scholarly journals The contribution of family medicine to community-orientated health services in Mali: A short report

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahamane M. Maïga ◽  
Gabriel Blouin Genest ◽  
François Couturier ◽  
Sarah Stecko ◽  
Michèle Rietmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Medicine ◽  
Health Services ◽  
International Development ◽  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Community Medicine ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Short Report ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Medical Speciality

Family medicine has not received appropriate attention in the sub-Saharan African context. In particular, family medicine is rarely recognised as a medical speciality and most African countries are silent on the role of family medicine in their health systems. There is, however, an emerging interest in developing family medicine as a key component of primary healthcare. Postgraduate training in family medicine is progressing and many countries have already established specific training programmes. In addition, there have been attempts to define the importance of family medicine, which, we expect, this short report contributes to. Interviews were conducted with physicians, partners and beneficiaries of two international development projects funded by the Canadian government. The one project supports training of health professionals and the other education of healthy women and girls in the community. The objective was to document the strengthening of primary healthcare through the creation and adaptation of a new family and community medicine postgraduate medical programme (which includes both family and community medicine) emphasising field training, immersion in local communities and interdisciplinary collaboration. This article underlines the importance of family medicine in Mali by documenting how what is now termed family and community medicine can promote community-orientated health services. To do so, we use the examples of initiatives and actions done through two international health development projects.

TICAD: The Context of Japan’s Development Aids to Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayokunle Olumuyiwa Omobowale
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Development ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Usual Practice ◽  
Self Help ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
And Control

Most of the discourse on development aid in Africa has been limited to assistance from Western countries and those provided by competing capitalist and socialist blocs during the Cold war era. Japan, a nation with great economic and military capabilities; its development assistance for Africa is encapsulated in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) initiative. The TICAD started in 1993 and Japan has so far held 5 TICAD meetings between 1993 and 2013 during which Africa’s development challenges and Japan’s development assistance to the continent were discussed. The emphasis on “ownership”, “self-help” and “partnership” are major peculiar characteristics of Japan’s development aid that puts the design, implementation and control of development projects under the control of recipient countries. This is a major departure from the usual practice in international development assistance where recipient countries are bound by clauses that somewhat puts the control of development aid in the hands of the granting countries. Such binding clauses have often been described as inimical to the successful administration of the aids and development in recipient countries. Though Japan’s development aid to Africa started only in 1993, by the 2000s, Japan was the topmost donor to Africa. This paper examines the context of Japan’s development aid to Africa by analyzing secondary data sourced from literature and secondary statistics.

Using novel methodologies to support burden of disease estimates

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
T Hald
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Source Population ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
Time Data ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Indirect Measure ◽  
True Incidence ◽  
Laboratory Capacity

Abstract A challenge to estimating burden of diarrheal diseases, particularly in LMICs, where laboratory capacity and surveillance systems are limited, is obtaining valid estimates of etiology proportions of cases. A commonly used method is systematic review of studies reporting pathogen isolation in diarrhea cases. However, studies often differ in design, source population, timeframe, and pathogens included, hampering extrapolation to the target population. In a study co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development, we explore a novel approach for estimating diarrhea etiology proportions in urban and rural populations in four African countries. We analyse sewage samples using short-read next-generation sequencing (NGS) to determine abundance of genes that can be mapped to specific bacterial genera, providing an estimate of the relative abundance of specific pathogens in each sample. In parallel to collecting sewage samples, a questionnaire-based population survey will estimate diarrheal incidence. By combining results, pathogen-specific incidence will be estimated and compared with incidence estimates from the traditional approach. The application NGS to human sewage has great potential for surveillance of foodborne infections, particularly in resource-poor settings where laboratory capacity for bacterial isolation is limited. First, NGS is a one method takes all approach, as it is based on detection of RNA/DNA, a language common across pathogens. Second, it is culture independent, allowing for real-time data generation and standardized sharing. Finally, few samples are needed to survey large populations for several pathogens at the same time. Thus, surveillance based on NGS of sewage may prove to be an indirect measure of incidence. Although it will not provide an estimate for the true incidence in the population, it will increase our understanding of the burden and as such be a proxy and novel way of ranking diseases.

scholarly journals Driving digital transformation of comprehensive primary health services at scale in India: an enterprise architecture framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (Suppl 5) ◽  
pp. e005242
Author(s):  
Sunita Nadhamuni ◽  
Oommen John ◽  
Mallari Kulkarni ◽  
Eshan Nanda ◽  
Sethuraman Venkatraman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Security And Privacy ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Architecture Framework ◽  
Primary Health Services ◽  
Enterprise Architecture Framework

In its commitment towards Sustainable Development Goals, India envisages comprehensive primary health services as a key pillar in achieving universal health coverage. Embedded in siloed vertical programmes, their lack of interoperability and standardisation limits sustainability and hence their benefits have not been realised yet. We propose an enterprise architecture framework that overcomes these challenges and outline a robust futuristic digital health infrastructure for delivery of efficient and effective comprehensive primary healthcare. Core principles of an enterprise platform architecture covering four platform levers to facilitate seamless service delivery, monitor programmatic performance and facilitate research in the context of primary healthcare are listed. A federated architecture supports the custom needs of states and health programmes through standardisation and decentralisation techniques. Interoperability design principles enable integration between disparate information technology systems to ensure continuum of care across referral pathways. A responsive data architecture meets high volume and quality requirements of data accessibility in compliance with regulatory requirements. Security and privacy by design underscore the importance of building trust through role-based access, strong user authentication mechanisms, robust data management practices and consent. The proposed framework will empower programme managers with a ready reference toolkit for designing, implementing and evaluating primary care platforms for large-scale deployment. In the context of health and wellness centres, building a responsive, resilient and reliable enterprise architecture would be a fundamental path towards strengthening health systems leveraging digital health interventions. An enterprise architecture for primary care is the foundational building block for an efficient national digital health ecosystem. As citizens take ownership of their health, futuristic digital infrastructure at the primary care level will determine the health-seeking behaviour and utilisation trajectory of the nation.

‘ARE YOU PLANTING TREES OR ARE YOU PLANTING PEOPLE?’ SQUATTER RESISTANCE AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE MAKING OF A KENYAN POSTCOLONIAL POLITICAL ORDER (c. 1963–78)

2015 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
KARA MOSKOWITZ
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
International Development ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis article examines squatter resistance to a World Bank-funded forest and paper factory project. The article illustrates how diverse actors came together at the sites of rural development projects in early postcolonial Kenya. It focuses on the relationship between the rural squatters who resisted the project and the political elites who intervened, particularly President Kenyatta. Together, these two groups not only negotiated the reformulation of a major international development program, but they also worked out broader questions about political authority and political culture. In negotiating development, rural actors and political elites decided how resources would be distributed and they entered into new patronage-based relationships, processes integral to the making of the postcolonial political order.

scholarly journals Managing an Integrated Project - Experiences from the Realigning Agriculture to Improve Nutrition project

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 5035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Matturi ◽  
Chris Pain
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
International Development ◽  
Project Manager ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Donor Funding ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Working Together ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
Integrated Project

Over the last number of decades there has been a tendency within the international development sector to privilege the management of projects in a siloed manner. This translates to projects managed in a narrow way according to pre-defined parameters of say the education or health sectors. As a project manager you are held accountable for delivering education or health outputs. A shift in donor funding to focus on development projects that are considered easy to administer partly explains this siloed approach to project management within the development sector. However, there is a gradual kick back against the siloed project management approach. Instead we are seeing a return to an integrated managerial approach.An integrated managerial approach involves bringing together various technical specialists to work on common objectives in a coordinated and collaborative manner. A growing number of development actors such as Concern Worldwide are embracing this ‘new approach’. For Concern Worldwide integrated projects are interventions which address multiple needs through coordination across a variety of sectors and with the participation of all relevant stakeholders to achieve common goals. Integrated projects are about sector projects working together with the same target group in the same area in a coordinated manner. This paper reflects on Concern’s experience and evidence to date with integration drawing on the agency’s work in Zambia. The Realigning Agriculture to Improve Nutrition project in Zambia highlights the practical challenges and lessons of managing an integrated project.   

scholarly journals In the Wake of TICAD V: Japan-Africa Relations Today

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-173
Author(s):  
István Tarrósy
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Bilateral Aid ◽  
African Development ◽  
Business Opportunities ◽  
Major Donors

Abstract The paper looks at how Japan, one of the major donors of African countries, has been redefining its positions on the African continent in terms of bilateral aid and business opportunities, triangular collaboration and multilateral development projects in an increasingly ‘interpolar’ world of international relations. The discussion includes China's expanding presence all over Africa as an important ‘reference point’ for the Japanese public at large and how that may influence Japanese pragmatic foreign policy towards the continent and Japan's involvement in African development. What are Japan's priorities in the wake of hosting the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) early in June 2013 in Yokohama? How does Japan go along with its confident manner of inclusive development and ownership in African societies when at the same time it is challenged by China and other emerging actors? What are the items on Japan's agenda for a re-intensified Africa policy?

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