Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report—Health Systems

World Economic Forum Helps 'Improve Global Cooperation' Surrounding Health Issues

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:53:13 GMT

Meetings such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) "are highly beneficial for the health sector, since there is a genuine need for reaching out to non-state actors in the midst of the many transformations shaping global and domestic health sector public policy," Sania Nishtar, founder of Heartfile and Heartfile Health Financing, writes in a Huffington Post opinion piece. "But that is not all the World Economic Forum is doing for health. It is also contributing substantively in the normative and advocacy space," according to Nishtar, who uses non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as an example. "By identifying NCDs as the top 10 risks to the world in WEF's Global Risk Reports for two consecutive years (2009 and 2010) it helped raise concern, globally, at a time when it mattered the most," especially leading up to last year's U.N. High Level Meeting, she writes.

One Part Of HIV/AIDS Series Examines Germany's Government Policies Surrounding Epidemic

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:46:27 GMT

As part of a week-long series, titled "Generation Positive," looking at the HIV epidemic in the U.S. and Washington, D.C., WTOP's Thomas Warren examines the history of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. compared with Germany, where he traveled as a fellow with the RIAS Berlin Kommission. The article describes "the history of HIV in Germany, including the governmental policies aimed at handling the disease and how the virus is treated medically," according to the introduction (Warren, 2/1).

S&P Warns Some G20 Nations Face Downgrade Unless Reforms To Stem Rising Health Care Costs Enacted

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:36:00 GMT

"Ratings agency Standard & Poor's warned it may downgrade 'a number of highly rated' Group of 20 [G20] countries from 2015 if their governments fail to enact reforms to curb rising health care spending and other costs related to aging populations," Reuters reports. "Developed nations in Europe, as well as Japan and the United States, are likely to suffer the largest deterioration in their public finances in the next four decades as more elderly strain social safety nets, S&P said in a report," the news agency writes (Hopfner et al., 1/31).

Tracking News On Universal Health Coverage Worldwide

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:59:14 GMT

The Results for Development Institute has launched a new website on universal health coverage, UHC Forward, "that features news, events, and publications related to the global UHC movement," an institute press release states (1/17). Visitors to the site can "stay informed of health coverage efforts in countries around the world, better understand how to translate available research into pragmatic action, apply an analytic eye to reform experiences, exchange ideas with others, and find links to additional resources," according to the website (1/24).

Blog Covers Government Officials' Comments At Country Ownership Roundtable

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:58:33 GMT

This post in the Ministerial Leadership Initiative's (MLI) "Leading Global Health" blog "is the fourth of a series of perspective pieces on country ownership from the 'Advancing Country Ownership for Greater Results' roundtable organized recently by MLI, a program of Aspen Global Health and Development." "This fourth piece covers the comments made by several senior U.S. government officials," including Ariel Pablos-Méndez, USAID assistant administrator; Katherine "Kemy" Monahan, deputy executive director of the Global Health Initiative (GHI); and Amie Batson, USAID deputy assistant administrator for global health (Donnelly, 1/20).

Asking Questions About Global Health Spending

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:56:00 GMT

Commenting on the latest data on global health spending from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in this post on the Global Health Council's (GHC) "Blog 4 Global Health," Craig Moscetti, a policy manager in the council's policy and government relations department, writes "some of the latest tracking data shed light on some interesting trends, prompting many key questions." He poses several questions, including, "Are developing countries stepping up?" and "Is health sector spending the more efficient and effective way to produce health?," and answers each (1/19).

Keeping Global Health Relevant As Part Of Sustainable Development Agenda

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:08:45 GMT

"In 2012 there will be a major strategic shift in global health, away from development and towards sustainability," a Lancet editorial states. "Since 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), driven by a macroeconomic diagnosis of global poverty, have focused on investment in a small number of diseases as the most effective approach to decrease poverty, ... [b]ut this approach is now delivering diminishing returns," because of emerging challenges such as non-communicable diseases (NCDs), climate change, and financial security, as well as a heightened focus on integration and accountability, the editorial says.

MSF Closes Two Large Clinics In Mogadishu After Two Staff Members Killed Last Month

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:21:00 GMT

"Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has shut down two major medical centers in the Somali capital Mogadishu after two of its aid workers were shot dead by a former colleague last month, the international medical aid agency said on Thursday," AlertNet reports. The closure of the two 120-bed centers, the largest of MSF's 13 projects in Somalia, cuts in half the organization's presence in the capital, the news service notes, adding that the centers have treated thousands of malnourished children and provided vaccinations or treatments to tens of thousands more patients since August 2011 (Migiro, 1/19).

Community Health Workers Vital To Improving Health Care In Africa

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:31:13 GMT

Community health workers (CHWs) "are seen to be a key part of a functioning primary health system," especially in African nations, Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, writes in a post on Huffington Post's "Impact" blog. "This system should include a clinic within short walking distance, with supplies, a skilled birth attendant and other staff, electricity, and safe water; an ambulance for emergency transport; an emergency '911' number; a policy of free care at the point of service (so as not to turn away the indigent); and trained and remunerated CHWs, taught also to treat diseases and save lives in the community," he says.

Facilitating Low-Cost Innovations In, Increased Usage Of Health Care

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:04:51 GMT

The argument that "a country's quickest way to better health for its people is economic development ... is only one factor, and not the most important one, in explaining global health outcomes," Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, writes in a SciDev.Net opinion piece. "The challenge is to ensure that a cheap basic package of health interventions is available to -- and is used by -- all," he continues.

U.S. Army Working To Bring Virtual Health Care To Albanian Hospitals

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

The U.S. Army in a news article on its website reports on how it is working to "bring virtual health care to Albanian hospitals" through a telemedicine program that "aims to link different levels of health care to ensure a better functioning and sustainable system." According to the article, "Currently, five of the 12 major regional hospitals in Albania are connected via a hub-and-spoke information technology system to the central e-heath center in Tirana," and, "[b]y March of this year, three additional hospitals will have the infrastructure in place to connect to the network."

USAID's Shah Discusses Progress In Post-Earthquake Haiti On NPR's Talk Of The Nation

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:54:00 GMT

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah on Thursday appeared on NPR's Talk of the Nation to discuss rebuilding efforts in Haiti two years after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed much of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Shah said, "[O]ver the last two years, we've seen real signs of hope. A number of things have worked. Partners and the Haitian government and Haitian leaders have done things differently so that today, ... more people have access to clean water and safe sanitation in Port-au-Prince than the day before the earthquake," according to the transcript.

Haiti Faces 'Largest' Cholera Epidemic In Modern History, PAHO Says

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:47:06 GMT

"Almost two years after the devastating 7.0 earthquake destroyed much of Port-au-Prince, full recovery appears to be years away," the Miami Herald reports, noting that "[t]housands of people continue to live in makeshift shelters and tents [and] rubble from dilapidated buildings still line some streets" (Lee, 1/7). In addition, "[t]he cholera outbreak in Haiti is 'one of the largest epidemics of the disease in modern history to affect a single country,' the U.N. World Health Organization's Pan-American Health Organization [PAHO] said in a news release," according to United Press International (1/7).

Political Turmoil In Yemen Causing Breakdown Of Social Services, Increased Threats To Child Welfare

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:38:32 GMT

"Yemen's populist uprising and the political crisis that followed have pushed the country to the brink of a humanitarian emergency, according to the United Nations and aid agencies," the Washington Post reports, noting that "children have been hit especially hard." The newspaper continues, "Fresh conflicts, including a raging battle between the government and Islamist militants, have disrupted basic services; water, fuel and electricity shortages affect nearly every aspect of life, from hospital operations to trash collection. Food prices are rising, and health services have collapsed. In a nation in which half the population is younger than 18, many aid workers fear that the political crisis and the problems it has spawned will be felt beyond this generation of children" (Raghavan, 1/8). The newspaper also provides a graphic on malnourishment rates in Yemen and select other countries (1/8).

Foreign Aid To MICs Needs 'More Sophisticated Approach' Instead Of Cuts

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:53:53 GMT

"[T]he E.U., the Global Fund [to Fight] AIDS, TB and Malaria, and the World Bank's International Development Association ... want to save money during a fiscal crunch by cutting off aid to middle-income countries (MIC)," Andy Sumner and Amanda Glassman of the Center for Global Development write in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog." However, doing so "means disconnecting foreign aid from most of the world's poor and sick," they write, adding, "At least three factors support the development of a more sophisticated approach."

Center For Global Development Blog Responds To NPR Report On Health In Afghanistan

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:14:38 GMT

Innovative Programs Can Help Developing Countries Retain Health Care Workers

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:38:01 GMT

"Medical schools in poor countries continue to produce doctors that they will eventually lose to more lucrative careers in cities or other countries," but some of these countries "are already showing bold efforts to meet the challenge" of retaining health care workers, Manuel Dayrit, director of the WHO Department of Human Resources for Health, writes in a SciDev.Net opinion piece. Dayrit discusses programs in Ethiopia, Sudan, and the Philippines that use community-based education and local service contracts to retain health care workers in areas where they are needed.

Role Of Local Advocates, NGOs Important In Malawi's Health System

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:44:29 GMT

In this post in the Health Affairs blog, Martha Kwataine, executive director for the Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN) and head of the Access to Medicines Campaign in Malawi, examines the role of local advocates and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country's health system. She writes, "Amidst [Malawi's health] challenges, the role of civil society, especially advocates, cannot be overemphasized. Civil society organizations are the 'watchdogs' of government. Historically, they have played a critical role, not just by influencing policy formulation, but also by providing checks and balances to government power."

Raising Salaries Helped Retain Health Workers In Malawi

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:44:00 GMT

Central African Republic In State Of 'Chronic Medical Emergency,' MSF Report Says

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:37:56 GMT

"The Central African Republic (CAR) is in the grips of a chronic medical emergency, according to a report released today by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)," an MSF press release states. "Four mortality studies carried out by MSF over the past 18 months reveal crude mortality rates in some regions of CAR at three times the emergency threshold of one death per 10,000 people per day, which, according to the World Health Organization, is considered a humanitarian crisis," the press release adds (12/13).