scholarly journals Landscape analysis – assessing countries' readiness to scale up nutrition actions in the WHO African region

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (52) ◽  
pp. 6260-6273
Author(s):  
U Trübswasser ◽  
◽  
C Nishida ◽  
K Engesveen ◽  
F Coulibaly-Zerbo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Landscape Analysis ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
African Region ◽  
Human Resource Capacity ◽  
World Health Assembly Resolution ◽  
Sub Saharan

The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of the Landscape Analysis to assess strengths and weaknesses in combating malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Landscape Analysis is an inter-agency initiative to assess gaps and constraints and to identify opportunities for effective nutrition actions in order to accelerate intersectoral action for improving nutrition. In-depth Country Assessments to evaluate countries' "readiness" to scale up nutrition action have been conducted since 2008 in Sub-Saharan Africa. "Readiness" was assessed in terms of the commitment and capacity of each country and the focus was high stunting burden countries. The main focus was countries with heavy burden of undernutrition. From 2008 to September 2011, a total of 14 countries had undertaken the Landscape Analysis Country Assessment. Nine of them were in Africa: Burkina Faso, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, and South Africa. Three additional countries (Guinea, Namibia and Tanzania) were also planning to complete the Landscape Analysis Country Assessment in early 2012. From the findings in the nine countries, the following recommendations have been made: • Existing nutrition architectures and coordination mechanisms should be strengthened and better utilized; • Nutrition needs to be mainstreamed and integrated in relevant sector policies; • Advocacy at high levels is needed to highlight the importance of the lifecourse perspective, focusing particularly on nutrition interventions from preconception until the first two years of life; • National nutrition policies need to be translated into programmatic actions; • Human resource capacity for public health nutrition needs to be built with high quality in-service trainings in the short-term and long-term strategies to provide pre-service trainings; • Community-based outreach should be strengthened by using existing channels; • National nutrition surveillance systems need to be strengthened to ensure adequate use of data for monitoring, evaluation, and planning purposes. As part of the implementation of the 2010 World Health Assembly resolution on Infant and Young Child Nutrition (WHA 63.23) WHO has proposed a process to help countries in developing scale-up plans, which incorporates the Landscape Analysis Country Assessment as a tool to help countries in undertaking the initial context mapping. The countries that have already undertaken an in-depth Country Assessment, such as the Landscape Analysis Country Assessment, are ready to move forward in implementing the next steps in developing scaling-up plans to accelerate action in nutrition. At the same time, WHO will support additional countries that have expressed interest in conducting the Country Assessment.

scholarly journals What sub-Saharan African countries can learn from malaria elimination in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abubakar Olaitan Badmos ◽  
Aishat Jumoke Alaran ◽  
Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi ◽  
Oumnia Bouaddi ◽  
Zainab Onibon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Western Pacific Region ◽  
African Region ◽  
African Countries ◽  
African Context ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Global Reduction

AbstractMalaria is one of the most devastating diseases plaguing the sub-Saharan African region since time immemorial. In spite of a global reduction in mortality rates, a significant proportion of deaths due to malaria is still accounted for in the region. China recently joined the 40 countries declared malaria free by the World Health Organization and became the first country in the WHO Western Pacific Region to be awarded the certification. We commented on the strategies employed by China to eliminate malaria, address challenges facing malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa, and derive lessons that could be learned in the sub-Saharan African context.

scholarly journals Regional Overview on the Double Burden of Malnutrition and Examples of Program and Policy Responses: African Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelheid W. Onyango ◽  
Juddy Jean-Baptiste ◽  
Betty Samburu ◽  
Tshimi Lynn Moeng Mahlangu
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
African Region ◽  
Double Burden ◽  
Double Burden Of Malnutrition ◽  
Sub Saharan

Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) with high levels of undernutrition and a growing burden of overweight/obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Undernourishment in sub-Saharan Africa increased between 2010 and 2016. Although the prevalence of chronic undernutrition is decreasing, the number of stunted children under 5 years of age is increasing due to population growth. Meanwhile, overweight/obesity is increasing in all age groups, with girls and women being more affected than boys and men. It is increasingly recognized that the drivers of the DBM originate outside the health sector and operate across national and regional boundaries. Largely unregulated marketing of cheap processed foods and nonalcoholic beverages as well as lifestyle changes are driving consumption of unhealthy diets in the African region. Progress toward the goal of ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030 requires intensified efforts to reduce undernutrition and focused action on the reduction of obesity and diet-related NCDs. The World Health Organization is developing a strategic plan to guide governments and development partners in tackling all forms of malnutrition through strengthened policies, improved service delivery, and better use of data. It is only through coordinated and complementary efforts that strides can be made to reduce the DBM.

scholarly journals Universal Access to Surgical Care and Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case for Surgical Systems Research Comment on "Global Surgery – Informing National Strategies for Scaling Up Surgery in Sub-Saharan Africa"

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel M. Makasa
Keyword(s):  
Implementation Research ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Surgical Care ◽  
Healthcare Policy ◽  
Global Surgery ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Programme Implementation ◽  
Sub Saharan

National level experiences, lessons learnt from the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era coupled with the academic evidence and proposals generated by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (LCoGS) together with the economic arguments and recommendations from the World Bank Group’s "Essential Surgery" Disease Control Priorities (DCP3) publication, provided the impetus for political commitments to improve surgical care capacity at the primary level of the healthcare system in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as part of their drive towards universal health coverage (UHC) in the form of World Health Organization (WHO) Resolution A68.15. This global commitment from governments must be followed up with development of a Global Action Plan and a global coordination mechanism supported by regional implementation frameworks on the part of the WHO in order for the organisation to better coordinate all stakeholders and sustain the technical support needed to develop and implement national surgical health policy in the form of National Surgical Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plans (NSOAPs). As expounded by Gajewski et al, data and research output on surgical care is essential to informing policy development and programme implementation. This area still remains a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) but it is envisaged that countries will include this key component in their ongoing national surgical healthcare policy development and programme implementation. In the Zambian case study, research in the area of Global Surgery investment-the surgical workforce scale-up is used to demonstrate the important role of implementation research in the development and implementation of the Zambian NSOAP as well as the need for international collaborations to this end. Scale-up reviews informed by implementation research to evaluate progress on the commitments contained in Resolution A68.15 and Decision A70.22 are essential to sustain the momentum and to help maintain focus on the gaps in all countries. There are opportunities for non-state actors especially local sub-regional academic institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private sector to play a key role in surgical healthcare policy development and implementation research. Collection of and better information management of standardised surgical care indicators is essential for such research, for bi-annual WHO progress reporting and for demonstration of impact to justify and encourage further investments in surgical care.

Crowdsourcing Covid-19 signals in sub-Saharan Africa: Leveraging digital contributor networks for participatory surveillance of Covid-19 symptoms and deaths (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngozi A Erondu ◽  
Sagal A Ali ◽  
Mohamed Ali ◽  
Schadrac C Agbla
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Local Networks ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan

BACKGROUND In sub-Saharan Africa, underreporting of cases and deaths has been attributed to various factors including, weak disease surveillance, low health-seeking behaviour of flu like symptoms, and stigma of Covid-19. There is evidence that SARS-CoV-2 spread mimics transmission patterns of other countries across the world. Since the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way research can be conducted and in light of restrictions on travel and risks to in-person data collection, innovative approaches to collecting data must be considered. Nearly 50% of Africa’s population is a unique mobile subscriber and it is one of the fastest growing smart-phone marketplaces in the world; hence, mobile phone platforms should be considered to monitor Covid-19 trends in the community. OBJECTIVE We demonstrate the use of digital contributor platforms to survey individuals about cases of flu-like symptoms and instances of unexplained deaths in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. METHODS Rapid cross-sectional survey of individuals with severe flu and pneumonia symptoms and unexplained deaths in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia and Zimbabwe RESULTS Using a non-health specific information platform, we found COVID-19 signals in five African countries, specifically: •Across countries, nearly half of the respondents (n=739) knew someone who had severe flu or pneumonia symptoms in recent months. •One in three respondents from Somalia and one in five from Zimbabwe respondents said they knew more than five people recently displaying flu and/or pneumonia symptoms. •In Somalia there were signals that a large number of people might be dying outside of health facilities, specifically in their homes or in IDP or refugee camps. CONCLUSIONS Existing digital contributor platforms with local networks are a non-traditional data source that can provide information from the community to supplement traditional government surveillance systems and academic surveys. We demonstrate that using these distributor networks to for community surveys can provide periodic information on rumours but could also be used to capture local sentiment to inform public health decision-making; for example, these insights could be useful to inform strategies to increase confidence in Covid19 vaccine. As Covid-19 continues to spread somewhat silently across sub-Saharan Africa, regional and national public health entities should consider expanding event-based surveillance sources to include these systems.

scholarly journals Maintaining paediatric cardiac services during the COVID-19 pandemic in a developing country in sub-Saharan Africa: guidelines for a “scale up” in the face of a global “scale down”

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 1588-1594
Author(s):  
Ogochukwu J. Sokunbi ◽  
Ogadinma Mgbajah ◽  
Augustine Olugbemi ◽  
Bassey O. Udom ◽  
Ariyo Idowu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scale Up ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Tertiary Centre ◽  
The Face ◽  
Scale Down ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
International Experts

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic is currently ravaging the globe and the African continent is not left out. While the direct effects of the pandemic in regard to morbidity and mortality appear to be more significant in the developed world, the indirect harmful effects on already insufficient healthcare infrastructure on the African continent would in the long term be more detrimental to the populace. Women and children form a significant vulnerable population in underserved areas such as the sub-Saharan region, and expectedly will experience the disadvantages of limited healthcare coverage which is a major fall out of the pandemic. Paediatric cardiac services that are already sparse in various sub-Saharan countries are not left out of this downsizing. Restrictions on international travel for patients out of the continent to seek medical care and for international experts into the continent for regular mission programmes leave few options for children with cardiac defects to get the much-needed care.There is a need for a region-adapted guideline to scale-up services to cater for more children with congenital heart disease (CHD) while providing a safe environment for healthcare workers, patients, and their caregivers. This article outlines measures adapted to maintain paediatric cardiac care in a sub-Saharan tertiary centre in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic and will serve as a guide for other institutions in the region who will inadvertently need to provide these services as the demand increases.

scholarly journals Promoting Scale-Up Across a Global Project Platform: Lessons from the Evidence to Action Project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Ghiron ◽  
Eric Ramirez-Ferrero ◽  
Rita Badiani ◽  
Regina Benevides ◽  
Alexis Ntabona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Look Ahead ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Multi Stakeholder

AbstractThe USAID-funded flagship family planning service delivery project named Evidence to Action (E2A) worked from 2011 to 2021 to improve family planning and reproductive health for women and girls across seventeen nations in sub-Saharan Africa using a “scaling-up mindset.” The paper discusses three key lessons emerging from the project’s experience with applying ExpandNet’s systematic approach to scale up. The methodology uses ExpandNet/WHO’s scaling-up framework and guidance tools to design and implement pilot or demonstration projects in ways that look ahead to their future scale-up; develop a scaling-up strategy with local stakeholders; and then strategically manage the scaling-up process. The paper describes how a scaling-up mindset was engendered, first within the project’s technical team in Washington and then how they subsequently sought to build capacity at the country level to support scale-up work throughout E2A’s portfolio of activities. The project worked with local multi-stakeholder resource teams, often led by government officials, to equip them to lead the scale-up of family planning and health system strengthening interventions. Examples from project experience in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda illustrating key concepts are discussed. E2A also established a community of practice on systematic approaches to scale up as a platform for sharing learning across a variety of technical agencies engaged in scale-up work and to create learning opportunities for interacting with thought leaders around critical scale-up issues.

scholarly journals Readiness of Sub-Saharan Africa Healthcare Systems for the New Pandemic, Diabetes: A Systematic Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Nuche-Berenguer ◽  
Linda E. Kupfer
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Diabetes Care ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Care Health ◽  
Sub Saharan

Background. Effective health systems are needed to care for the coming surge of diabetics in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Objective. We conducted a systematic review of literature to determine the capacity of SSA health systems to manage diabetes. Methodology. We used three different databases (Embase, Scopus, and PubMed) to search for studies, published from 2004 to 2017, on diabetes care in SSA. Results. Fifty-five articles met the inclusion criteria, covering the different aspects related to diabetes care such as availability of drugs and diagnostic tools, the capacity of healthcare workers, and the integration of diabetes care into HIV and TB platforms. Conclusion. Although chronic care health systems in SSA have developed significantly in the last decade, the capacity for managing diabetes remains in its infancy. We identified pilot projects to enhance these capacities. The scale-up of these pilot interventions and the integration of diabetes care into existing robust chronic disease platforms may be a feasible approach to begin to tackle the upcoming pandemic in diabetes. Nonetheless, much more work needs to be done to address the health system-wide deficiencies in diabetes care. More research is also needed to determine how to integrate diabetes care into the healthcare system in SSA.

The urgent need for health impact assessment: proposing a transdisciplinary approach to the e-waste crisis in sub-Saharan Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinah Tetteh ◽  
Lara Lengel
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Electronic Waste ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Environmental Communication ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Region ◽  
Sub Saharan

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing health and environmental concern in developing countries. In the sub-Saharan African region e-waste is considered a crisis with no end in sight yet; there is lack of structures and regulations to manage the problem. In this article, we discuss the potential of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in addressing the health, environmental, and social impacts of e-waste in sub-Saharan Africa. We draw from environmental policy, environmental communication, global health policy, and health communication to argue that managing e-waste could be framed as ongoing HIA where all the steps of HIA are performed on a rolling basis with input from local communities. Further, we suggest that HIA should be infused into recycling legislation to help streamline the practice in order to make it safe for health and the environment and to maximize the economic benefits.

scholarly journals Individual, community and societal correlates of insecticide treated net use among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa: a multi-level analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Kwabena Ameyaw
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Maternal And Newborn Health ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
Itn Use ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background Malaria in pregnancy is a crucial public health concern due to the enormous risk it poses to maternal and newborn health. The World Health Organisation therefore recommends insecticide-treated net (ITN) for pregnant women. The world over, sub-Saharan Africa bears the highest prevalence of malaria and its associated complications. This study investigated the individual, community and society level factors associated with ITN use among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods The study was conducted with Demographic and Health Survey data of 21 sub-Saharan African countries. A total of 17,731 pregnant women who possessed ITN participated in the study. Descriptive computation of ITN use by survey country and socio-demographic characteristics was conducted. Further, five multi-level binary logistic regression models were fitted with MLwiN 3.05 package in STATA. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation procedure was used in estimating the parameters whilst the Bayesian Deviance Information Criterion was used for the model fitness test. Results On average, 74.2% pregnant women in SSA used ITN. The highest prevalence of ITN use occurred in Mali (83.7%) whilst the least usage occurred in Namibia (7%). Women aged 30–34 were more likely to use ITN compared with those aged 45–49 [aOR = 1.14; Crl = 1.07–1.50]. Poorest women were less probable to use ITN relative to richest women [aOR = 0.79; Crl = 0.70–0.89]. Compared to women who did not want their pregnancies at all, women who wanted their pregnancies [aOR = 1.06; Crl = 1.04–1.19] were more probable to use ITN. Women in male-headed households had higher likelihood of ITN use compared to those from female-headed households [aOR = 1.28; Crl = 1.19–1.39]. On the whole, 38.1% variation in ITN use was attributable to societal level factors whilst 20.9% variation was attributable to community level factors. Conclusion The study has revealed that in addition to individual level factors, community and society level factors affect ITN use in SSA. In as much as the study points towards the need to incorporate community and societal variations in ITN interventions, active involvement of men can yield better outcome for ITN utilisation interventions in SSA.

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