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Critical reflections from practice [whole issue]

GUIJT, Irene
Ed
October 1995

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Revisits the principles and practice of participatory rural appraisal in several articles. Addresses concerns and differing perspectives. Interrogates the concept of participation, and implicitly suggests ways forward that empower and include vulnerable groups in development

WHO model prescribing information : drugs used in parasitic diseases

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO)
1995

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WHO Model Prescribing Information is being prepared to provide up-to-date and independent clinical information on essential drugs,including details of dosage, uses, contraindications and adverse effects. It is intended as source material for adaptation by national authorities, in particular in developing countries, that wish to produce drug formularies, data sheets and teaching materials. This second edition of the volume on parasitic diseases covers drugs currently used for the prophylaxis and treatment of protozoal and helinthic infections. The sections on malaria, African trypanosomiasis, cestode infections, schistosomiasis and onchocerciasis have been extensively revised in the light of new developments in the treatment of these diseases

Elimination of leprosy as a public health problem : progress and prospects

NOORDEEN, S K
1995

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Leprosy is still an important problem in about 80 countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, some 2.4 million persons being estimated to have the disease in 1994. The WHO-recommended standard multidrug therapy (MDT) was introduced in the 1980s and has been shown to be effective in combating the disease. Experiences based on many thousands of patients treated with MDT over the past decade indicate extremely low relapse rates (cumulative relaps rates around 1 percent). By the end of 1993, some 5.6 million patients had been cured, and the global cumulative MDT coverage of registrered patients had reached 89 percent. The number of registrered cases fell from 5.4 million in 1985 to 1.7 million in 1994. The significant progress made in leprosy control enabled the World Health Assembly in 1991 to set a goal for eliminating leprosy as a public health problem by the year 2000. One important epidemiological factor is that leprosy is very unevenly distributed: 80 percent of the problem is confined to only five countries and 92 percent to just 25 countries. The elimination strategy envisages identifying and treating with MDT a total of about 5 million cases from 1994 to the year 2000. The cost of dealing with these cases has been estimated at US$ 420 million, including US$ 150 million for the drugs.

Global data on blindness

Thylefors, B et al
1995

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Globally, it is estimated that there are 38 million persons who are blind. Moreover, a further 110 million people have low vision and are at great risk of becoming blind. The main causes of blindness and low vision are cataract, trachoma, glaucoma, onchocerciasis, and xerophthalmia; however, insufficient data on blindness from causes such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration preclude specific estimations of their global prevalence. The age- specific prevalences of the major causes of blindness that are related to age indicate that the trend will be for an increase in such blindness over the decades to come, unless energetic efforts are made to tackle these problems. More data collected through standardized methodologies, using internationally accepted (ICD-10) definitions, are needed. Data on the incidence of blindness due to common causes would be useful for calculating future trends more precisely.

Dressing for the child with cerebral palsy

BANERJEE, Ranu
KUNDU, Madhuchhanda
SARKAR, Pratiti Basu
1995

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This is one of a series of booklets giving advice on educating children with cerebral palsy in daily living skills. The clearly illustrated booklet outline techniques and strategies and explore problems

An introduction to advocacy : training guide

SHARMA, Ritu R
1995

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Sets out the purpose and methods of advocacy; builds basic advocacy skills; promotes the use and impact of information through advocacy. Designed for anyone who wants to influence policies through advocacy. Sections can be adapted for use in training at meetings or conferences, or can inform research dissemination or communication strategies

Review of the present situation in special needs education

HEGARTY, Seamus
1995

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An overall comparison between the two situations - 1986 and 1993 - reported here and in the previous report allow for some guarded optimism. Most countries provided some information on policies but varied greatly in the amount of detail offered. Special educational provision is more firmly located within regular education, at school and the administrative levels, than before and has greater legislative underpinning. Within the policy statements, themselves, the most common strands related to : developing the individual's potential, integration and necessary steps for implementation. Regarding legislation, most countries did include special needs provision in the same regulatory framework as general education; the most common reason given for excluding particular children was severity of disability. Much remains to be done and there is no room for complacency. Many countries face fiscal and personnel constraints, and maintaining let alone increasing existing investment in special educational provision will not be easy. A word of caution : even where resources are not the central issue, the pressures created by the general school reforms taking place in many countries may reduce the priority given to speical educational provision. However, progress has been made, despite the many difficulties.

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