scholarly journals Experience with an ultrasound donation program in a low-income country

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Hershman ◽  
Melody Hershman ◽  
Yamile Blain ◽  
Marie Evelyne Moise ◽  
Natasha Monchil ◽  
...  

Increasing radiology capacity in low-income countries (LIC) can improve clinicians’ access to diagnostic imaging tools and improve patient care. Ultrasound (US) is important in LIC due to its lower cost compared to that of CT or MRI scans and its excellent diagnostic ability. The relative portability of the equipment makes it ideal for donation by charitable organizations. We describe our experience as a radiology-capacity-focused charity working with the Haitian healthcare system and propose strategies to increase ultrasound capacity in other poor countries.

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (13) ◽  
pp. 842-850
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Segnon Sogbossi ◽  
Damienne Houekpetodji ◽  
Toussaint G. Kpadonou ◽  
Yannick Bleyenheuft

Cerebral palsy is a common cause of pediatric motor disability. Although there are increasing amounts of data on the clinical profile of children with cerebral palsy in high-income countries, corresponding information about low-income countries and developing countries is lacking. Therefore, we aimed to describe the clinical spectrum of cerebral palsy in children in Benin, a representative West African low-income country. Our cross-sectional observational study included 114 children with cerebral palsy recruited from community-based rehabilitation centers and teaching hospitals (median age: 7 years, range 2-17; sex: 66% male). Data were collected through review of medical records and interviews with children’s mothers. Assessment included risk factors, clinical subtypes according to the Surveillance of CP in Europe criteria, severity of motor outcome scored by the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) and Manual Ability Classification System, comorbidities, and school attendance. We recorded a high prevalence of intrapartum adverse events. Seventeen percent of children had postneonatal cerebral palsy, with cerebral malaria being the most common cause. Most children were severely affected (67.5% as bilateral spastic; 54.4% as GMFCS IV or V), but severity declined substantially with age. Only 23% of the children with cerebral palsy had attended school. Poor motor outcomes and comorbidities were associated with school nonattendance. These results suggest that intrapartum risk factors and postnatal cerebral malaria in infants are opportune targets for prevention of cerebral palsy in Sub-Saharan low-income countries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-96
Author(s):  
Mohamed Kouni

Abstract This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between refugees and development in host economies from a macroeconomic point of view. The results obtained show that this relationship is non-linear. The empirical results demonstrate that refugees have a positive and significant direct effect in high and lower-middle-income countries. A positive and significant indirect effect of refugees through labor force and RD channels is also present in the same groups. In upper-middle-income and low-income countries, the direct effect of refugees is negative and significant. Similarly, the indirect effect of the refugee population on development through labor force channel is also negative and statistically significant. However, the indirect effect of refugees through RD channel is statistically significant only for the low-income country group.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (86) ◽  
Author(s):  

This paper presents an assessment of Somalia’s eligibility for assistance under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The macroeconomic framework reflects the policy framework underlying the proposed three-year Fund-supported program. The debt relief analysis (DRA) remains largely unchanged, but some of the underlying debt data has been updated to reflect new information from creditors. In addition, this paper presents an assessment of debt management capacity in Somalia and a full Debt Sustainability Analysis under the Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries. The DRA reveals that, after traditional debt relief mechanisms are applied, Somalia’s debt burden expressed as the net present value of debt-to-exports ratio is 344.2 percent at the end of December 2018—significantly above the HIPC Initiative threshold. Despite the challenging environment, progress on reform and policy implementation has been good and sustained reforms have translated into economic results. In addition to the coordinated support from the World Bank and the IMF, reforms have been supported by other development partners.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Choolwe Muzyamba

Abstract Background The onset of the covid19 pandemic has sparked heated debate among scholars on the relevance of lockdowns. There are those in favor of the lockdown and others who are critical of it. However, despite the increased interest in understanding the relevance of lockdowns, there still has not been much focus on its relevance in low income countries like Zambia. Thus with the help of the SRT, we set out to explore and document the local characterization of the lockdown by residents of Lusaka, Zambia.Methods A qualitative study in the form of interviews was conducted in Lusaka, Zambia involving a sample of 68 participants. Due to the lockdown measures that were in place during the study, the interviews were conducted via phone calls and the data collected were later analyzed by use of thematic analysis technique.Results The lockdown was on one hand lauded for slowing down the incidence rates, preventing fatalities, and for protecting the healthcare system from collapse. On the other hand, it was criticized for exacerbating poverty levels, unemployment rates, increasing the rate of mental health problems, aiding gender based violence, and intensifying political repression and corruption. The results speak to the complexity in the characterization of the lockdown as a response to covid19 in Zambia. This observation demonstrates the folly of viewing, applying and characterizing the covid19 lockdown as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach in Zambia.Conclusion Thus rather than definitely establishing the lockdown as an incontestable good, as it is depicted by some scholars or as useless by its critics, our findings instead demonstrate the diversity and complexity in how it is locally viewed by Zambians. The study provides grounds for caution on simplistic and binary characterization of lockdowns. It indicates the need for careful dialog between the designers of lockdowns and citizens in order to tailor such interventions to local realities in context-specific ways. It also shows that though the development of such interventions, all the various and complex elements it embodies must be taken into account in order to realize optimum outcomes.


Author(s):  
Peter A. Kwaku Kyem

There is a considerable debate about how the technological gap between rich and poor countries of the world can be bridged or eliminated. Technological optimists argue that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can bring accelerated development to poor countries. Others question the viability of relying on ICT for development in low income countries. The ensuing debate has masked the digital divide problem and prevented a true discussion of how ICT can be deployed for the benefit of low income countries. On the otherhand, confronted with the persistent failures of one-size-fits-all economic development models, low income countries can no longer treat modernization as the pivot towards which all ICT-related development efforts must gravitate. There is a need to drop the singular vision of development which is premised on the experiences of Western developed nations and rather restore local actors and their cultures into the actual roles they play in development processes that occur within localities. Accordingly, this chapter reviews the perspectives that currently shape the ICT for development discourse and offers the multiplicity theory to bridge the gap in development theory and promote a development strategy which incorporates activities of both local and global actors in the development of localities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Pugel ◽  
Amy Javernick-Will ◽  
Matthew Koschmann ◽  
Shawn Peabody ◽  
Karl Linden

The international development sector is increasingly implementing collaborative approaches that facilitate a range of sectoral-level stakeholders to jointly address complex problems facing sustainable public service delivery, for which guidance does not explicitly exist. The literature on collaborative approaches has been built on experiences in high-income countries with vastly different governance capabilities, limiting their global relevance. A Delphi expert panel addressed this need by evaluating 58 factors hypothesized in the literature to contribute to the success of collaborative approaches. The panel rated factors according to their importance in low-income country contexts, on a scale from Not Important to Essential. Experts agreed on the importance of 49 factors, eight of which were essential for success. Rich qualitative data from open-ended responses revealed factors that may be unique to low-income country contexts and to service delivery applications, including how government capacity, politics, donor influence, and culture can influence decisions on structuring leadership and facilitation roles, appropriately engaging the government, and building legitimacy. Key considerations for future practice and research are summarized in a table in the appendix. This study contributes to both literature and practice by identifying the relative importance of factors to consider when designing collaborative approaches in low-income countries with limited governance capabilities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham A. Salinas-Miranda ◽  
Eric A. Storch ◽  
Robert Nelson ◽  
Claudia Evans-Baltodano

Evidence of successful models for promoting early childhood development and for effectively addressing developmental delays is available, yet the adoption of evidence-based strategies is limited in low-income countries. Nicaragua, a low-income country on the Central American isthmus, faces policy-, organizational-, and community-level obstacles which prevent families from receiving the benefits of early child development programs as well as other necessary services for children at risk of or with developmental delays. Failing to address developmental delays in a timely manner leads to detrimental social and economic consequences for families and society at large. In this article, we examine existing information on early childhood development in Nicaragua and discuss some programmatic implications for the recognition and early intervention of developmental delays in Nicaragua.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. e023013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deogratius Bintabara ◽  
Keiko Nakamura ◽  
Kaoruko Seino

ObjectiveThis study was performed to explore the factors associated with accumulation of multiple problems in accessing healthcare among women in Tanzania as an example of a low-income country.DesignPopulation-based cross-sectional survey.SettingNationwide representative data for women of reproductive age obtained from the 2015–2016 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey were analysed.Primary outcome measuresA composite variable, ‘problems in accessing healthcare’, with five (1-5) categories was created based on the number of problems reported: obtaining permission to go to the doctor, obtaining money to pay for advice or treatment, distance to a health facility and not wanting to go alone. Respondents who reported fewer or more problems placed in lower and higher categories, respectively.ResultsA total of 13 266 women aged 15–49 years, with a median age (IQR) of 27 (20–36) years were interviewed and included in the analysis. About two-thirds (65.53%) of the respondents reported at least one of the four major problems in accessing healthcare. Furthermore, after controlling for other variables included in the final model, women without any type of health insurance, those belonging to the poorest class according to the wealth index, those who had not attended any type of formal education, those who were not employed for cash, each year of increasing age and those who were divorced, separated or widowed were associated with greater problems in accessing healthcare.ConclusionThis study indicated the additive effects of barriers to healthcare in low-income countries such as Tanzania. Based on these results, improving uptake of health insurance and addressing social determinants of health are the first steps towards reducing women’s problems associated with accessing healthcare.


Policy Papers ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 09 ◽  
Author(s):  

The Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Framework (DSF) is a standardized framework for analyzing debt-related vulnerabilities in low-income countries (LICs). It aims to help countries monitor their debt burden and take early preventive action, to provide guidance to creditors in ensuring their lending decisions are consistent with countries’ development goals, and to improve the Bank and Fund’s assessments and policy advice. The DSF was last reviewed in 2006, and a reconsideration of some aspects of the framework is timely.


Policy Papers ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  

The objective of the joint Fund-Bank debt sustainability framework for low-income countries is to support LICs in their efforts to achieve their development goals without creating future debt problems. Countries that have received debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) need to be kept on a sustainable track. Under the framework, country DSAs are prepared jointly by Bank and Fund staff, with close collaboration between the two staffs on the design of the macroeconomic baseline, alternative scenarios, the debt distress rating, and the drafting of the write-up.


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