scholarly journals Bénin: Target men to increase use of health services

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  

After initiating health sector reforms in 1994, the Bénin government established the Integrated Family Health Project, known as PROSAF. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, PROSAF operates in the Borgou region, which is mostly rural and has the country’s most severe health problems. PROSAF managers wanted to understand why local people were not using health services, despite their poor health. As noted in this brief, managers requested that the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) study the way households and communities make decisions on health care. In a study conducted in 2000 with support from the Population Council, APHRC identified sociocultural factors that might impede access to health care in the region and recommended approaches to overcome these obstacles. Study findings included that adult men make unilateral decisions in household resource allocation and health care; people prefer alternative health care, mainly traditional healers or self-medication, because of their low cost; use of modern medicine tends to occur as a last resort, and only when symptoms are advanced; communication about FP is limited, both between husbands and wives and between parents and children.

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Angeliki Moisidou

A statistical analysis has been conducted with the aim to elucidate the effect of health care systems (HSs) on health inequalities assessed in terms of (a) differential access to health care services and (b) varying health outcomes among different models of HSs in EU-15 ((Beveridge: UK, IE, SE, FI, DK), (Bismarck: DE, FR, BE, LU, AT, NL), (Southern European model: GR, IT, ES, PT)). In the effort to interpret the results of the empirical analysis, we have ascertained systematic differences among the HSs in EU-15. Specifically, it is concluded that countries with Beveridge HS can be characterized more efficient (than average) in the most examined correlations, showing particularly high performance in the health sector. Similarly, countries with Bismarck HS record fairly satisfactory performance, but simultaneously they display more structural weaknesses compared with the Beveridge model. In addition, our empirical analysis has shown that adopting Bismarck model requires higher economic cost, compared with the Beveridge model, which is directly financed by taxation. On the contrary, in the countries with Southern European HS, the lowest performances are generally identified, which can be attributed to the residual social protection that characterizes these countries. The paper concludes with a synthesis of the empirical findings of our research. It proposes some directions for further research and presents a set of implications for policymakers regarding the planning and implementation of appropriate policies in order to tackle health inequality within HSs.


1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemare Troskie

The Reconstruction and Development Plan as well as the National Health Plan of the ANC supports the reorganisation of health services. OpsommingDie Heropbou en Ontwikkelingsprogram sowel as die Nasionale Gesondheidsplan van die ANC staan die herorganisasie van gesondheidsdienste voor. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0253013
Author(s):  
Rosanna Jeffries ◽  
Hassan Abdi ◽  
Mohammad Ali ◽  
Abu Toha Md Rezuanul Haque Bhuiyan ◽  
Mohamed El Shazly ◽  
...  

On August 25 2017, an unprecedented influx of Rohingya refugees began from Rakhine State in Myanmar into Bangladesh’s district of Cox’s Bazar. The scale and acuteness of this humanitarian crisis was unprecedented and unique globally, requiring strong coordination of a multitude of actors. This paper reflects on the health sector coordination from August 2017 to October 2019, focusing on selected achievements and persisting challenges of the health sector strategic advisory group (HSSAG), and the health sector working groups including epidemiology and case management, sexual and reproductive health, community health, mental health and psychosocial support, and emergency preparedness. In the early days of the response, minimum service standards for primary health care were established, a fundamental initial step which enabled the standardization of services based on critical needs. Similarly, establishing standards for community health outreach was the backbone for capitalizing on this important health workforce. Novel approaches were adopted for infectious disease responses for acute watery diarrhoea and varicella, drawing on inter-sectoral collaborations. Sexual and reproductive health services were prioritized from the initial onset of the crisis and improvements in skilled delivery attendance, gender-based violence services, abortion care and family planning were recorded. Mental health service provision was strengthened through community-based approaches although integration of mental health programmes into primary health care has been limited by availability of specialist psychiatrists. Strong, collaborative and legitimate leadership by the health sector strategic advisory group, drawing on inter-sectoral collaborations and the technical expertise of the different technical working groups, were critical in the response and proved effective, despite the remaining challenges to be addressed. Anticipated reductions in funding as the crisis moves into protracted status threatens the achievements of the health sector in provision of health services to the Rohingya refugees.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-54
Author(s):  
P. Naidu ◽  
P. Yadav

Traditional health care system is practiced by indigenous tribal community inhabiting Eastern Ghats of Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh. Diarrhoea and Dysentery are prevalent causing morbidity and mortality. This study documented 62 medicinal plants used locally for the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery. The traditional healers provide safe and low cost remedies accumulated, enriched and passed on through generations without any written documentation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.L. Minden ◽  
D. Frankel ◽  
L. Hadden ◽  
D.C. Hoaglin

The Sonya Slifka Longitudinal Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Study follows a population-based cohort of approximately 2000 people with MS to study demographic and clinical characteristics, use and cost of health services, provider and treatment characteristics, neurological, economic, and psychosocial outcomes. We examined key indicators of access to health care and found that the majority of participants had health insurance, a usual source of care, and access to specialty care. Nevertheless, 3.8% did not have health insurance which, with application of sampling weights, corresponds to approximately 7000 people with MS in the US population. Even with insurance, population-based estimates indicated that substantial numbers of people with MS have plans that pay nothing toward prescription medication, limit their access to specialists, and restrict their choice of hospitals and providers. Some 9% of the sample, corresponding to 15 800 people with MS, did not have a usual source of MS care; 11.8% or 17 300 people did not have a usual source of general health care; and 31% or 57 400 people did not see the specialists that they or their physicians wanted them to see. Further, 10.5% or 19 400 people reported difficulty obtaining prescription medication, 4.1% or 7600 people encountered obstacles accessing medical care, and 2.4% or 4500 people could not obtain the mental health services they needed. Finally, out-of-pocket health care expenditures were twice those found for the general population. Two-thirds of study participants (representing almost 70 000 people) chose their MS care providers because they were neurologists or MS specialists, creating a demand that almost certainly exceeds current supply. Multiple Sclerosis 2007; 13: 547-558. http://msj.sagepub.com


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Wu ◽  
Colina Yim ◽  
Alex Chan ◽  
Michael Ho ◽  
Jenny Heathcote

BACKGROUND: Despite the availability of screening for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection and effective treatments now available, many at-risk individuals fail to seek appropriate medical attention.OBJECTIVE: To identify the barriers to care for CHB infection in a Chinese Canadian community.METHODS: A survey conducted in English or Chinese collected information from individuals with CHB infection that evaluated the level of understanding and identified the barriers that may prevent Chinese patients from undergoing monitoring, screening and/or treatment for CHB infection.RESULTS: Among the 204 patients enrolled, common misconceptions were that sharing food transmits hepatitis B and that patients with severe disease are always symptomatic. Patients with a better understanding of hepatitis B were better educated, younger and were being followed at a tertiary care centre (P<0.01 for all). Prominent barriers to health care were time, inconvenience and language difficulties. Patients under the care of family physicians who had extended office hours were less likely to cite time (P=0.06) and distance (P=0.05) as barriers.CONCLUSION: Patient misconceptions that severe liver disease due to hepatitis B infection is symptomatic may factor into the unwillingness to spare the time and undergo the inconvenience associated with regular medical follow-up. Implementation of programs that increase awareness of the silent progression of CHB infection and provide culturally responsive clinics, better able to work within patients’ time constraints may improve Chinese patients’ access to health care.


Author(s):  
Efat MOHAMADI ◽  
Alireza OLYAEEMANESH ◽  
Arash RASHIDIAN ◽  
Abbas RAHIMI FOROUSHANI ◽  
Ali HASSANZADEH ◽  
...  

Background: This study aimed to identify the public preference in health services, the principles that Iranian people consider important, and the aspects of trade-offs between different values in resource allocation practices. Methods: This quantitative study was conducted to investigate public preferences on Health Insurance Benefit Package (HIBP) in 2017. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection, including the preferences of the people who live in Tehran, were above 18 year, and were covered by basic insurance for the HIBP contents and premium. The sample size was calculated 430 subjects and SPSS Statistics was used for data analyzing. Results: 81.6% of the sample population agreed with government allocating more money to the health sector compared to other sectors and organizations and 55% were willing to pay higher premiums for expanding the HIBP coverage. The highest and lowest score regarding prioritization of budget allocation between health services was related to hospitalization services (28.6%) and rehabilitation services (1.6%), respectively. The first priority of respondents regarding health care and life cycle, was "prevention in newborns" (15.9%), the second priority was "prevention in children" (14.6%), the third priority was "prevention in adults" (9.5%), and the last priority was "short-term care in newborns" (0.9%). Conclusion: Iranian people believe that not only the principle of health maximization but also equal opportunities to access health care and a fair allocation of resources should be considered by authorities for effective health insurance policymaking. In this case, given the scarcity of resources, setting priorities for alternative resources is inevitable.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (36) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Marta Tripane

China is the world's largest country by population, the third largest by territory and the second largest world’s economy by GDP. Therefore it is important to follow the successes and failures of China in the field of health, because they affect the health area and processes in the world. This article includes retrospective analysis of empirical data to analyze the main inputs and outputs of China's health policy in order to identify the main problems and highlight the major challenges. In the article is concluded that main problems are related with insufficient and unequal access to health care.


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