This report urges health planners and decision-makers influence multisectoral government action to prevent chronic diseases. It dispels the long-held misunderstandings about heart disease, stroke, cancer and other chronic diseases that have contributed to their global neglect. It states clearly that 80% of the 35 million chronic disease-related deaths in 2005 will occur in low and middle income countries, where they affect men and women at younger ages than in high income countries. Premature deaths in countries such as China, India and the Russian Federation are projected to cost billions of dollars over the next 10 years
This report argues that a comprehensive HIV/AIDS strategy linking prevention, treatment, care and support for people living with the virus could save the lives of millions of people in poor and middle-income countries. At present, almost six million people in developing countries need treatment, but only about 400 000 of them received it in 2003. The World Health Report 2004 argues that a treatment gap of such dimensions is indefensible and that narrowing it is both an ethical obligation and a public health necessity. In September 2003 WHO, UNAIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and their partners launched an effort to provide three million people in developing countries with antiretroviral therapy (ART) by end 2005 - the 3 by 5 initiative. This World Health Report shows how a partnership linking international organizations, national governments, the private sector and communities is working simultaneously to expand access to HIV/AIDS treatment, reinforce HIV prevention and strengthen health systems in some of the countries where they are currently weakest
This policy responds to a demand from countries for immediate guidance on which collaborative TB/HIV activities to implement and under what circumstances. It is complementary to and in synergy with the established core activities of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS prevention and control programmes. Implementing the DOTS strategy is the core activity for tuberculosis control. Similarly, infection and disease prevention and health promotion activities and the provision of treatment and care form the basis for HIV/AIDS control. This policy does not call for the institution of a new specialist or independent disease control programme. It rather promotes enhanced collaboration between tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS programmes in the provision of a continuum of quality care at service-delivery level for people with, or at risk of tuberculosis and people living with HIV/AIDS
People living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in Thailand are increasingly encouraged to work in partnership with NGOs to improve access to disease prevention and treatment provision. This case study outlines the impact of this collaboration over a period of four years. PLHA have been directly involved in lobbying and advocacy, helping make ART more widely available, but also promoting prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections, focusing on the use of co-trimoxazole. Their involvement as co-providers in care has positively changed the attitude of health care staff towards HIV/AIDS patients. The study concludes that a coordinated collaboration between the public health system, NGOs and PLHA would have important spin-offs for both health care providers and PLHA themselves
"The Health Care Systems in Transition (HiT) profiles are country-based reports that provide an analytical description of a health care system and of reform initiatives in progress or under development. The HiTs are a key element of the work of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. HiTs seek to provide relevant comparative information to support policy-makers and analysts in the development of health care systems in Europe." Contents: 1. Introduction and historical background 2. Organizational structure and management 3. Health care financing and expenditure 4. Health care delivery system 5. Financial resource allocation 6. Health care reforms
This publication explores the complex relationship between health and human rights issues. It discusses 25 key questions relating to this topic, such as: the links between health and human rights law; the meaning of "the right to health"; international governmental commitments and monitoring mechanisms; ethical issues; the impact of globalization
"The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, known more commonly as ICF, is a classification of health and health-related domains. These domains are classified from body, individual and societal perspectives by means of two lists: a list of body functions and structure, and a list of domains of activity and participation. Since an individual’s functioning and disability occurs in a context, the ICF also includes a list of environmental factors. The ICF is WHO's framework for measuring health and disability at both individual and population levels"
[Publisher's abstract:] A case study of experiences with an advanced sector-wide approach for health development in Tanzania, where a significant number of activities in the health sector are supported by pooled donor funds disbursed through the government system. These funds are integrated into the government budget cycle, with donors increasingly agreeing to make commitments and disbursements in line with government budgetary requirements. The case study opens with an overview of the country's economic, political, and health situation, concentrating on the implications of recent public sector and government reforms. The next section explains the financing, monitoring, and management of the country's sector-wide approach to donor coordination and budgeting. Eight strategies, adopted to improve the availability and quality of essential health services, are also briefly discussed to illustrate how adoption of a sector-wide approach can help tackle inequities in the health system. Having examined key features of the country's advanced sector-wide approach, the case study considers lessons learned and their applicability to similar efforts in other countries. Questions discussed include the importance of government leadership and ownership, the role of donor involvement in joint disbursement procedures, and the extent to which signed agreements can make donor funds more predictable. The study concludes that, despite high aid dependency, government ownership of the programme is growing, and national commitment to sector programmes and public expenditure reform has created a positive environment for expansion. The high costs of transactions and the additional administrative burden imposed on governments remain major problems
[Publisher's abstract:] Summarizes lessons learned in five countries which are attempting to implement a sector-wide approach to health development. The sector-wide approach is a comparatively recent mechanism for coordinating the roles of governments and donors. A significant characteristic of this approach is the use of all significant funding to support a single sector policy and expenditure programme, under government leadership, with eventual reliance on the government to disburse and account for all funds. The approach also involves a transition of donor contributions away from project-funded vertical programmes and towards a single budget administered by the government. Case studies of the successes and failures of this approach were conducted in Cambodia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Viet Nam. Although these countries represent a range of different stages of implementing the approach, the review reached a number of conclusions about shared problems and impediments to progress. These include weaknesses in government monitoring procedures and a corresponding reluctance of donors to relinquish control, increased demands on staff within ministries of health, and a management complexity that can overwhelm government capacity. On the positive side, the review found evidence of greater agreement on a more restricted range of priorities, better integration of individual programmes within the budget planning process, better links between policy and implementation, and improved understanding of barriers to service utilization, including the role of corruption and incentive problems. On the basis of this assessment, the review issues six key recommendations for improved sector-wide management of projects and resources
"This document gives an overview of a practical approach to monitoring social disparities in health within countries for the purpose of guiding policies. The material is intended to raise issues for further exploration among researchers, policy analysts, policy-makers, and other advocates for the public's well-being, concerning their best options for obtaining information on a routine and ongoing basis to guide action to reduce avoidable social disparities in health in their countries."
This publication provides an overview of women's mental health. It includes the significant mental health problems affecting women, education, training and community-based activities, policy and legislation issues, primary care and workplace interventions
Elaborates basic principles for the use of 24 specific biological and ecological indicators in the surveillance of vitamin A deficiency. Addressed to managers of national programmes for the prevention and control of micronutrient malnutrition, the document offers abundant advice on the principles governing the use of biological indicators for surveillance, and explains the scientific rationale for each indicator, including its limitations and cutoff points for interpretation in terms of public health significance. For the first time, a series of ecological indicators that can be used to identify high risk areas is presented together with advice on cutoff points for their interpretation. Also included are indicators for monitoring progress towards achieving the goal of eliminating vitamin A deficiency as a significant public health problem by the year 2000. Annexed to the text are a ranking of countries according to the severity of public health problems caused by vitamin A deficiency, and several sample survey and reporting forms
A detailed, illustrated history of the work of the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean over the past four decades. Drawing upon a wide range of published and unpublished sources, the book tells the story of successes and failures, changing patterns of disease and evolving health strategies in a part of the world undergoing rapid development. The book marks the first time that the history of international health work in this area has been fully recorded and interpreted. The book contains 28 chapters presented in three main parts. The first traces the history and evolution of WHO and EMRO, moving from the origins of international health cooperation to the challenges and priorities that characterized health work during the 1980s. Highlights include lessons learned from vertical programmes for the control of communicable diseases, the eradication of smallpox, and the introduction of the health for all doctrine. Chapters in the second part concentrate on the special health problems of Eastern Mediterranean countries. These range from the plight of the Palestinian refugees to health regulations governing the Mecca pilgrimage. Other topics include the special problem of traditional practices that harm women and children, efforts to combat prejudice against the mentally ill, and the new health problems created by changing lifestyles. The final part explains how the Regional Office operates, in partnership with a vast number of individuals and institutions, to provide expertise, promote biomedical research, combat health problems, encourage healthy behaviour, and contribute to the global work of WHO
In three parts, this book reviews decentralisation concepts and issues (including historical background and definitions), examines country case-studies
This is a summary of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in question-and-answer format. It explains what the convention is, how it will help international tobacco control, what it means for those economies dependent on tobacco, and arguments for adopting the FCTC