scholarly journals Universal Access to Essential Medicines: An Evaluation of Nepal’s Free Health Care Scheme

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiva Raj Adhikari ◽  
Achyut Raj Pandey ◽  
Mamata Ghimire ◽  
Arjun Kumar Thapa ◽  
Dinesh Kumar Lamsal
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Essential Medicines ◽  
Public Health Facilities ◽  
Free Health Care ◽  
Access To Essential Medicines ◽  
Expired Medicines

Background: Access to medicine for the poor is recognized to be difficult task and one of the major challenges in achieving universal health coverage, particularly in low-and- middle income countries. In order to ensure the availability of essential medicines free of cost in public health facilities, Nepal has also commenced Free Health Care Services (FHCS). So, this study aims to evaluate availability, expiry, and stock-out duration of essential medicines at front line service providers in Nepal.Methods: Cross-sectional survey was conducted 28 public health facilities, 7 district warehouses, and 14 private pharmacies in 7 districts of Nepal. The survey was conducted during the March and April 2014. Survey tools recommended by the WHO operational package for assessing, monitoring and evaluating country pharmaceutical situations was used with slight modification as per Nepal’s situation.Results: The availability of medicine was found to be 92.44% in this study. The percentage of expired medicines in district warehouse was found to be 8.40. The average stock-out duration in district warehouse was 0.324 days.Conclusions: Although the availability of essential medicines at peripheral health facilities was found to be satisfactory with lesser proportion of expired medicines, a strong monitoring and evaluation of expired and stock medicines are desirable to maintain and improve the access to essential medicines.

scholarly journals Uptake of evidence in policy development: the case of user fees for health care in public health facilities in Uganda

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Nabyonga-Orem ◽  
Freddie Ssengooba ◽  
Rhona Mijumbi ◽  
Christine Kirunga Tashobya ◽  
Bruno Marchal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
User Fees ◽  
Public Health Facilities

scholarly journals Roles of Technology Enhanced Learning in Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance among Laboratory Professionals in Public Health Facilities in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 18-24
Author(s):  
Nura Bawa ◽  
Hafsat Yusuf Imam
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Technology Enhanced Learning ◽  
Laboratory Equipment ◽  
Public Health Facilities ◽  
Enhanced Learning ◽  
Share Information

Technology has been found effective in almost all aspects of life. This includes its effectiveness in the field of education through technology enhanced learning. This paper aimed to look at roles of technology enhanced learning in tackling antimicrobial resistance among laboratory professionals in public health facilities in Nigeria. Qualitative research design was adopted for the study. Population of the study included all 75300 laboratory professionals in the North-west Nigeria. Convenience sampling technique was used to select 382 participants as sample for the study. This was guided by Research Advisors Model for selection of sample size. The instrument (open ended questionnaire) was used to gather data for the study. It was validated by experts, pilot study was conducted, and reliability index of 0.88 was obtained. It was found from the study that most of the health care professionals lamented not only they lack modern laboratory equipment but also lack technical knows how to operate the modern laboratory equipment/tools/apparatuses. It also was gathered that vast majority of them use handheld devices (smart phones) with few of them using laptops and in extreme cases desktops computers for learning and other day-to-day activities. Based on the findings from the study, it was concluded that in the 21st Century, collaborations through technology has become imminent. Thus, technology enhanced professional learning will not only help share information about global challenges but also help in providing lasting solutions to it. The study recommended that workshops and regular trainings should be organized to teach health care professionals on how to effectively collaborate, generate and share information through social media platforms.

scholarly journals Feasibility of delivering integrated COPD-asthma care at primary and secondary level public healthcare facilities in Pakistan: a process evaluation

BJGP Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. bjgpopen18X101632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Amir Khan ◽  
Muhammad Ahmar Khan ◽  
John D Walley ◽  
Nida Khan ◽  
Faisal Imtiaz Sheikh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Integrated Care ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Asthma Care ◽  
Public Health Facilities ◽  
Clinical Records

BackgroundIn Pakistan,the estimated prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are 2.1% and 4.3% respectively, and existing care is grossly lacking both in coverage and quality. An integrated approach is recommended for delivering COPD and asthma care at public health facilities.AimTo understand how an integrated care package was experienced by care providers and patients, and to inform modifications prior to scaling up.Design & settingThe mixed-methods study was conducted as part of cluster randomised trials on integrated COPD and asthma care at 30 public health facilities.MethodThe care practices were assessed by analysing the clinical records of n = 451 asthma and n = 313 COPD patients. Semi-structured interviews with service providers and patients were used to understand their care experiences. A framework approach was applied to analyse and interpret qualitative data.ResultsUtilisation of public health facilities for chronic lung conditions was low, mainly because of the non-availability of inhalers. When diagnosed, around two-thirds (69%) of male and more than half (55%) of female patients had severe airway obstruction. The practice of prescribing inhalers differed between intervention and control arms. Patient non-adherence to follow-up visits remained a major treatment challenge (though attrition was lower and slower in the intervention arm). Around half of the male responders who smoked at baseline reported having quit smoking.ConclusionThe integrated care of chronic lung conditions at public health facilities is feasible and leads to improved diagnosis and treatment in a low-income country setting. The authors recommend scaling of the intervention with continued implementation research, especially on improving patient adherence to treatment.

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