scholarly journals How to do (or not to do) … translation of national health accounts data to evidence for policy making in a low resourced setting

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 472-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A Price ◽  
Lorna Guinness ◽  
Wayne Irava ◽  
Idrish Khan ◽  
Augustine Asante ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
National Health ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Local Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Accounts ◽  
Evidence For Policy

Abstract For more than a decade, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank have promoted the international standardization of National Health Accounts (NHA) for reporting global statistics on public, private and donor health expenditure and improve the quality of evidence-based decision-making at country level. A 2010–2012 World Bank review of NHA activity in 50 countries found structural and technical constraints (rather than cost) were key impediments to institutionalizing NHA in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Pilot projects focused resources on data production, neglecting longer-term capacity building for analysing the data, developing ownership among local stakeholders and establishing routine production, utilization and dissemination of NHA data. Hence, genuine institutionalization of NHA in most LMICs has been slow to materialize. International manuals focus on the production of NHA data and do not include practical, incremental and low-cost strategies to guide countries in translating the data into evidence for policy-making. The main aim of this article is to recommend strategies for bridging this divide between production and utilization of NHA data in low-resource settings. The article begins by discussing the origins and purpose of NHA, including factors currently undermining their uptake. The focus then turns to the development and application of strategies to assist LMICs in ‘unlocking’ the hidden value of their NHA. The article draws on the example of Fiji, a country currently attempting to integrate their NHA data into policy formulation, despite minimal resources, training and familiarity with economic analysis of health systems. Simple, low cost recommendations such as embedding health finance indicators in planning documents, a user-friendly NHA guide for evaluating local health priorities, and sharing NHA data for collaborative research have helped translate NHA from raw data to evidence for policymaking.

Global lessons from Ebola crisis may be ignored

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Local Health ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World ◽  
National Governments

Subject Lessons from the Ebola crisis. Significance The Ebola epidemic in West Africa caught national governments and international organisations off-guard. As the epidemic begins to abate in the affected countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has begun an internal process to learn lessons for future global health emergencies. However, many of the required responses were well-known before the Ebola outbreak but ignored. Shifting entrenched political attitudes will be a challenge. Impacts Popular distrust of local health services continues to mar comprehensive detection of Ebola infections in affected countries. Re-building local health services will be distorted if the Ebola crisis dominates planning over long-term health priorities. However, donors tend to prefer orientation towards disease-specific programmes and interventions over strengthening health systems.

scholarly journals Economic Profile of Iranian Rehabilitation Services: 2002-2017

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-297
Author(s):  
Mehdi Basakha ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health System ◽  
National Health ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
World Health ◽  
Rehabilitation Services ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Out Of Pocket Payments ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Accounts

Objective: The role of the service sector in general and healthcare services in particular have been promoting in Iran’s economy. The implementation of the Health System Transformation Plan and the injection of new financial resources into this sector have raised concerns about the health system function. Thus, this is the first attempt to estimate and evaluate the share of rehabilitation services in the Iranian economic and health systems. Materials & Methods: The study utilized longitudinal trend analysis using the National Health Accounts data during 2002-2015. National Health Accounts, through input-output tables, breaks down the share of different sources of financing for different functions of the health system. According to this method, both the share of rehabilitation services in Iran’s economy and the financing sources of these activities have been calculated and compared to other countries. Data on Iran's National Health Accounts has been collected from the Statistical Center of Iran. International data is collected from the World Health Organization's National Health Accounts and the databases of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries. Results: Expenditures related to rehabilitation services in Iran increased from 884 billion rials in 2002 to more than 2967 billion rials in 1396, equivalent to 0.02% of Iran's GDP in that year. The share of rehabilitation expenditures in total health expenditures in 2007 was at its highest level (0.3%). In the following years, it has always had a decreasing trend. In 1396 it reached about 22.0%, the lowest amount during 16 Last year. Comparing the economic share of rehabilitation of the country's economic activities with different countries shows that the position of this sector is in no way comparable to developed countries and is even lower than many developing countries. Tunisia, Tonga, and Moldova have a similar situation to Iran's economy, with rehabilitation services accounting for about 0.05 to 0.1 percent of their total economic activity. Comparison of the prevalence of disability in these countries with Iran shows that these countries had a lower prevalence than Iran. Examination of the share of various sources shows that out-of-pocket payments with households with 6.37 percent, the most, and the government with 7.18 percent had the least role in financing rehabilitation services. It is noteworthy that this figure was about 65% before implementing the health system transformation plan. Social insurance in 2017 also covered only 6.24% of rehabilitation costs. Conclusion: Inaccessibility of people with disabilities to healthcare services is a very serious issue in the world. The rehabilitation services expenditures have always been mentioned as one of the most important barriers of accessing to these services. Following the implementation of the Health Transformation Plan, the share of rehabilitation activities in Iran’s health market has been shrunk.

scholarly journals Attitude and Behaviour For Preventing COVID-19 Disease Infections in Mali: An Analysis Based On COVID-19 Panel Phone Survey

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfried GUETS ◽  
Deepak Kumar Behera
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Low Income ◽  
World Health ◽  
Multivariate Logistic Regression Model ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Phone Survey ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
National Statistical Office

Abstract Background COVID-19 outbreak has been declared as an emerging and conflict situation by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to the multiple nature of infection through international spread that poses a serious threat to populations’ health and socio-economic conditions household in general. Objective This study aims to analyse the behaviour adopted by households’ heads for preventing COVID-19 infection in Mali. Methods We collected data from the COVID-19 Panel Households survey collected in Mali by the National Statistical Office, Institut National de la Statistique (INSTAT), in collaboration with the World Bank in October 2020. We used a multivariate logistic regression model. Results A total of 1,514 households heads were included. The age between 20 and 90 years old. The poor households represented 27%. Being a household with a low-income reduced the probability of using masks (p < 0.1). Being poor increased the probability to agree with vaccination (p < 0.01). The health services utilisation increased the probability of wear masks (p < 0.01), getting tested (p < 0.01), and agree with the vaccine (p < 0.01). People with a high occupation volume were more likely to wear protective masks (p < 0.1). Conclusion Behaviour and attitude prevention varied according to households characteristics. Local government and policymakers should continue to provide more economic, medical and social assistance to protect the population, which would reduce the spread of the disease, particularly to households living in vulnerable regions of the country most affected by conflict and food insecurity.

Rational and Irrational Drug Use: Factors, Impacts and Strategies to Combat Irrational Drug Use: A Narrative Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-17
Author(s):  
Zahra Hassan AL Qamariat ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Health System ◽  
Essential Medicines ◽  
World Health ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Rational Drug Use ◽  
Inappropriate Use ◽  
Rational Drug ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

Misuse of drugs is a serious health problem all around the world. Rational drug use can be characterized as follows: patients receive drugs that meet their clinical needs, at doses that meet their requirements, promptly and at the lowest cost to themselves and their region. Drug abuse, polypharmacy, and misuse are the most prominent drug use problems today. Misuse of drugs can occur for a variety of reasons at different levels, including recommended mistakes and over-the- counter medications. Inappropriate use of income can lead to real negative benefits and financial results. There are many irrational drug mixtures available. Appropriate rational use of medicines will increase personal satisfaction and lead to better local health services. A list of essential medicines recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) can assist the countries around the globe in rationalizing the distribution and purchasing of medicines, thus decreasing the costs to healthcare systems. Irrational drug use has been a subject of concern for years as it affects the health system and patients badly. Irrational use of drugs can result from several factors such as patient, prescriber, dispenser, health system, supply system, or regulations. Thus, diverse strategies have been used to promote rational drug use and also to tackle irrational use. Thereby the concept of rational and irrational drug use and factors that lead to either result should be identified and monitored.

World Health Organization

1956 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-491
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
National Health ◽  
Health Personnel ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Training

The activities of the World Health Organization (WHO) during 1955 were surveyed in the anuual report to the World Health Assembly and to the UN of the WHO Director-General, Dr. Marcoline G. Candau. During 1955, Dr. Candau stated, substantial results had been achieved in three categories of programs: the fight against communicable diseases, the strengthening of national health services, and the raising of standards of education and training for all types of health personnel. Malaria, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, and trachoma were among the communicable diseases towards the eradication of which WHO activities had been directed, with in many instances considerable progress. However, it had become increasingly evident that the beneficial effects of such campaigns against disease could only constitute concrete gains for public health if national health services could be effectively strengthened, and during 1955 a large part of WHO's work had continued to be devoted to that aim, in all regions but particularly in the Americas, southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. In the development of national health services, particular attention had been devoted to such matters as the principle of program integration, nutrition and health education, changes in health services necessitated by the aging of populations, mental health, and environmental sanitation. In regard to education and training of health personnel, an effort had been made in the regions to increase the use of all methods which had proved their value in the past, including direct training of health personnel at all levels, provision of fellowships for study abroad, assistance to institutions and the sponsoring of international conferences, training courses and seminars.

scholarly journals GENERAL PRACTICE : THE CORNERSTONE OF HEALTH CARE IN THE THIRD MILLENIUM

2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (139) ◽  
pp. 150-155
Author(s):  
Roger Strasser
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
General Practice ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Family Doctor ◽  
World Health ◽  
Family Doctors ◽  
The Third ◽  
Medical Discipline ◽  
The World ◽  
Care Systems

As we move into the third millennium, it is clear that the World Health Organisation(WHO) goal of “Health for All” is yet to be achieved. Nowhere is this more evidentthan in developing countries like Nepal where the majority of people live in ruralareas, many of them caught in the poverty-ill health-low productivity downward spiral.In recent decades, most programs aimed at improving population health outcomeshave been designed and delivered with little or no involvement of medical practitionersother than specialists in specific diseases or population/public health.General practice is the medical discipline which involves the provision of continuing,comprehensive, community-based patient-centred prevention-oriented primary care.General practitioners are at the interface between: low technology/low cost and hightechnology/high cost care; medical and non-medical health and welfare services; andindividual care for illness, injury or disability and community/population healthapproaches to improving health status. This places general practice and generalpractitioners in a pivotal position to provide individuals and families with timely cost-effective care, and to provide leadership in the development and implementation ofhealth care systems which are responsive to community and societal needs.Since 1994, the WHO and WONCA, the World Organisation of Family Doctors, havebeen working together first through a landmark Invitational Conference and Reporton “Making Medical Practice and Education More Relevant to People’s Needs: TheContribution of the Family Doctor”, and more recently through a Memorandum ofAgreement and the Towards Unity for Health (TUFH) Project. TUFH promotes effortsworldwide to create unity in health service organisations particularly throughsustainable integration of medicine and public health, individual health and communityhealth related activities. Achievement of “Health for All” will require development ofbalanced, affordable and sustainable health care systems which build on the broadexpertise of general practitioners and general practice.

scholarly journals Water and the death of ambition in global health, c.1970-1990

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 211-230
Author(s):  
Christian McMillen
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Good Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Project ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Economic development and good health depended on access to clean water and sanitation. Therefore, because economic development and good health depended on access to clean water and sanitation, beginning in the early 1970s the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO), and others began a period of sustained interest in developing both for the billions without either. During the 1980s, two massive and wildly ambitious projects showed what was possible. The International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade and the Blue Nile Health Project aimed for nothing less than the total overhaul of the way water was developed. This was, according to the WHO, “development in the spirit of social justice.”

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