Background: Achievement of high coverage of effective interventions and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5A requires adequate financing. Many of the 68 priority countries in the Countdown to 2015 Initiative are dependent on official development assistance (ODA). We analysed aid flows for ma...ternal, newborn, and child health for 2007 and 2008 and updated previous estimates for 2003–06.
Methods: We manually coded and analysed the complete aid activities database of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for 2007 and 2008 with methods that we previously developed to track ODA. By use of newly available data for donor disbursement and population estimates, we revised data for 2003–06. We analysed the degree to which donors target their ODA to recipients with the greatest maternal and child health needs and examined trends over the 6 years.
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Overview: Risk communication and community engagement are essential for any disease outbreak response. This is particularly critical during outbreaks of Ebola which may create fear in the public and frontline responders alike due to severe presentation of symptoms, misunderstanding of the causes of ...illness and high fatality rates. This document outlines some of the key considerations for risk communication and community engagement response to Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ebola outbreaks have been associated with misinformation and false rumours. In the context of RCCE, rumours refer to unsubstantiated information, claims or beliefs about what is causing the disease or how it can be treated/cured. If not proactively addressed in culturally appropriate ways, misinformation and rumours can lead to the further rapid spread of the disease and unnecessary deaths, severe disease, suffering, and societal and economic loss.
The publication includes a 'Rumour Tracking Tool' (Annex II).
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Kenya reported its first case of COVID-19 on 12 March 2020 and, as at 7 April 2020, 172 cases had been confirmed and 6 deaths reported. The Government of Kenya has taken a number of measures to curb the spread of the virus, including implementing a curfew, restricting movement out and into four coun...ties, including Nairobi Metropolitan, and closing most of the urban and rural markets to enforce social distancing. However, these measures, along with the global economic shock caused by the pandemic, are expected to generate new needs, requiring an immediate and urgent response.
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Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, the global economy was suffering from the repercussions of several man-made conflicts, climate shocks, COVID-19 and rising costs — with devastating consequences for poor people in low-income and developing countries. The war in Ukraine — a major “breadbasket...” for the world — is deepening these challenges on an unprecedented scale. In the immediate, swift and bold action is required by both wealthy and low-income nations to avert further humanitarian and economic catastrophe.
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In 2017, $37.4 billion of development assistance was provided to low- and middleincome countries to maintain or improve health. This amount is down slightly compared to 2016, and since 2010, development assistance for health (DAH) has grown at an annualized rate of 1.0%. While global development ass...istance for health has seemingly leveled off, global health spending continues to climb, outpacing economic growth in many countries. Total health spending for 2015, the most recent year for which data are available, was estimated to be $9.7 trillion (95% uncertainty interval: 9.7–9.8)*, up 4.7% (3.9–5.6) from the prior year, and accounted for 10% of the world’s total economy. With some sources of health spending growing and other types remaining steady, and with major variations in spending from country to country, it is more important than ever to understand where resources for health come from, where they go, and how they align with health needs. This information is critical for planning and is a necessary catalyst for change as we aim to close the gap on the unfinished agenda of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and move forward toward universal health coverage (UHC) in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) era.
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Background: Timely reliable data on aid flows to maternal, newborn, and child health are essential for assessing the adequacy of current levels of funding, and to promote accountability among donors for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for child and maternal health. We provide g...lobal estimates of official development assistance (ODA) to maternal, newborn, and child health in 2003 and 2004, drawing on data reported by high-income donor countries and aid agencies to the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation.
Methods: ODA was tracked on a project-by-project basis to 150 developing countries. We applied a standard definition of maternal, newborn, and child health across donors, and included not only funds specific to these areas, but also integrated health funds and disease-specific funds allocated on a proportional distribution basis, using appropriate factors.
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Background: Foreign aid has been shown to be favourably biased towards small countries. This study investigated whether country size bias also occurs in national malaria policy and development assistance from international agencies. Methods: Data from publicly available sources were collected with c...ountries as observational units. The exploratory data analysis was based on the conceptual framework with socio-economic, environmental and institutional parameters. The strength of relationships was estimated by the Pearson and polychoric correlation coefficients. The correlation matrix was explored by factor analysis.
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The substantial burden of death and disability that results from interpersonal violence, road traffic injuries, unintentional injuries, occupational health risks, air pollution, climate change, and inadequate water and sanitation falls disproportionally on low- and middle-income countries. Injury Pr...evention and Environmental Health addresses the risk factors and presents updated data on the burden, as well as economic analyses of platforms and packages for delivering cost-effective and feasible interventions in these settings. The volume's contributors demonstrate that implementation of a range of prevention strategies-presented in an essential package of interventions and policies-could achieve a convergence in death and disability rates that would avert more than 7.5 million deaths a year
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Soil transmitted helminth (STH) infections are among the most common human infections worldwide with over 1 billion people affected. Many estimates of STH infection are often based on school-aged children (SAC). This study produced predictive risk-maps of STH on a more finite scale, estimated the nu...mber of people infected, and the amount of drug required for preventive chemotherapy (PC) in Ogun state, Nigeria. Georeferenced STH infection data obtained from a cross-sectional survey at 33 locations between July 2016 and November 2018, together with remotely-sensed environmental and socio-economic data were analyzed using Bayesian geostatistical modelling. Stepwise variable selection procedure was employed to select a parsimonious set of predictors to predict risk and spatial distribution of STH infections. The number of persons (pre-school ages children, SAC and adults) infected with STH were estimated, with the amount of tablets needed for preventive chemotherapy. An overall prevalence of 17.2% (95% CI 14.9, 19.5) was recorded for any STH infection. Ascaris lumbricoides infections was the most predominant, with an overall prevalence of 13.6% (95% CI 11.5, 15.7), while Hookworm and Trichuris trichiura had overall prevalence of 4.6% (95% CI 3.3, 5.9) and 1.7% (95% CI 0.9, 2.4), respectively. The model-based prevalence predictions ranged from 5.0 to 23.8% for Ascaris lumbricoides, from 2.0 to 14.5% for hookworms, and from 0.1 to 5.7% for Trichuris trichiura across the implementation units. The predictive maps revealed a spatial pattern of high risk in the central, western and on the border of Republic of Benin. The model identified soil pH, soil moisture and elevation as the main predictors of infection for A. lumbricoides, Hookworms and T. trichiura respectively. About 50% (10/20) of the implementation units require biannual rounds of mass drug administration. Approximately, a total of 1.1 million persons were infected and require 7.8 million doses. However, a sub-total of 375,374 SAC were estimated to be infected, requiring 2.7 million doses. Our predictive risk maps and estimated PC needs provide useful information for the elimination of STH, either for resource acquisition or identifying priority areas for delivery of interventions in Ogun State, Nigeria.
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Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 72% of all deaths globally and this proportion is growing. Greatest increases in NCD mortality are seen in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Places that only a generation ago knew famine are
today experiencing epidemics of obesity, diabetes..., cardiovascular disease, and cancer. These epidemics reduce human capital in developing countries and their economic costs are so great that they threaten to slow and even undercut trajectories of economic and social development.
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Every day in 2020, approximately 800 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth - meaning that a woman dies around every two minutes.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.1 is to reduce maternal mortality to less than 70 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births by ...2030.
The United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) – comprising WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Bank Group and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (UNDESA/Population Division) has collaborated with external technical experts on a new round of estimates covering 2000 to 2020. The estimates represent the most up to date, internationally-comparable MMEIG estimates of maternal mortality, using refined input data and methods from previous rounds.
The report presents internationally comparable global, regional and country-level estimates and trends for maternal mortality between 2000 and 2020.
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While virtually unheard of in developed countries, NTDs are a group of medically diverse parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases common in tropical and subtropical areas. NTDs affect more than 1.5 billion people annually, causing death, blindness, disfigurement, chronic pain, cognitive impairmen...t and other long-term disabilities that create obstacles to education, employment, economic growth and overall
development. When measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), the NTD burden is greater than malaria or tuberculosis.
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This year’s report should dispel any lingering doubts that the world is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms. We are now only eight years away from 2030, but the distance to reach many of the SDG 2 targets is growing wider each year. Ther...e are indeed efforts to make progress towards SDG 2, yet they are proving insufficient in the face of a more challenging and uncertain context. The intensification of the major drivers behind recent food insecurity and malnutrition trends (i.e. conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks) combined with the high cost of nutritious foods and growing inequalities will continue to challenge food security and nutrition. This will be the case until agrifood systems are transformed, become more resilient and are delivering lower cost nutritious foods and affordable healthy diets for all, sustainably and inclusively.
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This timely report comes at a decisive moment in history where
we can reshape urban environments and health systems for the
majority of the world’s population that live in cities. Enabling
this transformation are the SDGs, which have reconfigured how
governments and the international community... need to plan and
implement actions to eradicate poverty and inequality, create
inclusive economic growth, preserve the planet and improve
population health. Central to this quest is to create equitable,
healthier cities for sustainable development.
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Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET): Disussion Paper 110
This report compiles evidence from published, grey literature and key informants on the UNMHCP
since its introduction in Uganda’s health system, and findings were further validated during a oneda...y
national stakeholder meeting.
Three main factors motivated introduction of the UNMHCP. First, Uganda, along with other lowincome countries, was unable to implement holistically the primary healthcare (PHC) concepts as set out in the Alma Ata Declaration. Second, the macro-economic restructuring carried out in the 1990s, which was an international conditionality for low-income countries to access development financing, influenced the trend towards more stringent prioritisation of health interventions as a means of rationing and targeting use of resources. Third, the government sought to achieve equity with a service package that would be universally available for all people.
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In this review, the editors will investigate the impact of eight WASH interventions in preventing (reducing the risk of) and controlling outbreaks in LMIC, with particular focus on three diseases of current concern to the response community – cholera, Ebola, and Hepatitis E. Additionally, we will ...explore economic outcomes related to WASH interventions within an outbreak
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Recently, Sri Lanka has been impacted by multiple natural disasters. Sri Lanka experienced a landslide in October 2014, and flooding in December 2014.8 Sri Lanka withstood the worst drought conditions witnessed in four decades in 2016; the extreme drought conditions extended into 2017 and produced s...ubstantial economic and social effects. The drought was responsible for an increase in national poverty levels, due to reduced cultivation income, especially for rural farmers. ... In May 2017, Sri Lanka experienced continuous rains causing flash floods and extreme devastation. However, despite natural disasters and challenges posed by a complex political environment, Sri Lanka’s financial performance remained largely satisfactory in the first half of 2017.
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This National Health Policy has 5 objectives, namely
i. To strengthen the healthcare delivery system to be resilient
ii. To encourage the adoption of healthy lifestyles
iii. To improve the physical environment
iv. To improve the socio-economic status of the population
v. To ensure sustainable f...inancing for health
These objectives shall collectively ensure that there will be improved alignment, complementarity and synergies within and across all public sector ministries as well as with other stakeholders, towards achieving the national health goal.
The policy shall therefore ensure that MDAs and other identifiable organizations work within the principles of the Health-in-All Policy and the One-Health Policy frameworks (WHO), to achieve the desired healthy life status of people living in Ghana.
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Data on asthma aetiology in Africa are scarce. We investigated the risk factors for asthma among schoolchildren (5–17 years) in urban Uganda. We conducted a case-control study, among 555 cases and 1115 controls. Asthma was diagnosed by study clinicians. The main risk factors for asthma were tertia...ry education for fathers (adjusted OR (95% CI); 2.32 (1.71–3.16)) and mothers (1.85 (1.38–2.48)); area of residence at birth, with children born in a small town or in the city having an increased asthma risk compared to schoolchildren born in rural areas (2.16 (1.60–2.92)) and (2.79 (1.79–4.35)), respectively; father’s and mother’s history of asthma; children’s own allergic conditions; atopy; and cooking on gas/electricity. In conclusion, asthma was associated with a strong rural-town-city risk gradient, higher parental socio-economic status and urbanicity. This work provides the basis for future studies to identify specific environmental/lifestyle factors responsible for increasing asthma risk among children in urban areas in LMICs.
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Background: Mental health has recently gained increasing attention on global health and development agendas, including calls for an increase in international funding. Few studies have previously characterized official development assistance for mental health (DAMH) in a nuanced and differentiated ma...nner in order to support future funding efforts. Methods: Data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Creditor Reporting System were obtained through keyword searches. Projects were manually reviewed and categorized into projects dedicated entirely to mental health and projects that mention mental health (as one of many aims). Analysis of donor, recipient, and sector characteristics within and between categories was undertaken cumulatively and yearly.
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