Not everything that counts can be counted. And not everything that can be counted counts –William Bruce Cameron Do vaccination campaigns increase immunization rates in young children? Do home-visiting programs for new mothers increase exclusive breastfeeding? Studies designed to answer these questions are known as health impact evaluations and are key for global health […]
Category: Implementation
Implementation research for advancing action against non-communicable diseases
The failure to translate health and medical research into policy and services action is well-documented (1). Human behaviour is complex, and results from trials in controlled settings often do not translate into real life settings (2). Knowing how best to deliver proven life–saving interventions for the management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), within existing health systems, […]
Applying Implementation Science to Improve Antimicrobial Stewardship: Why is it Important?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant threat to global health. At least 700, 000 deaths occur yearly as result of AMR. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is one of the key strategies that has been proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Action Plan on AMR to solve the problem of the inappropriate use of antimicrobials, […]
A National Digital Health Blueprint for India: The Road Ahead
The WHO resolution on Digital Health1 that was adopted by the member states during the 71st World Health Assembly in May 2018 had India as a lead sponsor. The Indian delegation led by Honorable Health Minister participated in a ministerial side meeting on leveraging digital health for Universal Health Coverage . India shared its grand […]
New maternal immunizations are on the horizon: Why the maternal health community must engage
Maternal immunization (MI) has long been implemented effectively to combat neonatal mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as well as in high-income countries. Vaccinating a woman during pregnancy enables the transfer of immunity to the fetus in utero, which can protect infants, particularly during the vulnerable first months of life before they can receive […]
India’s toilet use challenge and the dilemma of human behaviour
By Pritha Chatterjee and Dr K. Viswanath, Harvard School of Public Health The single biggest problem in communication, as the erudite George Bernard Shaw worried, is the illusion that it has taken place. While this applies profoundly in many areas of public health, the open defecation challenge in India lends itself as a particularly telling […]