Women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health in a changing world

Author(s):  
Mike Rowson

There have been huge improvements in women’s and children's health over the past five decades, resulting from rising living standards, increased health expenditures, and donor investments. However, large inequalities remain and, driven by epidemiological, economic, political, and environmental transitions, new challenges have emerged. Global health and women’s and children’s health specifically have been evolving to recognise the broader determinants of health, and away from more targeted interventions. The vision of Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals are the broader visions put forward by the international community. But there remain questions about whether they will achieve the cross-sectoral action required to improve women’s and children's health still further.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Helen Idubamo Wankasi

Ever since the re-emergence of Covid-19 as a pandemic, healthcare facilities (human and materials) have been overstressed, evidenced by the rate at which frontline healthcare workers fall sick and die in the course. In some healthcare institutions, the narrative has changed with regards to the number of days to access physicians for treatment, but selected and booked only on specific days and periods, except in extreme emergencies are able to access physicians un-booked. This is inconsistent with the intent of Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper, therefore, highlighted the objectives, covering a brief overview of COVID-19 and Universal Health Coverage; identified countries developed (Germany 1883) and emerging (South Africa/Nigeria) that have adopted Universal Health Coverage as well described how COVID-19 stands as an inhibitor to the achievement of Universal Health Coverage. At the tail end, recommendations are made on the way forward on the need for effective governance, manpower sourcing and general strengthening of the healthcare system.


Author(s):  
Andres Garchitorena ◽  
Megan B. Murray ◽  
Bethany Hedt-Gauthier ◽  
Paul E. Farmer ◽  
Matthew H. Bonds

Randomized control trials (RCTs) are considered to be the gold standard for impact evaluation in international development and they are associated with a new era of evidence-based global health policies. However, there are inherent challenges in using RCTs to answer some of the most important questions in global health: why, if solutions are known, affordable at scale, and supported by existing evidence, do hundreds of millions of people lack access to essential health services? A lack of clarity on appropriate research methods for strengthening health systems has corresponded to a lack of investment in more complex and adaptive systems of integrated care delivery. This chapter reviews the use of RCTs in global health, highlighting major contributions, and addressing some pressing priorities in implementation research at a time when the Sustainable Development Goals emphasize the importance of sector-wide approaches, such as integrated primary care and universal health coverage.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 387-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Bergen ◽  
Arne Ruckert ◽  
Ronald Labonté

Implementing universal health coverage (UHC) is widely perceived to be central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and is a work program priority of the World Health Organization (WHO). Much has already been written about how low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can monitor progress towards UHC, with various UHC monitoring frameworks available in the literature. However, we suggest that these frameworks are largely irrelevant in high-income contexts and that the international community still needs to develop UHC monitoring framework meaningful for high-income countries (HICs). As a first step, this short communication presents preliminary findings from a literature review and document analysis on how various countries monitor their own progress towards achieving UHC. It furthermore offers considerations to guide meaningful UHC monitoring and reflects on pertinent challenges and tensions to inform future research on UHC implementation in HIC settings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shohei Okamoto ◽  
Keita Shimmmei ◽  
Tomonori Okamura

Abstract Background Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) is a target of the Sustainable Development Goals, and the monitoring of its progress is of use to clarify what to be enhanced for better health. While the WHO and the World Bank Group jointly developed a scale with the above purpose (WHO/WB index: Hogan et al., 2018), it fails to reflect the fact that different needs to health coverages may exist depending on a stage of epidemiological transition. Methods To consider potential differences in health coverage needs depending on the stage of the epidemiological transition, we reformulated the index by incorporating weight as the proportion of age-adjusted mortality rate among monitored domains (i.e. reproductive, maternal, new-born and child health, infectious disease, non-communicable diseases [NCD]), of which data collected from the WHO Global Health Observatory. Additionally, we utilised indicators of policy achievements on NCD by the WHO’s Noncommunicable Diseases Progress Monitor 2015. Results The UHC progress monitored by the WHO/WB index had a mean of 61.83 (%) while it declined by about 4% point on average when NCD indicators were replaced. Furthermore, the UHC progresses evaluated with weights calculated from disease burden decreased by about 10% point for both measures, suggesting that some countries may not provide demanded health coverages. Conclusion The UHC progress decreased when disease burden for each country was taken into consideration. This indicates the necessity to assess the UHC progressby reflecting disease structure of each country, not by an identical scale for all nations. Key messages The monitoring of universal health coverage is required to reflect disease structure of each country.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanchan Mukherjee

Universal health coverage (UHC), goal three of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has been on the agenda for some time now. However, India has not been able to achieve the less ambitious targets of Health for All (HFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In this context, this article identifies inefficiency as one key factor affecting progress towards UHC. One of the key contributors to inefficiency is lack of evidence-informed decisions in India. Using evidence from economic evaluation and global burden of disease study, seven cost-effective targets have been identified for prioritization in the Indian context. It is proposed that a selective approach targeting these seven targets would be a more efficient way of addressing the challenge of UHC in India.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-80
Author(s):  
Sophie Hermanns ◽  
Jean-Olivier Schmidt

Abstract Maternal health is one of the 169 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the SDGs are less focused on maternal health than their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the SDGs’ commitments to multisectoral development, health systems, universal health coverage and equity could provide the foundations for sustainable advances in maternal health.


Author(s):  
Julia Downing ◽  
Joan Marston

Children’s Palliative Care (CPC) is a relatively new and emerging field with great potential for helping children and families who are living with life-limiting conditions (LLC) globally. There is a growing recognition of the need to develop services for these children, but the overall picture remains one of huge variance in different parts of the world and even within countries. The evidence base is still small, there is a great need for more education, and considerable scope for further development. Broader awareness of the values and philosophy of CPC, its history and development, and its place in society will help promote CPC further. As the field increases, we will need to enhance the international roles of our own local children’s organizations, and continue to develop paediatric networks, as well as link into global priorities in healthcare such as public health, Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and the sustainable development goals (SDGs).


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