What does conducting rapid evidence synthesis for decision making look like? Sandeep Moola shares his experience for developing one on MLHPs for LMICs Historically, mid-level health providers (MLHPs) have been providing diagnostic and clinical services, in high-income countries (HICs) as well as resourced constrained settings in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). They are variously […]
Category: Universal health coverage
Violence against doctors in India: faltering justice systems, crippled health systems and broken dreams
Early this week India woke up to the news of a mob of “so called” family members of a patient, who had come in trucks and pelted stones in a Kolkata medical college alleging delay in handing over dead body . In the ensuing violence against doctors, a junior doctor suffered severe head injuries […]
Can digital technology help reinvent primary healthcare in support of universal health coverage?
Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) – quality, accessible, affordable health services for everyone – has been on the global agenda for many years. Still, in the majority of countries it remains a lofty goal requiring ongoing commitment from the global health community on many fronts. Primary healthcare (PHC) has a unique role to play, not […]
‘Sin tax’: making clear who commits the sin
As countries introduce policy measures to respond to the growing epidemic of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), one policy intervention that is becoming increasingly popular is excise tax imposed on harmful products such as tobacco and alcohol – popularly known as ‘sin tax’1. This form of tax serves a dual purpose: reducing consumption of unhealthy products and […]
“Youth in Principle, Not on Paper or in Policy” – Primary Health Care & Universal Health Coverage
Just over a month ago, one of the most critical health events of the year took place in Astana, Kazakhstan. The Global Conference on Primary Health Care (AA40) marked the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma Ata (1978), a visionary document that articulated a path forward towards health equity grounded in primary health care […]
The WHO Astana Declaration: Where lies the future of primary health care?
Last week, governments of UN member states, academics and the international health community were hosted by WHO and the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan in Astana to reaffirm their commitment to universal primary health care. This pledge was first pronounced 40 years ago in Almaty on a Declaration that moulded the way primary healthcare works […]
Extending the Practical Approach to Care Kit to Community Health Workers
It’s a bright spring day with a light breeze carrying at times the fishy odours of a working harbour and at others the salt-fresh clean of the ocean. Across the bay winds the curves of Cape Town’s famous Chapman’s Peak drive. With views like that, this surely be must some of the most valuable real […]
Poised to strike: global plan to tackle snakebite demands urgent action
Imagine it is twilight and you are walking back to your village after a long day working in the fields. Suddenly you feel acute pain in your calf. Out of the corner of your eye you see a flash of movement: a snake. Was it a cobra? A viper? Or a less harmful species? You […]
The WHO essential diagnostic list: a tool for the future.
Prof Adrian Newland on what the WHO essential diagnostic list mean for the future . The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on In Vitro Diagnostics (SAGE-IVD) was set up in 2017 to develop a list of essential diagnostic tests to complement the essential medicines list that has been available for over 40 […]
How to ask for more trouble in an ailing health system
By Meena Putturaj Photo by Geralt under CC 0 India is one of the world’s largest economies and its health system is ranked 154th globally by the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Time and again, India has expressed its commitment to achieving universal health coverage (UHC), but are the policy choices being made in […]