The report summarizes key global health expenditure patterns and trends, and illustrates the potential of the new database to inform thinking about financing reforms to progress towards UHC, and also raises issues for further research. It analyses the following areas:
As of 21 March 2019, a total of 250,000 people are reported to be affected by the floods in nine districts. An estimated 48 per cent of the affected population is under 18 years of age.
There is limited road access in the Chimanimani, the worst affected district.
An estimated 60,000 children are ...in need of immediate protection services, and 100,000 children are in need of welfare and civil registration services in nine flood affected districts.
Initial estimates indicate that 54 classrooms from 114 schools have been affected by the floods, impacting about 30,000 learners. Over 5,000 households have been reached with critical WASH Hygiene kits in affected districts.
more
Tanzania is prone to refugee influxes, often of long duration. Despite facing its own economic challenges, for decades Tanzania has welcomed thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in neighboring countries of Great Lakes Region. The counties geographic proximity to the strifetorn Congo Basin is resp...onsible in part for the ease access of displaced populations. As well Tanzania was an early signatory in the region to international agreements on the rights and welfare of refugee and asylum seekers As of December, 2018, Tanzania host some 284,300 camp-based refugees, 77% of who are children and woman, in Nduta, Nyarugusu and Mtendeli Refugee Camps in Kigoma region in Northwest Tanzania. About 74% are from Burundi, and the remaining 26% are primarily from Democratic republic of Congo.
more
- Twenty-two joint integrated rapid response mechanism (IRRM) missions were conducted in 11 counties and reached 305,887 people including 65,432 children under 5 years of age.
- UNICEF’s Integrated Community Mobilization Network reached 345,219 households (total population 2.1 million) advoca...ting for child rights focused on child survival, birth notification, education and protection. Three million people have been reached with advocacy and life-saving messages through radio and community engagement activities, including activities focused on youth and faith leaders.
- On 27 June, discussions between President Salva Kiir and former First Vice President Riek Machar in Khartoum culminated in agreement to a permanent ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors, effective 30 June.
more
Despite improvements in recent years, the prevalence of undernutrition among women and children in Myanmar remains unacceptably high. One in three children are stunted and about 8% are acutely malnourished. Micronutrient deficiencies are common among infants, young children and pregnant women. In fa...ct, more than 80% of children 6 to 23 months of age and 70% of pregnant women are anemic. To better understand the determinants of undernutrition and the linkages between food security, livelihoods and nutrition in Myanmar as a whole as well as in specific geographic areas where programs supported by the Livelihoods, Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) are being implemented, the LEARN project has reviewed food and nutrition security data from the past five years and synthesized relevant findings into this report.
Following the Introduction, Section 2 presents national level data on the food and nutrition security situation in Myanmar in the past five years. Sections 3, 4 and 5 present data on food and nutrition security from the various agro-ecological zones that are of interest to LIFT, namely the Coastal/Delta, Dry, and Uplands.
more
The Panorama Perspectives: Conversations on Planetary Health report series aims to inspire new thinking, conversations, and engagement with planetary health and other integrated concepts. Collaboration and open knowledge sharing across sectors are necessary to solve the complex global health and dev...elopment problems of today. These reports are intended as practical tools, presenting actionable opportunities to advance planetary health.Each report expands on knowledge gathered from many sources, including analysis of publicly available reports and data; forums and events; group discussions; and individual conversations
more
The report focuses on several key areas where health outcomes are falling short, and provides insight into ways in which countries can improve the situation for their children and adolescents. Areas in focus include mental health, overweight/obesity and adolescent risk-taking behaviour.
The report ...shows, for example, that:
- mental health remains a neglected subject – only one quarter of countries are collecting data on the number of children treated by a mental health professional;
- half of countries do not regulate the marketing of food to children, despite the fact that childhood obesity rates are high across the Region and physical activity rates are low;
- almost half of countries have no policy that affects the availability of unhealthy foods at school;
- 2 in 5 girls and 1 in 3 boys who are having sex do not protect themselves; and
one third of countries do not offer legal access to contraception without parental consent for those under 18 years of age.
more
Mental disorders are one of the top public health challenges in the WHO European Region, affecting about 25% of the population every year. In all countries, mental health problems are much more prevalent among the people who are most deprived. The WHO European Region therefore faces diverse challeng...es affecting both the mental well-being of the population and the provision and quality of care for people with mental health problems.
The European Mental Health Action Plan focuses on seven interlinked objectives and proposes effective action to strengthen mental health and well-being. Investing in mental health is essential for the sustainability of health and socioeconomic policies in the European Region. The Action Plan corresponds to the four priority areas of the European policy framework for health and wellbeing, Health 2020, and will contribute directly to its implementation.
more
The Monitoring Report, which covers the first two months of the response from 25 August to 31 October, highlights the work of the Government of Bangladesh, in cooperation with humanitarian partners who are working to provide relief services for the refugee population and Bangladeshi host communities.... Of the 1.2 million people in need, around half have been reached with assistance. The Report also explains the challenges and gaps that remain. The risk of disease outbreak is high, and the impact of a cyclone or heavy rain would be massive. There is not enough land to provide adequate living conditions for the more than 830,000 refugees that now crowd Cox’s Bazar.
more
A guidance document in simple language for health personnel, setting out their rights and responsibilities in conflict and other situations of violence. It explains how responsibilities and rights for health personnel can be derived from international humanitarian law, human rights law and medical e...thics.The document gives practical guidance on:
- The protection of health personnel, the sick and the wounded; - Standards of practice; - The health needs of particularly vulnerable people; - Health records and transmission of medical records; - "Imported" health care (including military health care);
- Data gathering and health personnel as witnesses to violations of international law; - Working with the media
more
The Kabeho Mwana project (2006–2011) supported the Rwanda Ministry of Health (MOH) in scaling up integrated community case management (iCCM) of childhood illness in 6 of Rwanda’s 30 districts. The project trained and equipped community health workers (CHWs) according to national guidelines. In p...roject districts, Kabeho Mwana staff also trained CHWs to conduct household-level health promotion and established supervision and reporting mechanisms through CHW peer support groups (PSGs) and quality improvement systems. The iCCM model implemented by Kabeho Mwana resulted in greater improvements in care-seeking than those seen in the rest of the country. Intensive monitoring, collaborative supervision, community mobilization, and CHW PSGs contributed to this success. The PSGs were a unique contribution of the project, playing a critical role in improving care-seeking in project districts. Effective implementation of iCCM should therefore include CHW management and social support mechanisms. Finally, re-analysis of national survey data improved evaluation findings by providing impact estimates.
more
From 2000 to 2010, Rwanda implemented comprehensive health sector reforms to strengthen the public health system, with the aim of reducing maternal and newborn deaths in line with Millennium Development Goal 5, among many other improvements in national health. Based on a systematic review of the lit...erature, national policy documents and three Demographic & Health Surveys (2000, 2005 and 2010), this paper describes the reforms and the policies they were based on, and provides data on the extent of Rwanda’s progress in expanding the coverage of four key women’s health services. Progress took place in 2000–2005 and became more rapid after 2006, mostly in rural areas, when the national facility-based childbirth policy, performance-based financing, and community-based health insurance were scaled up. 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. Further research is needed to determine the impact of these changes on health outcomes in women and children.
more
The purpose of the PAS III is to guide Pakistan’s overall national response for HIV and AIDS through 2020, through focused interventions with set targets, costs, roles and responsibilities. The successful implementation of PAS III involves multiple stakeholders to achieve priority outcomes outline...d in the Strategy. The Strategy focuses on allocating limited resources to scale up high-impact, high-value interventions such as HTC and treatment to reduce AIDS related deaths and new HIV infections. Priorities in the PAS III have been identified to ensure maximum impact in reducing new infections, especially among key populations, improving treatment uptake and retention, and improving the quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS in the context of limited financial and human resources.
more
Paying for performance (P4P) provides financial incentives for providers to increase the use and quality of care. P4P can affect health care by providing incentives for providers to put more effort into specific activities, and by increasing the amount of resources available to finance the delivery ...of services. This paper evaluates the impact of P4P on the use and quality of prenatal, institutional delivery, and child preventive care using data produced from a prospective quasi-experimental evaluation nested into the national rollout of P4P in Rwanda. Treatment facilities were enrolled in the P4P scheme in 2006 and comparison facilities were enrolled two years later. The incentive effect is isolated from the resource effect by increasing comparison facilities’ input-based budgets by the average P4P payments to the treatment facilities. The data were collected from 166 facilities and a random sample of 2158 households. P4P had a large and significant positive impact on institutional deliveries and preventive care visits by young children, and improved quality of prenatal care. The authors find no effect on the number of prenatal care visits or on immunization rates. P4P had the greatest effect on those services that had the highest payment rates and needed the lowest provider effort. P4P financial performance incentives can improve both the use of and the quality of health services. Because the analysis isolates the incentive effect from the resource effect in P4P, the results indicate that an equal amount of financial resources without the incentives would not have achieved the same gain in outcomes.
more
Nationally, Senegal met the MDG target for water supply access. It did this by engaging the public and private sectors to effectively invest and report on investments. It focused on larger population centers, less on remote regions of the country. Its achievements set the stage for more equitable an...d widespread service provision as the country now works to achieve the SDGs, requiring sustainable management of universal access. This case study documents the progression of the sector between 1990 and 2015, and analyzes the impact of local systems created in Senegal to respond to the water and sanitation challenge.
more
The National Health Plan (NHP) aims to strengthen the country’s health system and pave the way towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC),choosing a path that is explicitly pro-poor. The main goal of NHP 2017-2021 is to extend access to a Basic Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) to the entir...e population by 2020 while increasing financial protection.
more
Policy Brief, Updated in March 2017
Key messages
• The criminalisation of male-to-male sex heightens HIV and other sexually transmissible infection (STI) risks and vulnerabilities, and hinders access to HIV and STI services including HCT.
• Men who have sex with men (MSM) and tran...sgender persons (TG) are not a homogeneous group. As such, a variety of HCT service models are needed to reach the various segments of these populations.
• Stigma and discrimination remain ongoing issues at a number of service points. Targeted training of service providers is therefore needed so that MSM and TG are not discouraged from seeking HCT and high-quality prevention, treatment and care services.
• Specific guidelines on HIV prevention, treatment and care services for MSM or TG help improve the delivery of services.
more
The primary role of Benin’s Department of Pharmacy and Medicines (DPMED) is to develop and apply the national pharmaceutical policy. The main objective of this policy is to ensure the availability and accessibility of quality medicines for the population. To fulfill its mandate, DPMED aims to stre...ngthen its regulatory capacity, including the issuance of licenses to pharmaceutical establishments and the registration of pharmaceutical products. Benin’s current registration system shares core concerns that are common to most developing countries, notably the capacity to evaluate and monitor the security, efficacy, and quality of medicines and other health products. It is currently characterized by 1) poor or inadequate traceability of records or regulations (example: a product’s marketing authorization [MA] is often hard to find); 2) lack of evidence used in the regulatory decision-making process (reasons behind special import authorization, i.e., products without valid MAs); 3) inconsistent and unsecured archiving system; 4) limited human resources; and 5) an inefficient information management system
more
Ade et al. BMC Health Services Research (2016) 16:5
Background: In the “Centre National Hospitalier de Pneumo-Phtisiologie” of Cotonou, Benin, little is known about
the characteristics of patients who have not attended their scheduled appointment, the results of tracing and the
possible b...enefits on improving treatment outcomes. This study aimed to determine the contribution of tracing
activities for those who missed scheduled appointments towards a successful treatment outcome.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out among all smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients
treated between January and September 2013. Data on demographic and diagnostic characteristics and treatment
outcomes were accessed from tuberculosis registers and treatment cards. Information on those who missed their
scheduled appointments was collected from the tracing tuberculosis register. A univariate analysis was performed
to explore factors associated with missing a scheduled appointment
more
This guide provides standards and directions on how to carry out rapid needs assessment for Psychosocial Support (PSS) and Violence Prevention (VP) initiatives including child protection and sexual and gender-based violence. In particular, this rapid assessment tool is designed to help gather data i...n an efficient and effective way to help inform integration of PSS and VP issues, as minimum standards, into the broader disaster management action plans in response to an emergency.
more