Dynamic inference of healthcare expenditure on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: a dynamic heterogenous panel data analysis

PurposeThis article investigates the dynamic implication of healthcare expenditure on economic growth in the selected ten Sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2000–2018.Design/methodology/approachThe study methodology included dynamic heterogenous panel, using mean group and pooled mean group estimators. The investigation of the healthcare expenditure and economic growth nexus was achieved while controlling the effects of investment, savings, labor force and life expectancy via interaction terms.FindingsThe results from linear healthcare expenditure have a significant positive impact on economic growth, while the nonlinear estimates through the interaction terms between healthcare expenditure and investment have a negative statistically significant impact on growth. The marginal effect of healthcare expenditure evaluated at the minimum and maximum level of investment is positive, suggesting the impact of health expenditure on growth does not vary with the level of investments. This result responds to the primary objective of the article.Research limitations/implicationsIn policy terms, the impact of investment on healthcare is essential to addressing future health crises. The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can never be separated from the shortages or low prioritization of health against other sectors of the economy. The article also provides an insight to policymakers on the demand for policy reform that will boost and make the health sector attractive to both domestic and foreign direct investment.Originality/valueGiven the vulnerability of SSA to the health crisis, there are limited studies to examine this phenomenon and first to address the needed investment priorities to the health sector infrastructure in SSA.

OPTIMALISASI PENGAWASAN INSPEKTORAT DAERAH DALAM PELAKSANAAN ANGGARAN DI MASA PANDEMIK COVID-19 DI SULAWESI TENGGARA

This study aims to find out the form of optimizing the supervision of the Southeast Sulawesi regional inspectorate on budget implementation during the Covid-19 pandemic and to find out the results of the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Inspectorate's supervision of budget implementation during the Covid-19 pandemic. The method used in this study used a qualitative descriptive method. The results of this study indicate that the optimization of the supervision of the Southeast Sulawesi Province Inspectorate on the implementation of the use of the Covid-19 budget, shows that the Inspectorate's supervision on the management of the Covid-19 budget is going quite well. This can be seen from the development of the results of the supervision carried out during the evaluation period until the follow-up, there was an increase in findings from 3 recommendations to 10 administrative compliances. The results of the Supervision of Refocussing and Reallocating the Regional Budget to the Southeast Sulawesi Provincial Government showed that at the evaluation stage carried out by the Inspectorate, there were still many administrative and material negligence carried out by the Southeast Sulawesi government. The results of the Supervision of the Implementation and Designation of Handling in the Health Sector, Social Sector, and the Handling Economic Impact Sector from the Aspects of Timeliness, Quantity, and Quality, still found negligence in the implementation, this resulted in several recommendations that needed to be followed up immediately.AbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bentuk optimalisasi pengawasan inspektorat daerah Sulawesi Tenggara terhadap pelaksanaan anggaran dimasa Pendemik Covid-19 dan untuk mengetahui hasil pengawasan Inspektorat Daerah Sulawesi Tenggara terhadap pelaksanaan anggaran dimasa Pendemik Covid -19. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa Optimalisasi pengawasan Inpektorat Provinsi Sulawesi Tenggara terhadap pelaksanaan penggunaan anggaran Covid-19, menunjukan bahwa pengawasan Inspektorat pada pengelolaan anggaran Covid-19 berjalan cukup baik. Hal ini, terlihatan dari pengembangan hasil pengawasan yang dilakukan pada masa evaluasi sampai pada tindak lanjut terjadi penambahan temuan dari 3 rekemndasi menjadi 10 kelalayan admnistrasi. Hasil Pengawasan Refocussing dan Realokasi APBD pada Pemerintah Provinsi Sultra menunjukan bahwa pada tahapan evaluasi yang dilakukan Inspektorat masih banyak menemukan kelalaian secara administrasi dan materil yang dilakukan oleh pemerintah Sulawesi Tenggara. Hasil Pengawasan terhadap Pelaksanaan dan Peruntukan Penanganan Bidang Kesehatan, Bidang Sosial, dan Bidang Penanganan Dampak Ekonomi dari Aspek Ketepatan Waktu, Jumlah, dan Kualitas, masih ditemukan kelalaian dalam pelaksanaannya hal ini mengakibatkan beberapa rekomendasi yang perlu segera ditindak lanjuti.

The Establisment of Caring Community Through TB Care Muhammadiyah at Puskesmas Tamansari Tasikmalaya City

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease whose number is still increasing in Indonesia, especially in Mulyasari Village, Tamansari District, Tasikmalaya City. TB incidence in Tamansari as of November 2020 reached 58 people, 3 people died and 1 person experienced drug resistance. Muhammadiyah is an Islamic da'wah movement for amar ma'ruf nahi munkar whose one of its da'wah movements is concerned with social humanitarian movements in the health sector. One of the health services that continues to be developed by Muhammadiyah is service and counseling to the community about TB disease and socialization of the use of TB Comprehensive PMO guidelines which can improve the cognitive, affective and psychomotor abilities of TB PMO which have an impact on increasing public awareness of TB disease. This program is implemented through counseling to cadres, religious leaders and PMOs in the work area of ??the Tamansari Health Center about TB disease and socialization of the use of TB Comprehensive PMO guidelines. Tamansari Health Center consists of 4 sub-districts, namely Mulyasari village, Sukahurip village, Setyawargi village and Setyamulya village. The results of this community service are an increase in the knowledge of cadres, PMOs and religious leaders about TB control and the formation of the TB Care Muhammadiyah management where in each disctrict there are 4 Muhammadiyah branch managers who collaborate with the village cadre coordinator to participate in monitoring the treatment of TB patients in the Tamansari area.

The evolution of the Gulf Coopera-tion Council approaches to security issues after the Arab Spring

The painful consequences of political, economic and social shocks provoked by the Arab Spring forced the political elites of the Middle Eastern states to revisit traditional approaches to maintaining stability and security in the region. This inevitably aff ected the activities of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which was from the outset established in order to enhance cooperation between the countries of the region primarily in the fi eld of security. This paper attempts to identify the key milestones, factors and trends that have shaped the GCC decision-making process in the security sphere over the past 10 years since the beginning of the Arab Spring. The author shows that the Arab Awakening has encouraged the GCC member-states to deepen military-political integration, aimed at strengthening their defense capabilities, as well as their abilities to respond to external and internal challenges. The author notes that the GCC countries still view Iran as the main source of all these threats; moreover, con-sidering substantial strengthening of Iran’s infl uence in the Middle East their position has even hardened. Tehran is accused of meddling in the internal aff airs of the GCC member-states, supporting illegal Shiite groups operating on their territory, and instigating religious discord. In this context, it is quite natural that the Iran’s nuclear programme is of particular concern to the GCC. At the same time, the author emphasizes, that although the GCC member-states declare common approach towards Iran, their practical actions can vary signifi cantly. In particular, it was Qatar which opposed an excessively hard-line approach towards Iran. This fact, as well as accusations against Doha of supporting terrorist and extremist groups, led to two crises that shook the GCC in the 2010s. However, the fact that these crises have been eventually settled shows that security issues still press regional actors towards strengthening the capacities of the GCC. Especially since military threats have been compounded by a new threat — of the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The author concludes that this new threat, which has already incited the GCC to promote cooperation in a health sector, will also strengthen the member-states’ focus on various nonmilitary challenges including epidemiological and environmental ones.

Implementation of Management of Pulmonary Tuberculosis with the Directly Observed Treatment Short course Strategy

The purpose of this study was to describe the implementation of pulmonary TB disease management with the DOTS strategy at the Jagong Health Center, Central Aceh Regency.The implementation of Pulmonary TB Management with the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Shortcourse) strategy in the working area of the Jagong Health Center, Central Aceh Regency has been maximized. by facilitating and providing motivation so that patients want treatment in a complete and integrated manner, case detection can be carried out by health workers or cadres who have been given training to recognize the symptoms of pulmonary TB. The distribution of drugs is distributed to each puskesmas in Central Aceh Regency, from the Puskesmas the drugs are arranged directly by P2TB officers then given directly to the PMO or the patient himself. PMO performance has never been given special training about treatment, PMO only received direction from P2TB Pulmonary officers. Recording and reporting carried out at the Jagong Health Center includes case finding, treatment, and recovery. Suspected pulmonary TB will be recorded and then monitored until the results of the examination have been obtained. Recording and reporting will be reported every month in a meeting at the Central Aceh District Health Office. For the Central Aceh Regency government to further enhance the development and improvement of infrastructure in the health sector so that health services are more easily accessible to people in remote areas.

Fear and Attitude towards SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Infection in Spanish Population during the Period of Confinement

In January 2020, the WHO classified SARS-CoV-2 infection as a public health emergency and it was declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The media warned about the danger of infection, fuelling the population’s fear of the new situation and increasing the perception of risk. This fear can cause behaviour that will determine the course of the pandemic and, therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyse the fear of infection from COVID-19 among the Spanish population during the state of emergency. A cross-sectional, descriptive observational study was conducted with 16,372 participants. Data on sociodemographic factors, health factors, risk perception and fear were collected through an online survey. Level of fear is associated with older age, a lower level of education, having a person infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the immediate surroundings and living with and belonging to the most socioeconomically vulnerable group of people. Risk perception is associated with increased preventive behaviour. This paper provides relevant information for the public health sector since it contributes first-hand knowledge of population data that is highly useful in terms of prevention. Understanding the experiences of people in this pandemic helps to create more effective future intervention strategies in terms of planning and management for crisis situations.

Readiness of Application of Electronic Medical Records in Health Services (Literature Study)

Background: Information and Communication Technology is advancing rapidly and has a major impact on all life, especially in the health sector, especially medical records. This is manifested in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR), which has now been further developed into an Electronic Health Record (EHR). This technology is used to replace or complement paper medical records. The purpose of this literature study is to determine the readiness to apply electronic medical records in health services.Methods: This study uses a literature study obtained from searching scientific research articles from the 2010–2020 range. Keywords used in this study is readiness and DOQ-IT. The database used comes from Google Sholar, Garuda, Neliti, and One Search. The search found 130 articles, then a critical appraisal process was carried out to produce 10 suitable manuscripts.Results: Various literatures found that the readiness to apply electronic medical records using the DOQ-IT method was influencedby 4 factors including the readiness of human resources, orgnizational culture, insfrastructure, and leadership governance. It can be concluded that the readiness for the application of electronic medical recors in health services with the very ready category is 30%, the moderately ready category is 50%, then the unready category is 20%.Conclusions: From the discussion above, it can be concluded that EMR readiness in health services is categorized as quite ready (50%), very ready (30%), and not ready (20%).

Advancement, Collaboration and Effective Combat in Low Resource Setting: Public Health Overview After One year of the Corona Virus Pandemic in Bangladesh

Background: Current Coronavirus pandemic causing millions of deaths and unfathomable damage of nations worldwide, especially in health sector. Bangladesh is dealing with the biggest catastrophic public health event of the history in a courageous and effective way. An evidence based narrative review has been undergone to scientifically describe Bangladesh government’s measures to encounter the Corona pandemic, so far. The aim of this study is to document the collaborative action of different ministries of Bangladesh government during this pandemic to understand the in-depth steps of the healthcare provision and disaster preparedness of the public-private-international association in a low-resource setting. Methods: A literature review over five months has been conducted to write down the evidential narration of the activities against the pandemic damage in Bangladesh. Keyword and result based literatures and current media reports searched has been done. Selection criteria: Both online and offline reports, descriptive articles, governmental portal and ministerial websites were reviewed. The description is reported specifically based on the documents directed by government to fight against COVID-19 from the beginning of the pandemic till the writing period. Findings and discussion: In spite of the resource constraints, government of Bangladesh has been able to limit the damage in an optimal level. The inter- and- inter ministerial functional proposition and collaboration in national and international stakeholders initiated and sustained by the government strengthen the shield against the Coronavirus invasion. Conclusion: The sufferings brought by the pandemic knows no bound. The pandemic damage and ruin are unspeakable and undeniable at the same time. It is time to observe the positivity and critically appreciate the efforts taken by the current governmental authority to make a constructive remark for present situation, and be prepare for future building of the nation. JOPSOM 2021; 40(1): 66-71

Bentuk dan Peran Kapital Sosial dalam Percepatan Penurunan Stunting di Desa Pandawangi, Lombok Timur

The Poor nutritional status of children under five years of age remains a major concern in Indonesia. Based on RISKESDAS (Basic Health Survey) 2018, NTB province was listed as one of the 10 provinces with the highest stunting rates in Indonesia with 33,49 children are stunted, and Lombok Timur district was the highest stunting in NTB with prevalence reached 43, 5 %. Considering the long-lasting effects of child malnutrition, the district government of Lombok Timur put stunting reduction program as a priority. In 2017, Pandanwangi village was selected as one pilot village for implementing the national strategy to accelerate stunting prevention and reduction. Pandanwangi village successfully implemented integrated approach dealing with stunting reduction through specific and sensitive nutrition intervention. The aim of the study was to identify the form and role of social capital on stunting reduction program activities in Pandanwangi village. This was a qualitative study on collecting information from informants the health and non-health sector. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observation and focus group discussion. The results showed that several forms of social capital included in social bonding, bridging, linking and played a role in the acceleration of the decline in stunting. Based on the research results, each type of social capital plays an important role in creating a enabling environment in stunting reduction efforts. The results of the study also showed a synergy between various forms of social capital that allowed the community to accelerate stunting reduction in Pandawangi Village.

Virus Sir-Learning Experience in the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic changed us individually as well as our routines, goals, and motives. Rightly so, some changes may last longer. Importantly, the pandemic has made us understand several lessons, and has tried to enhance our positive perspective regarding life and its requirements. We came to know how quickly we are capable of adapting to changes. These adjustments proved beyond doubt that there’s not much in life that is truly indispensable. We are practising self-care in a multitude of ways. We might not have thought of our power of resilience. Again, mental health took over as an epicentre of overall wellbeing, reminding us of the power of ‘mind matters’ over ‘money matters’. The health sector disparities and unpreparedness to combat any sort of pandemic situation surfaced not only in resource-limited countries like ours but the uneasiness of the developed world became exposed. The pandemic had been a harsh learning experience for all of us, irrespective of our position in the spectrum.