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Towards equitable access to medicines for the rural poor : analyses of insurance claims reveal rural pharmacy initiative triggers price competition in Kyrgyzstan

WANING, Brenda
et al
December 2009

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This article examines medicines price competition that ensued in a rural village in Kyrgyzstan after the opening of a small network of non-profit pharmacies created and managed by an NGO. While the rural pharmacies were created to increase access to medicines in villages where no pharmacies existed, the project had unexpected, substantial spillover effects, spurring medicines price reductions in pharmacies quite far away

Barriers to sustainable access of children and families to ART centres in rural India : a report on operations research conducted in Maharashtra and Manipur

INDIA HIV/AIDS ALLIANCE
December 2009

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This report identifies barriers that children and families face in accessing anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centres in rural India. The report also seeks to find solutions to these barriers based on an operations research conducted in Maharashtra Pradesh and Manipur. Operations research objectives: * To build an understanding among policy makers of the barriers faced by children and caregivers accessing ART services in rural communities. * To assess and highlight a basic minimum level of standards for ART centres in terms of adequacy, quality and timeliness of support needed. * To explore opportunities for linkages with state and district level departments and/or local self-governing institutions

Health research for development initiative in Vietnam (HRDI ): impact evaluation results

WILLIAMS, Katherine
BUDIHARSANA, Meiwita
THI PHONG LAN, Nguyen
December 2009

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This evaluation report provides information about building health research capacity in Vietnam between 2004 and 2009. The Population Council Vietnam partnered with the Hanoi School of Public Health and Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Faculty of Public Health to enahnce research skills, provide competitive awards and develop a network to link fellows to various national and international institutes and conferences. This report is useful to health and development practitioners interested in building health research capacity Vietnam

Disability in national strategic plans on HIV and AIDS : a review on the national response to the interrelations of disability and HIV in eastern and southern Africa|Final report

GRANT, Kitty
STRODE, Ann
HANNASS-HANCOCK, Jill
December 2009

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This report examines national AIDS and HIV strategic plans (NSPs) in eastern and southern Africa and includes findings, discussions and best practice examples on the integration of disability throughout the countries. "Generally, the findings of the report show that less than 50% of the countries in Eastern and Southern Africa recognise disability as an issue of concern, or specifically recognise the vulnerability of people with disabilities to HIV and AIDS within their NSPs. Furthermore, it found that even where countries have recognised disability as an issue, there is limited specific guidance within the NSP on HIV-related service provision to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Only one country, South Africa, showed extensive integration of disability into the various focus areas of its NSP." The report concludes with recommendations and provides detailed appendices of national reports for each country surveyed

A handbook on best practices regarding HIV and AIDS for people with disabilities : services, policy advocacy, programming

NDUTA, Sarah
et al
November 2009

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This handbook aims to further increase awareness of HIV and AIDS for people with disabilities, to share knowledge and to provide examples of best practices. It also examines the impact of the AIDS epidemic on people with disabilities and advocates inclusion of people with disabilities to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. The handbook is divided into four chapters, each addressing a specific topic in reference to best practices for Disability and HIV and AIDS. Case studies are provided for each topic. The categories of disabilities covered in the handbook are the deaf, visually impaired, physically and intellectually challenged. This handbook is useful for organisations, policy makers, disabled people's organisations and donors interested in Disability and HIV and AIDS

Packages of care for epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries

MBUBA, Caroline K
NEWTON, Charles R
October 2009

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This article focuses on the management of epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries and recommends a package of care - a combination of interventions aimed at improving the recognition and management of conditions to achieve optimal outcomes - for epilepsy, that is sustainable

Conceptual and practical foundations of gender and human resources for health

NEWMAN, Constance
October 2009

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This paper presents learning about various forms of gender discrimination and how they serve as barriers to health workforce participation, against the backdrop of the global gender and human resources for health (HRH) literature. It points to the central roles played by pregnancy discrimination in weakening women’s ties to the health workforce, and occupational segregation in limiting men’s role in the development of a robust informal HIV and AIDS care-giving workforce. The paper also offers global recommendations for future action through health workforce policy, planning, development and support

The epidemic divide

HEALTH AND CARE DEPARTMENT, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES (ICRC)
July 2009

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The burden of epidemics of infectious diseases on the social and economic development of poorer countries is growing, but is not being sufficiently addressed. This paper argues that to reduce the impact of epidemics involves addressing complex issues that include prevention of disease, empowering communities, better access to health services at the community level, availability of health personnel and better infrastructure (especially for water and sanitation)

Briefing for the day of the African child : reaching Millennium Development Goal 4 : what progress has Africa made and what more needs to be done?

HARTILL, Richard G
MILLER, Carol A
June 2009

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This briefing document reviews examples of the progress that Africa has made in reaching the Accelerated Action Towards Africa Fit for Children 2008 - 2012 as adopted by the African Union and Member States in the agreed actions related to Enhancing Life Chances and Child Survival and looks at what more needs to be done. The commitment, "Enhancing Life Chances", entails strengthening health systems to provide quality maternal and child health services; scaling up essential interventions to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality and reduce neonatal mortality; scaling up a minimum package of proven child health interventions; and supporting family and community based actions that enhance children’s health, nutrition and well-being including potable water, improved sanitation and hygiene, appropriate young child feeding practices and food security measures

Facilitating HIV testing and disclosure with children and adolescents

INDIA HIV/AIDS ALLIANCE
June 2009

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This report looks at the challenges in facilitating testing and disclosure for children in 0-6, 7-14 and 15-18 age groups. The report is based on operations research conducted by India HIV/AIDS Alliance in Andhra Pradesh and Manipur. This operations research was aimed at understanding current challenges with facilitating testing and disclosure for children, and to provide possible short to medium term solutions. Three broad objectives of the study were: * Identifying challenges and factors that prevent the community from seeking HIV testing of their children * Understanding issues related to disclosure of HIV status to children, and the social impact related to disclosure faced by parents and children * Using the study findings in formulating practical solutions to address these issues, and to come up with practical recommendations on building links between policy and practice

Responding to children, young people and AIDS : collection of best practices under UNTG on AIDS, working group on children

June 2009

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This collection of best practices on the prevention of mother to child transmission; treatment and care for women and children with HIV; vulnerability reduction for youth; and stigma reduction, aims to contribute to experience- and expertise-sharing about tailored interventions to meet the needs of target populations. The publication was produced by the United Nations Theme Group (UNTG) on AIDS, Working Group on Children to contribute to sharing between UN agencies, NGOs and bilateral organisations and civil society. The Chinese Campaign on HIV Prevention for Children and Young People was launched by the Government of China in September, 2006 under the global campaign 'Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS'

Sexual-health communication across and within cultures : the clown project, Guatemala

SAVDIE, Anthony
CHETLEY, Andrew
June 2009

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This paper puts forward an argument in favour of careful and critical analysis of culture in formulating communication strategies with and for specific groups, based on experience drawn from the Clown Project in Guatemala and other countries in Central America. The Clown Project uses labour-intensive face-to-face street theatre and dialogue, participatory workshops, and symbolic communication such as print-based material to reach those most vulnerable to the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS . The analysis takes into account relations of power within and between vulnerable groups, examining the centre-periphery dynamic between classes, genders, ethnicities, age groups, and other social identities. Both appropriately supported insider perspectives and appropriately processed outsider knowledge are recommended, along with ways of bridging science and the field, theory and practice

Better off dead? A report on maternal morbidity from the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health

UK ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON POPULATION, DEVELOPMENT AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
May 2009

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This report makes a number of recommendations for the effective reduction of maternal morbidity. The recommendations made, in summary, are: increase political will; increase resources to sexual and reproductive health and rights; encourage equitable health care; work in partnership; improve sexual and reproductive health rights legislation and policies; make governments accountable

Advancing the sexual and reproductive health and human rights of people living with HIV : a guidance package

THE GLOBAL NETWORK OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS (GNP+)
et al
May 2009

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This resource examines the sexual and reproductive health benefit of reforms in diverse sectors. It makes 12 recommendations which highlight changes that must be made in health services, in the policy and legal arena, and in advocacy efforts. People living with HIV developed this guidance package to help policymakers, programme managers, health professionals, donors, and advocates better understand the specific steps that should be taken to support their sexual and reproductive health and rights

How can donors help build global public goods in health?

DAS GUPTA, Monica GOSTIN, Lawrence
April 2009

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"Aid to developing countries has largely neglected the population-wide health services that are core to communicable disease control in the developed world. These mostly non-clinical services generate 'pure public goods' by reducing everyone’s exposure to disease through measures such as implementing health and sanitary regulations. They complement the clinical preventive and treatment services which are the donors’ main focus...Donors need greater clarity about what constitutes a strong public health system, and how to build them. The paper discusses gaps in donors’ approaches and first steps toward closing them"

The health worker shortage in Africa : are enough physicians and nurses being trained?

KINFU, Yohannes
et al
February 2009

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"The health worker shortage in sub-Saharan Africa derives from many causes, yet the dynamics of entry into and exit from the health workforce in many of these countries remain poorly understood. This limits the capacity of national governments and their international development partners to design and implement appropriate intervention programmes. This paper provides some of this information through the first systematic estimates of health worker inflow and outflow in selected sub-Saharan African countries"

Scaling up the stock of health workers : a review

DUSSAULT, Gilles
et al
2009

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This paper synthesises some of the published and grey literature on the process of scaling up the health workforce - also known as human resources for health (HRH) - with a particular focus on increasing the number of trained providers of health services. It concentrates on low- and middle-income countries, although some literature on richer countries is included

World health statistics 2009

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
2009

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This book contains WHO’s annual compilation of data from its 193 Member States, and includes a summary of progress towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and targets. This edition also contains a new section on reported cases of selected infectious diseases. An online version of this publication and metadata describing the sources, estimation methods and the quality of estimates is available at http://www.who.int/statistics. The online version will be regularly updated as new data become available during 2009

Home truths : facing the facts on children, AIDS and poverty

IRWIN, Alec
ADAMS, Alayne
WINTER, Anne
2009

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This report summarises the main reports and recommendations of the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS (JLICA). The primary inputs are technical papers and synthesis papers produced by JLICA’s four Learning Groups, which over two years researched and analysed the following areas: * Strengthening families; * Community action; * Expanding access to services and protecting human rights, and * Social and economic policies. The report makes the case for redirecting the response to HIV and AIDS to address children’s needs more effectively

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