Price continues to be a major barrier to reliable access to medicines in Kenya. To help address this issue, the MOH conducts surveys on a quarterly basis to monitor medicine prices. Information is collected and widely disseminated on availability, affordability, and price variation of a basket of medicines in the public, private and mission sectors. This report highlights the findings of the survey, based on data collected in January 2007. Comparisons are also highlighted between data for January 2007 and previous months (April, July and October 2006) for some key findings of the survey.
Monitoring equity and research policy
Kenya Medicine Price Monitor
Ministry of Health, Government of Kenya: January 2007
Africa health trends: A 21st century imperative
Barbiero VK, November 2006
This paper made publicly available by the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars describes trends in Africa in terms of African demographics; the unfinished agenda for maternal and child health; the widespread threat of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; the burden of natural disasters and conflict; system vulnerabilities; and, the demographic, epidemiologic, urban and nutrition transitions that will influence the health and health service delivery in Africa throughout the 21st century. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of these trends and catalyze action to mitigate their adverse consequences.
Global tuberculosis epidemic levelling off
World Health Organisation, 22 March 2007
The global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic has levelled off for the first time since WHO declared TB a public health emergency in 1993. The Global Tuberculosis Control Report released today by WHO finds that the percentage of the world's population struck by TB peaked in 2004 and then held steady in 2005. "We are currently seeing both the fruits of global action to control TB and the lethal nature of the disease’s ongoing burden," said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "Almost 60 per cent of TB cases worldwide are now detected, and out of those, the vast majority are cured. Over the past decade, 26 million patients have been placed on effective TB treatment thanks to the efforts of governments and a wide range of partners. But the disease still kills 4400 people every day."
Malawi: New moves to meet MDGs for maternal and infant care
Integrated Regional Information Networks, 14 March 2007
Malawi has launched a pilot project to investigate ways of reducing the number of mothers and children who die every year to help it reach its millennium development goals (MDGs) by 2015. Hudson Kubwalo, Health Information and Promotion Officer in the Malawi office of the UN's World Health Organisation (WHO), said a needs assessment had found that the unavailability of basic healthcare was one of the major causes of the high infant and maternal mortality in the three districts. Poor roads, a lack of transport to reach the nearest healthcare facility and a high illiteracy rate - around 58 percent among women - were other reasons given for the high level of maternal deaths.
Development of AMSTAR: a measurement tool to assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews
Shea BJ, Grimshaw JM, Wells GA, Boers M, Andersson N, Hamel C, Porter AC, Tugwell P, Moher D, Bouter LM: BMC Medical Research Methodology 7:10, 15 February 2007
A measurement tool for the assessment of multiple systematic reviews (AMSTAR) was developed. The tool consists of 11 items and has good face and content validity for measuring the methodological quality of systematic reviews. Additional studies are needed with a focus on the reproducibility and construct validity of AMSTAR, before strong recommendations on its use can be made.
Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030.
Mathers CD, Loncar,D: Plos Medicine 3(11): e442-e442
Global and regional projections of mortality and burden of disease by cause for the years 2000, 2010, and 2030 were published by Murray and Lopez in 1996 as part of the Global Burden of Disease project. To address the widespread demand for information on likely future trends in global health, and thereby to support international health policy and priority setting, the authors have prepared new projections of mortality and burden of disease to 2030 starting from World Health Organization estimates of mortality and burden of disease for 2002. This paper describes the methods, assumptions, input data and results.
Record linkage research and informed consent: who consents?
Huang N, Shih SF , Chang HY, Chou YJ: BMC Health Services Research 7:18, 12 February 2007
Linking computerized health insurance records with routinely collected survey data is becoming increasingly popular in health services research. However, if consent is not universal, the requirement of written informed consent may introduce a number of research biases. The participants of a national health survey in Taiwan were asked to have their questionnaire results linked to their national health insurance records. This study compares those who consented with those who refused.
Global public health leader joins Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation News Inquiry, 18 January 2007
Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin announced today that Dr Ariel Pablos-Méndez is joining the Foundation as a new Managing Director. Ariel Pablos-Méndez, 45, a physician and epidemiologist, is Director of Knowledge Management & Sharing at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva. He is also an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Public Health at Columbia University. He will assume his new position at the Rockefeller Foundation in April, 2007. Dr Pablos-Méndez, who joined WHO in 2004, has been working there on establishing the principles and practice of knowledge management as a core competence of public health to help bridge the gap between research and implementation.
WHO Board urged to act on worrying smallpox research trends
Ching LL: Third World Network, 22 January 2007
Disturbing indications that the US is expanding or intending to expand research with smallpox virus outside of WHO control and that WHO may be back-pedalling on some of its previous decisions, have led NGOs to call for a strong resolution on smallpox on the part of the Who Executive Board which meets this week in Geneva.
Accessing and understanding the evidence
Duke T, Campbell H, Ayieko P: Bulletin of the World Health Organization 84(12), 922-A, December 2006
The World Health Organisation (WHO) regularly gathers, evaluates, and cites evidence to support its recommendations. How this is done varies between departments, but highly centralised processes, complex methods and expert consultations are often used. WHO guidelines are distributed to health workers and policy-makers in developing countries, but few of these people have the opportunity to be involved in the process of choosing and weighing the evidence to formulate the guidelines that are ostensibly designed for their use. Such incomplete engagement may impede ownership of WHO recommendations, and thus be an obstacle to full implementation. This editorial describes how WHO gathers, evaluates, and cites evidence to support its recommendations.