Access to health workers who are fit for purpose, motivated and protected is a fundamental force of health service delivery and the achievement of universal health coverage and the health and health-related Sustainable Development Goals. Data and knowledge of the distribution, skill mix and future d...evelopment needs of the health workforce can mean the difference between enabling or impeding health systems performance, inclusive economic growth and global health security preparedness and response
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This is the sixth of our 11-paper supplement entitled “Community Health Workers at the Dawn of New Era”. Expectations of community health workers (CHWs) have expanded in recent years to encompass a wider array
of services to numerous subpopulations, engage communities to collaborate with and to... assist health systems in responding to complex and sometimes intensive threats. In this paper, we explore a set of key considerations for training of CHWs in response to their enhanced and changing roles and provide actionable recommendations based on
current evidence and case examples for health systems leaders and other stakeholders to utilize.
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Uganda hosts approximately 1.1 million refugees making it Africa’s largest refugee hosting country and one of the five largest refugee hosting countries in the world. Most recently, throughout 2016- 2018, Uganda was impacted by three parallel emergencies from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic o...f the Congo (DRC), and Burundi. In view of the on-going conflicts and famine
vulnerabilities in the Great Lakes Region, more refugee influxes and protracted refugee situations are anticipated in the foreseeable future. The unprecedented mass influx of refugees into Uganda in 2016-2018 has put enormous pressure on
the country’s basic service provision, in particular health and education services. Refugees share all social services with the local host communities. The refugee hosting districts are among the least developed districts in the country, and thus the additional refugee population is putting a high strain on already limited resources.
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Health Systems for Outcomes Publication | This report summarizes the findings of a qualitative study on health workers’ performance and career in Rwanda to identify bottlenecks, strengths and shortcomings for human resources in the health sector, as perceived by both health workers and users of he...alth services.
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This paper reviews the effects of vertical responses to COVID-19 on health systems, services, and people’s access to and use of them in LMICs, where historic and ongoing under-investments heighten vulnerability to a multiplicity of health threats. We use the term ‘vertical response’ to describ...e decisions, measures and actions taken solely with the purpose of preventing and containing COVID-19, often without adequate consideration of how this affects the wider health system and pre-existing resource constraints.
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Health, safety and wellbeing of the Healthcare workers is a prerequisite for good quality of care and patient satisfaction in health services. Healthcare facilities that are not safe for workers and patients are not resilient to any shock arising from hostile events, outbreaks or any other emergenci...es. Occupational Safety and Health Act (2005) and the National Occupational Safety and Health Policy of Zanzibar require the development of stringent systems for managing occupational safety and health in all workplaces and the health system in general.
These Policy Guidelines have been developed by the Ministry of Health in consultation with the Ministry responsible for Labour and other stakeholders, such as organizations of workers, employers and professional associations in the health sector. The purpose of these guidelines is to foster the implementation of the international commitments and the national legislation regarding decent work in the health system as well as to improve the quality of care and the resilience of health facilities.
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Advances have been made through expanded interventions delivered through five public health approaches: innovative and intensified disease management; preventive chemotherapy; vector ecology and management; veterinary public health services; and the provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene. I...n 2015 alone nearly one billion people were treated for at least one disease and significant gains were achieved in relieving the symptoms and consequences of diseases for which effective tools are scarce; important reductions were achieved in the number of new cases of sleeping sickness, of visceral leishmaniasis in South-East Asia and also of Buruli ulcer.
The report also considers vector control strategies and discusses the importance of the draft WHO Global Vector Control Response 2017–2030.
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In the last quarter century, several projects emerged to reform mental health services in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Some did not survive the difficulties that inevitably arise in processes of change, and ended up disappearing before the intended changes could be introduced. Others, how...ever, as shown in this publication, were able to overcome difficulties and meet intended objectives, effectively transforming the structure and quality of services. All these projects, including the many that did not survive, were part of one of the richest experiences in the transformation of mental health care worldwide - the experience of mental health reform in Latin America and the Caribbean
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This document provides SOPS to ensure appropriate data and information management at health facilities. These SOPs are an updated version of the 2013 SOPs. These SOPs aim to clarify the responsibilities and procedures for effective management of aggregated routine health service data
This report started with a simple question—“How can we tell how much funding is devoted to global health programs?”—and ended (more than two years later) with an answer that is far from simple. As those who have tried know well, tracking health-related funding is challenging in any setting, ...given the range of public and private sources and the many types of services and programs that fall within the definition of “health sector.” It is made all the more complicated when significant external support from donors and private charities plus in-kind donations of drugs and other inputs are taken into account. The task is made yet harder by inadequate public expenditure management systems in countries where public agencies’ capacity is stretched very thin and by donor accounting structures that are not designed to respond in a timely way
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South Africa has a long history of community health workers (CHWs). It has been a journey that has required balancing constrained resources and competing priorities. CHWs form a bridge between communities and healthcare service provision within health facilities and act as the cornerstone of South A...frica’s Ward-Based Primary Healthcare Outreach Teams. This study aimed to document the CHW policy implementation landscape across six provinces in South Africa and explore the reasons for local adaptation of CHW models and to identify potential barriers and facilitators to implementation of the revised framework to help guide and inform future planning.
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The Community-based Health System Model Series briefs identify and discuss critical health system inputs and processes that have contributed to the implementation and expansion of community-based service delivery in different countries.
Countries were selected for their geographic diversity, type o...f service delivery model, and programmatic scale-up.
This brief reviews Malawi’s community health model to inform future policy, program design, and implementation in other countries.
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Best Practices Report.PART 1 Primary Protection: Enhancing Health Care Resilience for a Changing Climatei Primary Protection: EnhancingU.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Schistosoma haematobium is a parasitic digenetic trematode responsible for schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia). The disease is caused by penetration of the skin by the parasite, spread by intermediate host molluscs in stagnant waters, and can be treated by administration of praziquantel. Schis...tosomiasis is considered to be an important but neglected tropical disease.
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The Healthy Living Toolkit is developed to educate refugees, immigrants, resettlement agencies, clinics, community based organizations, and other service providers on refugee health issues. The toolkit presents material in a culturally appropriate manner and is intended to help health care-related p...rofessionals more effectively assist refugees and immigrants and reduce health disparities among these populations. The toolkit is available in multiple languages: Amharic; Arabic; Farsi; English; French; Russian, etc.
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Planned and regulated task shifting and task sharing can have a range of benefits. It can ensure a rational optimization of the available health workforce, address health system shortages of specialized health-care professionals, improve equity in access to health care and increase the acceptability... of health services for those receiving them. This guideline provides a range of options for expanding of health worker roles in the provision of safe abortion care, the management of complications of abortion (also known as post-abortion care in some settings and provided as part of emergency obstetric care) and for post-abortion contraception provision.
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Annual and medium-term budget preparation processes are the platforms through which specific plans are transformed into actual resource allocation decisions. The aim of this Process Guide is to support key stakeholders involved in these processes (such as the Cabinet, Ministries of Finance and Healt...h, the Parliament, citizens, media, and civil society organizations) to reorient budgetary arrangements in order to facilitate the ability of national governments to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by delivering, therapeutics, diagnostics, and vaccine services to their populations. Reorienting budgetary arrangements positions governments to sustain the capacity to mitigate and respond to COVID-19 while concurrently delivering other essential health services and working towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The reorientation process is an opportunity to better align budgetary arrangements to sustain systemic capacity to prevent emerging health threats over the short, medium, and long terms.
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Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world, was devastated by an earthquake in 2010. The disaster uncovered the realities of a non-existent mental health care system with only ten psychiatrists nationwide. Attempts were made to assess the increased prevalence of mental illness, likely due to t...he trauma to which many were exposed. Several interventions were carried out with aims to integrate mental health into primary health care services. The interplay between socio-cultural beliefs and health (both mental and physical) in Haiti has been widely commented upon by both foreign aid and local caregivers. Observations frequently highlight barriers to the willingness of patients to seek care and to their acceptance of biomedicine over traditional Vodou beliefs. The perception of Haitian beliefs as barriers to the availability and acceptance of mental health care has intensified the difficulty in providing effective recommendations and interventions both before and after the earthquake. Argued in this review is the importance of considering the interactions between socio-cultural beliefs and mental health when developing models for the prevention, screening, classification and management of mental illness in Haiti. These interactions, especially relevant in mental health care and post-disaster contexts, need to be acknowledged in any healthcare setting. The successes and failures of Haiti’s situation provide an example for global consideration.
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Peru celebrates 200 years of independence in 2021. Over this period of independent life, and despite the turbulent socio-political scenarios, from internal armed conflict to economic crisis to political instability over the last 40 years, Peru has experienced major changes on its epidemiological and... population health profile. Major advancements in maternal and child health as well as in communicable diseases have been achieved in recent decades, and today
Peru faces an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases including mental health conditions. In terms of the configuration of the public health system, Peru has also strived to secure country-wide optimal health care, struggling in particular to improve primary health care and intercultural services.
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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.
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