Education: The Past, Present and Future

The purpose of the paper is provide a brief review of the evolution of nursing education in the United States and globally, describe the current and projected state of nursing education, and discuss some pressing challenges educators face as they strive to meet the charge to prepare nurses to care for more complex patients situated in ever-changing health-care systems. [from abstract]

Universal Health Coverage for Inclusive and Sustainable Development: Lessons from Japan

This report brings together 10 in-depth studies on different aspects of Japan’s UHC [Universal Healthcare Coverage] experience, using a common framework for analysis focused on the political economy of UHC reform, and the policies and strategies for addressing challenges in health financing and human resources for health. Japan’s commitment to UHC played a key role in the country’s economic recovery after World War second, and helped ensure that the benefits of economic growth were shared equitably across the population. [from abstract]

Progress, Challenges and Opportunities for HIV Prevention and Control Among High Risk Groups: A Public Health Perspective

There are various socio-cultural issues/obstacles in prevention of HIV-AIDS in high risk group for e.g., gender inequality, power inequalities and male dominance; condom use believed to be in conflict with the cultural importance for procreation; poverty, illiteracy, increase in migrant population and unemployment; poor knowledge and awareness of reproductive and sexual health and sexuality; emergence of new urban sub-culture and physical or mental abuse at a young age.

Making the Post-MDG Global Health Goals Relevant for Highly Inequitable Societies: Findings From A Consultation with Marginalized Populations in Guatemala

Achieving health goals in a context of deep-rooted inequality and marginalization requires going beyond the simple expansion of health services and working with developing trusting relationships between health service providers and community members. Involving community members in decision-making processes that shape policies will contribute to a
larger process of community empowerment and democratization. [from abstract]

A New Methodology for Assessing Health Policy and Systems Research and Analysis Capacity in African Universities

The importance of health policy and systems research and analysis (HPSR?+?A) has been increasingly recognised, but it is still unclear how most effectively to strengthen the capacity of the different organisations involved in this field. Universities are particularly crucial but the expansive literature on capacity development has little to offer the unique needs of HPSR?+?A activity within universities, and often overlooks the pivotal contribution of capacity assessments to capacity strengthening. [from abstract]

Does Involvement of Local NGOs Enhance Public Service Delivery?: Cautionary Evidence From A Malaria-Prevention Evaluation in India

The study observed the impact of an experimental supportive intervention to India’s malaria control program by location on the individual level. There are various possible reasons that account for the observed divergence across districts. [from abstract]

Health Financing in the Republic of Gabon

This is a review of the health financing situation in the Republic of Gabon. The book reviews the situation in the country under the lens of the principles of health financing: revenue mobilization for health, risk pooling, and purchasing services. [from abstract]