The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in the treatment and care of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This report examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to NCD medicines, and the policies and strategies implemented by countries and health sys...tems to anticipate and mitigate stresses across NCD medicine supply chains. The full range of upstream and downstream impacts are investigated, including: manufacturing; procurement, importation and last mile delivery; patient-level effects through affordability and availability; and the effects on NCD medicine availability by category of disease. The report culminates in recommended actions and interventions for key stakeholders in the NCD pharmaceutical supply chain, including governments, regulatory authorities, manufacturers and the private sector; as well as directions for future research for improving access and supply chain access resilience.
more
J Fungi (Basel) . 2019 Aug 16;5(3):75. doi: 10.3390/jof5030075 . Namibia is a sub-Saharan country with one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world. Although care and support services are available that cater for opportunistic infections related to HIV, the main focus is narrow and predominan...tly aimed at tuberculosis. We aimed to estimate the burden of serious fungal infections in Namibia, currently unknown, based on the size of the population at risk and available epidemiological data. Data were obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and published reports.
more
The National Institute of statistics of Rwanda (NISR) in collaboration with the worldwide Demographic and Health Surveys Program implemented the 2014-15 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS) to collect data for monitoring progress on health programs and policies in Rwanda. This publication ill...ustrates the profile of Southern province
more
Census data shows that Myanmar can harness a double dividend – both youth and gender. This year’s annual report provides many facets of the journey to gender equality. It tells a story of widening horizons for women and girls who are capable in their own right. It is also a story of women fulfil...ling their reproductive rights, and of couples having access to family planning choices.
more
The 2015-16 MDHS is a national sample survey that provides up-to-date information on fertility levels; marriage; fertility preferences; awareness and use of family planning methods; child feeding practices; nutrition; adult and childhood mortality; awareness and attitudes regarding HIV/AIDS; women...s empowerment; and domestic violence. The target groups were women and men age 15-49 residing in randomly selected households across the country. In addition to national estimates, the report provides estimates of key indicators for both urban and rural areas in Myanmar and also for the 15 states and regions.
more
Governments have dedicated a pivotal role to the private sector in the implementation and financing of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. This has pushed a turn towards the private sector, the promotion of multi-stakeholder partnerships between public and private actors. However, far too often there is a... considerable gap between the social and environmental commitments companies make publicly in political fora like the UN and the actual effects of their production patterns and investment strategies on people and the environment. A new working paper, published by Brot für die Welt, Global Policy Forum and MISEREOR provides an overview of the ways and means by which the UN involves business actors in the debates around the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It describes new initiatives and alliances of business actors around SDG implementation at the international level, and their main messages and policy proposals. With a few selected examples it contrasts the sustainability rhetoric of corporations with their business reality. And finally, the working paper draws conclusions and formulates recommendations for policymakers on how to increase the benefits of UN-business interactions in implementing the 2030 Agenda - and how to reduce associated risks and negative side effects.
more
As information about COVID-19 is rapidly evolving, it can be challenging to navigate and synthesize all of the information. The purpose of this document is to provide a synthesized, indexed reference of accurate, standardized COVID-19 information from trustworthy sources. Information is presented in... simple, clear language to support the development of messages and materials needed for social and behavior change interventions.
more
Development assistance for health (DAH) is an important part of financing healthcare in low- and middle-income countries. We estimated the gross disbursement of DAH of the 29 Development Assistance Committee (DAC) member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ...for 2011–2019; and clarified its flows, including aid type,
channel, target region, and target health focus area. Data from the OECD iLibrary were used. The DAH definition was based on the OECD sector classification. For core funding to non-healthspecific multilateral agencies, we estimated DAH and its flows based on the OECD methodology for
calculating imputed multilateral official development assistance (ODA).
more
The Ghanaian Cabinet approved the antimicrobial resistance (AMR)Policy and Implementation plan(hereafter referred to as the national action plan or NAP)in December 2017, whilst the country case study was in progress. This has set in motion the implementation phase for Ghana, which is a long awaited... event since the drafting of the Policy started in 2011. This case study, whilst limited in its ability to interact with all stakeholders, has identified entrypoints within the operational divisions of Ghana Health Services,as potential areas where the AMR policy platform may seek to embed AMR activities. Much work has already been done within Ghana to identify the key entrypoints within the various ministries and government agencieswhere AMR can be incorporated. These stakeholders already form part of the AMR Policy Platform which is the governance structure for AMR and have been participating actively in the development of the AMR Policy and NAP activities formulation.
more
Zambia has about 1.2 physicians, nurses, and midwives per 1000 population while the minimum acceptable density threshold is 2.3 per 1000 population. The estimated shortage of doctors, nurses and midwives in Zambia is about 14,960. However, with the projected population growth the deficit more than d...oubles disproportionately to, 25,849 in 2020, and 46,549 in 2035, at the current rate of HRH production. Worryingly, the human resources for health crisis has persisted for over 20 years. The efforts before and leading up to the development and implementation of the 2013 – 2016 National Training Operational Plan (NTOP) and the National Human Resources for Health Strategic Plan (2011 – 2016) yielded certain achievements, however, the HRH numbers and skill-mix gap remained disturbingly enormous.
more
For several decades, civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria have been advocating for increased resources for family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH) services and commodities. To help CSOs in Nigeria understand and actively participate in the budget process at the state level, a team... from the Health Policy Project conducted an assessment to identify the differences between theory and practice in state-level budgeting. The team selected two states—Cross River and Zamfara—and compiled information on their budget process for the health sector.
more
A Systematic Review, Country Case Studies, and Recommendations for Integration into National Health Systems
Alliance Report
Participation of community health workers (CHWs) in the provision of primary health care has been experienced all over the world for several decades, and there is an amount ...of evidence showing that they can add significantly to the efforts of improving the health of the population, particularly in those settings with the highest shortage of motivated and capable health professionals.
more
The most significant finding of the case study for integrating antimicrobial resistance (AMR)into existing programs and mobilising resources for funding in Nigeria, is that most of the AMR activities within the Nigerian National Action Plan (NAP)canalready be incorporated within exi...sting programs of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and their agencies or institutes. Certain programs and initiatives already have an AMR element incorporated or could,with little effort,include some additional AMR actions, however much is already being planned and has started with existing federal funding and existing staffing and other resources including development partner support and is being driven by significant political will from the ministries as well as implementation support from the Nigerian Centers for Disease Control as the focal point.
more