Maternal Health and Care in India: Why a Major Public Health Strategy Is Essential

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-97
Author(s):  
Andy Beckingham
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Maternal Health ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Maternity Care ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Health Improvement ◽  
Public Health Strategy ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Health Strategy

India has large inequalities in maternal health and high maternal mortality and morbidity rates. A social model of maternal health was used as a framework for a broad review of online published literature to appraise the approaches used by India to address these issues and to examine the potential for reducing the country’s maternal health inequalities.The review found the following:• An apparent lack of coordinated economic, social, and health strategy and policies focused on improving maternal health• No acknowledgment in national health policy of the limitations of the medical model of maternal health and little apparent mention of the social model• No evident national frameworks for quality assurance in maternity care• Lack of recognition of the importance of woman-centered care• No evident comprehensive maternal health needs assessment to underpin coordinated multisector working• An apparent lack of reliable national data collection for setting inequality targets and monitoring progress• No apparent performance-focused management system for improving maternity care nationally.Although India has made large increases in maternal health care provision over recent decades, a pragmatic review of government policies, the reports of international agencies, and the findings of published research studies indicate that major barriers exist to reducing maternal health inequalities and to achieving good quality care for disadvantaged women. The main barrier appears to be the widespread use at all levels, including government, of the medical model of maternal health, which focuses mostly on obstetric interventions and fails to address the wider economic and social determinants of maternal health or to use a woman-centered approach to maternity care.We recommend that Indian governments adopt instead a “social model” approach to maternal health improvement and urgently employ a public health strategy led by a national multisector task force to reduce inequalities in maternal health.

scholarly journals COVID-19 vaccination perceptions and intentions of maternity care consumers and providers in Australia

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0260049
Author(s):  
Zoe Bradfield ◽  
Karen Wynter ◽  
Yvonne Hauck ◽  
Linda Sweet ◽  
Alyce N. Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Maternity Care ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Public Health Strategy ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Health Strategy ◽  
Childbearing Women

Introduction Vaccination against COVID-19 is a key global public health strategy. Health professionals including midwives and doctors support and influence vaccination uptake by childbearing women. There is currently no evidence regarding the COVID-19 vaccination perceptions and intentions of those who receive or provide maternity care in Australia. The aim of this study was to address this gap in knowledge and explore the perceptions and intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccination from consumers and providers of maternity care in Australia. Methods A national cross-sectional online study conducted in early 2021 in Australia, a country that has had a very low number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Recruitment was undertaken through parenting and health professional social media sites and professional college distribution lists. A total of 853 completed responses, from women (n = 326), maternity care providers including doctors (n = 58), midwives (n = 391) and midwifery students (n = 78). Findings Personal intention to be vaccinated ranged from 48–89% with doctors most likely and women least likely. Doctors and midwifery students were significantly more likely to recommend the vaccine to pregnant women in their care than midwives (p<0.001). Fewer doctors (2%) felt that women should wait until breastfeeding had concluded before being vaccinated compared with 24% of midwives and 21% of midwifery students (p<0.001). More than half of the midwives (53%) had concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine for the women in their care compared with 35% of doctors and 46% of midwifery students. Despite national guidelines recommending vaccination of breastfeeding women, 54% of practitioners were unlikely to recommend vaccination for this group. Conclusion This is the first study to explore the perceptions and intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccination from the perspective of those who receive and provide maternity care in Australia. Findings have utility to support targeted public health messaging for these and other cohorts.

scholarly journals Adoption of local public health plan for better health and quality of life in Belgrade

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
G Tamburkovski ◽  
G Belamarić ◽  
D Matijević ◽  
S Mladenović Janković
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Health Plan ◽  
Health Planning ◽  
City Council ◽  
Public Health Strategy ◽  
Public Health Planning ◽  
Health Strategy ◽  
Public Health Plan ◽  
The City

Abstract Issue Development of public health plan for the City of Belgrade, facilitate multisectoral participation and encourage local government to incorporate public health planning into integrated planning framework, including funding. Description of the Problem According to Public Health Low, adopted in Serbia in 2016 and Public health strategy (2018), Council for Health, as a professional body of the City government, was obliged to prepare draft of the Plan. Members of the City Council are representatives from different sectors: health care, public health, private sector, child care, education and civil society. Based on data and information from relevant institutions and organizations, situation analysis and health profile of the City have been prepared during 2018. Results Public health plan for the City of Belgrade has been drafted for a time period from 2020 to 2026, aligned and within time frame of the National public health strategy. Plan included: mission, vision, objectives, activities, responsible institutions, funding sources and indicators for monitoring. Focus was on health promotion and empowerment of citizens to adopt healthy lifestyle as well on investment in environmental sustainability, poverty and inequalities reduction and minimizing risks to human health and well-being. On December 2019, Belgrade City Assembly adopted this document, with full responsibility for implementation and budgeting specific programs and projects from 2020. Lessons Multisectoral working group, with clear defined scope of work, supported by regulations, encouraged and managed by experts in the field, highly motivated to be creator of changes is prerequisite for successful and productive public health planning process. Key messages Public health planning enabled communication and cooperation among experts and decision makers and represented a whole-of-local government approach to public health. Document is used as a resource and model for the other cities and municipalities.

scholarly journals Staple crops biofortified with increased vitamins and minerals: considerations for a public health strategy

2016 ◽  
Vol 1390 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Nieves Garcia-Casal ◽  
Juan Pablo Peña-Rosas ◽  
Boitshepo Giyose ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Strategy ◽  
Health Strategy ◽  
Staple Crops

Consultancy in a national strategy

2013 ◽  
pp. 474-481
Author(s):  
Charles Guest
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
National Strategy ◽  
Public Health Strategy ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Health Strategy ◽  
The Creation

This chapter introduces the steps for developing a public health strategy. It should assist you to play a constructive role as a public health consultant, working closely with government officials, policy advisers, and other stakeholders in the creation of a major strategy.

scholarly journals COVID-19 apps in Singapore and Australia: reimagining healthy nations with digital technology

2020 ◽  
Vol 177 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard Goggin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Public Health Strategy ◽  
Proximity Data ◽  
Privacy Concerns ◽  
Health Strategy ◽  
National Public Health ◽  
Interesting Class

Widely and intensively used digital technologies have been an important feature of international responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. One especially interesting class of such technologies are dedicated contact and tracing apps collecting proximity data via the Bluetooth technology. In this article, I consider the development, deployment and imagined uses of apps in two countries: Singapore, a pioneer in the field, with its TraceTogether app, and Australia, a country that adapted Singapore’s app, devising its own COVIDSafe, as key to its national public health strategy early in the crisis. What is especially interesting about these cases is the privacy concerns the apps raised, and how these are dealt with in each country, also the ways in which each nation reimagines its immediate social future and health approach via such an app.

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