Sub-Saharan Africa

This report combines findings from a desk review,a mapping of [Close-to-Community] CTC providers and data collected during qualitative explorations carried out in two selected districts of Maputo Province as part of the context analysis. [from introduction]

Participation is a key policy concept in global health, and relates to the ability of stakeholders to engage with and shape health policy at four intersecting levels: Local, national, regional and global. Such engagement remains the key normative aim behind debates about furthering more equitable health diplomacy and has, as a result, been increasingly integrated into the agenda of global agencies, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and the World Bank. [from executive summary]

The purpose of this paper was to critically review the various initiatives that the government of Kenya has over the years initiated
towards enhancement of universal coverage in terms of policy reforms including health care financing. [from abstract]

In efforts to improve the quality of FP (Family Planning) services in Tanzania, including provider skills, this study sought to identify gaps in pre-service FP teaching and suggest opportunities for strengthening the training. [from abstract]

Health policies impact on nursing profession and health care. Nurses’ involvement in health policy development ensures that health care is safe, of a high quality, accessible and affordable. Numerous factors influence nurse leaders’ ability to be politically active in influencing health policy development. These factors can be facilitators or barriers to their participation. There is scant research evidence from Eastern African region that draws
attention to this topic. This paper reports part of the larger study. [from abstract]

The health sector is characterized by a human resource base lacking in numbers, specialized skills, and management skills. West African Health Organization (WAHO) recognizes the need within the West Africa sub-region for bilingual professionals who are skilled in public health, management, leadership, and information technology to build human capacity in public health and developed the Young Professionals Internship Program (YPIP). Our study explores the evolution of the programme. [from abstract]

Despite the substantial investment for providing HIV counselling and testing (VCT) services in Zambia, there has been little effort to systematically evaluate the quality of VCT services provided by various types of health providers. This study, conducted in 2009, examines VCT in the public and private sectors including private for-profit and NGO/faith-based sectors in Copperbelt and Luapula. [from abstract]

An outreach activity, which originally targeted health professionals and student nurses in rural Uganda, was extended to the community with a focus on addressing the most prevalent diseases/health problems reported by the Health Management Information System (HMIS) of the Uganda Ministry of Health.

To examine linkages between family planning and health and development outcomes, the CSIS Global Health Policy Center led a delegation to Ethiopia in February 2014.

In order to address the challenges facing the community-based health workforce in Zambia, the Ministry of Health implemented the national community health assistant strategy in 2010. The strategy aims to address the challenges by creating a new group of workers called community health assistants (CHAs) and integrating them into the health system. The first group started working in August 2012. The objective of this paper is to document their motivation to become a CHA, their experiences of working in a rural district, and how these experiences affected their motivation to work.

Between 2006 and 2010, the following increases in coverage took place as compared to 2000–2005, particularly in rural areas, where most poor women live: births with skilled attendance (77% increase vs. 26%), institutional delivery (146% increase vs. 8%), and contraceptive prevalence (351% increase vs. 150%). The primary factors in these improvements were increases in the health workforce and their skills, performance-based financing, community-based health insurance, and better leadership and governance.

This study was undertaken to assess perceived service quality in hospitals located in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The research was a cross-sectional survey which employed the use of a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire that was administered to 400 outpatients in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Data obtained from the study was analyzed quantitatively using descrip
tive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and multiple regressions. [from abstract]

The main objective of this study was to examine the health seeking behavior of TB patients, practices of TB and access to health care. A cross- sectional survey of TB patients was done in Athi River, Machakos level 5 and Mutituni TB treatment health facilities in Machakos County. [from abstract]

Ethiopia has made tremendous progress in providing health services to its large (87 million), and largely rural (83%), population. This is reflected in significant improvements in many maternal and child health indicators over the past ten years, including roughly a halving of infant and under-five mortality and an almost five-fold increase in the modern method contraceptive prevalence rate. At the heart of this expansion and its success is the health worker. [from introduction]

This paper reports on a literature review as part of a research program, which aims to inform the development of an effective roadmap for the successful implementation of the national e-Health initiative in Ghana. [from abstract]

This paper presents experiences with local and regional adaptation and adoption of WHO recommendations. It highlights challenges and lessons learnt in implementation in two countries – the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and South Africa – and provides a broader perspective in two regions – Asia and Europe. At country level, the use of the recommendations facilitated a more structured and focused policy dialogue, which resulted in the development and adoption of more relevant and evidence-based policies. [from abstract]

Methods for monitoring and evaluating HIV prevention are urgently needed. Because resources for interventions are limited, there is an urgent need to focus interventions where they are most cost-effective. The approach taken in the PLACE method is to identify priority prevention areas and within these areas identify public places (such as hotels, bars, and events) where people meet new sexual partners. These places are potential intervention venues where the individuals most likely to transmit HIV can be accessed. Venues and events are identified by informants in the community.

This document reports on the assessment findings that serve as a basis for formulating interventions to improve the HMIS performance and as a baseline for future monitoring of HMIS performance improvement in the zones. Additionally, lessons learned from this assessment will further inform needed modifications and/or adaptations of the HMIS performance assessment tools to be used for assessments in the remaining zones of SNNPR. [from introduction]

As part of ongoing efforts to restructure the health sector and improve health care quality, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) in Namibia sought to update staffing norms for health facilities. To establish an evidence base for the new norms, the MoHSS supported the first-ever national application of the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) method, a human resource management tool developed by the World Health Organization. [from abstract]

To help make it possible for nursing and midwifery students to continue (or begin) their training, CapacityPlus provided 204 financial scholarships to the students most in need. On December 18, 2013, the school hosted a ceremony to award scholarships to recipients—who comprise 37% of the student body—and to receive new equipment and supplies

The public health sector works to: promote health, prevent illness and injury, and influence the socio-economic and environmental determinants of health – including the social, economic, physical and environmental
factors that affect health. [from authors]

This strategic plan therefore, contributes to South Africa’s efforts to reduce child and maternal mortality and to control communicable and non-communicable diseases, as well as, in its efforts to encourage South Africans to embrace healthy lifestyle. [from introduction]

In countries that have historically suffered from limited resources and entrenched medical systems – including Egypt, Afghanistan, and Tanzania – or ganizational learning approaches have enabled frontline health managers and their teams to achieve measurable improvements in critical areas such as family planning, HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, children’s health, and maternal mortality. [from introduction]

This study investigated the influence of media awareness campaigns on breast cancer care among women in South-West Nigeria. This study was anchored on two theories: agenda setting theory and diffusion of innovation theory. [adapted from abstract]

Our rationale for this review is that despite calls for broad implementation of mHealth in [sub-Saharan Africa], no systematic literature review has focused on the use of mHealth for NCDs in the region. [adapted from introduction]

This report presents the findings from a qualitative study conducted in January 2014 in Lango and Teso regions of Uganda among Arise Project beneficiaries and service providers. The purpose of the study was to elicit in-depth perspectives and
experiences about the effectiveness of Arise interventions and suggest ways for improving future interventions in the target districts. [from summary]

The purpose of this study was to assess the implementation of the NHIS by documenting experiences of individual stakeholders, and to suggest recommendations for improvement. We reviewed relevant documents and conducted face-to-face interviews (N=4) with individuals directly involved with data gathering, reporting and storage. [from abstract]

This is a retrospective study of the 2011 Abia state, Nigeria monthly immunization data. In the 4 local governments operating the PPP, 45% (79/175) of the health facilities that offered immunization services in 2011 were private health facilities and 55% (96/175) were public health facilities. [from abstract]

Sub-Saharan Africa is burdened by high rates of unintended pregnancy and HIV. Yet little is known about the relationship between these two health risks in the region. Understanding the associations between HIV status and pregnancy decision making may benefit strategies to reduce unintended pregnancy. [from abstract]

Presentation on assessment of surgical need, surgical personnel, infrastructure and supplies in Central Malawi. [adapted from author]