“Author Archive”
Stories written by GlobalizationAndHealth
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: Equity in access to health care among people living with HIV (PLHA) has not been extensively studied in Peru despite the fact there is significant social diversity within this group. We aimed to assess the extent to which health care provision to PLHA, including ARVT, was equitable and, if appropriate, identify factors associated with lower access. Methods: We conducted a survey among adult PLHA in four cities in Peru, recruited through respondent-driven sampling (RDS), to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics, social network size, household welfare, economic activity, use of HIV-related services including ARV treatment, and health-related out-of-pocket expenses. Results: Between September 2008 and January 2009, 863 individuals from PLHA organizations in four cities of Peru were enrolled. Median age was 35 (IQR = 29–41), and mostly male (62%)
May 17th, 2013 | Posted in Aid,HIV/AIDS,Hub Selects,Human Rights,Journal Watch | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: The right to health is recognized as a fundamental human right. Social participation is implied in the fulfillment of health rights since Alma Ata posited its relevance for successful health programs, although a wide range of interpretations has been observed for this term. While Peruvian law recognizes community and social participation in health, it was the GFATM requirement of mixed public-civil society participation in Country Coordination Mechanisms (CCM) for proposal submission what effectively led to formal community involvement in the national response to HIV and, to a lesser extent, tuberculosis. This has not been the case, however, for other chronic diseases in Peru. This study aims to describe and compare the role of health rights discourse and community involvement in the national response to HIV, tuberculosis and cancer
May 17th, 2013 | Posted in Cancer,Hub Selects,Journal Watch,Tuberculosis | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: The burdens of hypertension and diabetes are increasing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It is important to identify patients with these conditions early in the disease process. The goal of this study, therefore, is to compare community- versus home-based screening for hypertension and diabetes in Kenya. Methods: This was a feasibility study conducted by the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) program in Webuye, a town in western Kenya. Home-based (door-to-door) screening occurred in March 2010 and community-based screening in November 2011
May 16th, 2013 | Posted in Hub Selects,Journal Watch | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: The rapid growth in mobile phone penetration and use of Short Message Service (SMS) has been seen as a potential solution to improve medical and public health practice in Africa. Several studies have shown effectiveness of SMS interventions to improve health workers’ practices, patients’ adherence to medications and availability of health facility commodities. To inform policy makers about the feasibility of facility-based SMS interventions, the coverage data on mobile phone ownership and SMS use among health workers and patients are needed. Methods: In 2012, a national, cross-sectional, cluster sample survey was undertaken at 172 public health facilities in Kenya.
May 14th, 2013 | Posted in Hub Selects,Journal Watch,mHealth | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: Interest and participation in global health activities among U.S. medical trainees has increased sharply in recent decades, yet the global health activities of physicians who have completed residency training remain understudied. Our objectives were to assess associations between individual characteristics and patterns of post-residency global health activities across the domains of health policy, education, and research. Methods: Cross-sectional, mixed methods national survey of 521 physicians with formal training in clinical and health services research and policy leadership.
May 11th, 2013 | Posted in Hub Selects,Journal Watch | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
The role of multilateral donor agencies in global health is a new area of research, with limited research on how these agencies differ in terms of their governance arrangements, especially in relation to transparency, inclusiveness, accountability, and responsiveness to civil society. We argue that historical analysis of the origins of these agencies and their coalition formation processes can help to explain these differences. We propose an analytical approach that links the theoretical literature discussing institutional origins to path dependency and institutional theory relating to proto institutions in order to illustrate the differences in coalition formation processes that shape governance within four multilateral agencies involved in global health. We find that two new multilateral donor agencies that were created by a diverse coalition of state and non-state actors, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and GAVI, what we call proto-institutions, were more adaptive in strengthening their governance processes.
May 10th, 2013 | Posted in Aid,Hub Selects,Journal Watch,Malaria,Tuberculosis | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Ebele Mogo is the president of Engage Africa Foundation - also on Facebook and on Twitter @engageafricafdt and @ebyral. I am Ebele Mogo, the president of Engage Africa Foundation. I have quite an interesting story as I moved from the thriving metropolis of Lagos, Nigeria, to a much smaller city – Waterloo, Canada, to start university at the age of 14. Between then and now, I have earned a BSc in the Sciences from the University of Waterloo, an MSc in Global Health and Public policy from the University of Edinburgh, and have done work in research, community development, and exploring and acting on global and local emerging issues especially in the area of health.
May 1st, 2013 | Posted in Noncommunicable Disease | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: Diabetes is becoming of increasing concern in Spain due to rising incidence and prevalence, although little information is known with regards to costs and outcomes. The information on cost of diabetes in Spain is fragmented and outdated. Our objective is to update diabetes costs, and to identify outcomes and quality of care of diabetes in Spain. Methods: We performed systematic searches from secondary sources, including scientific literature and government data and reports. Results: Diabetes Type II prevalence is estimated at 7.8%, and an additional 6% of the population is estimated to be undiagnosed.
May 1st, 2013 | Posted in Hub Selects,Journal Watch | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: Diabetes and its complications are among the present and future challenges of the Turkish health care system. The objective of this paper is to discuss the current situation of diabetes and its management in Turkey with special emphasis on the changing policy environment. Methods: A literature review in databases such as MEDLINE, EMBASE and PUBMED was performed from 2000 to 2011. This synthesis was complemented by grey literature, personal communication and contact with national and provincial health authorities and experts in diabetes from Turkey. Results: The literature review and expert consultations indicated a growing policy emphasis on diabetes.
April 18th, 2013 | Posted in Hub Selects,Journal Watch | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: Since 2010, five newly emerging economies collectively known as ‘BRICS’ (Brazil, India, Russia, China and South Africa) have caught the imagination, and scholarly attention, of political scientists, economists and development specialists. The prospect of a unified geopolitical bloc, consciously seeking to re-frame international (and global) health development with a new set of ideas and values, has also, if belatedly, begun to attract the attention of the global health community. But what influence, if any, do the BRICS wield in global health, and, if they do wield influence, how has that influence been conceptualized and recorded in the literature?
April 15th, 2013 | Posted in Hub Selects,Journal Watch | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: This study aims to evaluate the length of time elapsed between reports of the same incidents related to avian flu and H1N1 outbreaks published by the WHO and ProMED-mail, the two major global health surveillance systems, before and after the amendment of the International Health Regulations in 2005 (IHR 2005) and to explore the association between country transparency and this timeliness gap. Methods: We recorded the initial release dates of each report related to avian flu or H1N1 listed on the WHO Disease Outbreak News site and the matching outbreak report from ProMED-mail, a non-governmental program for monitoring emerging diseases, from 2003 to the end of June 2009. The timeliness gap was calculated as the difference in days between the report release dates of the matching outbreaks in the WHO and ProMED-mail systems. Civil liberties scores were collected as indicators of the transparency of each country.
March 25th, 2013 | Posted in Hub Selects,Journal Watch | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: Ethnographic evidence suggests that transactional sex is sometimes motivated by youth’s interest in the consumption of designer goods as much as it is in basic survival. There are very few quantitative studies that examine the association between young people’s interests in the consumption of modern goods and their sexual behaviour. We examined this association in two regions and four residence zones of Madagascar: urban, peri-urban and rural Antananarivo, and urban Antsiranana. We expected risky sexual behaviour would be associated with interests in consuming modern goods or lifestyles; urban residence; and socio-cultural characteristics. Methods: We administered a population-based survey to 2, 255 youth ages 15–24 in all four residence zones
March 19th, 2013 | Posted in Hub Selects,Journal Watch | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Management of diabetes represents an enormous challenge for health systems at every level of development. The latter are tested for their ability to continuously deliver high quality care to patients from the day they are diagnosed throughout their life. In this study, we review the status of diabetes management in Thailand and try to identify the key challenges the country needs to address to reduce the current (and future) medical and economic burden caused by the disease.We conducted a literature review on the burden, costs, and outcomes of diabetes in Thailand. This information was complemented by personal communication with senior officials in the Thai Ministry of Health.We identified the following priorities for the future management of diabetes in Thailand.
March 14th, 2013 | Posted in Hub Selects,Journal Watch | Read More »
By GlobalizationAndHealth
Background: Poverty is multi dimensional. Beyond the quantitative and tangible issues related to inadequate income it also has equally important social, more intangible and difficult if not impossible to quantify dimensions. In 2009, we explored these social and relativist dimension of poverty in five communities in the South of Ghana with differing socio economic characteristics to inform the development and implementation of policies and programs to identify and target the poor for premium exemptions under Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme. Methods: We employed participatory wealth ranking (PWR) a qualitative tool for the exploration of community concepts, identification and ranking of households into socioeconomic groups. Key informants within the community ranked households into wealth categories after discussing in detail concepts and indicators of poverty
March 14th, 2013 | Posted in Hub Selects,Journal Watch | Read More »
