Organizations that collect substantial data for decision-making purposes are often characterised as being data rich but information poor. Maps and mapping tools can be very useful for research transfer in converting locally collected data into information. Challenges involved in incorporating GIS applications into the decision-making process within the non-profit (public) health sector include a lack of financial resources for software acquisition and training for non-specialists to use such tools. This on-going project has two primary phases. This paper critically reflects on phase 1: the participatory design (PD) process of developing a collaborative web-based GIS tool.
Governance and participation in health
Using participatory design to develop (public) health decision support systems through GIS
Driedger SM, Kothari A, Morrison J, Sawada M, Crighton EJ and Graham ID: International Journal of Health Geographics 6(53), 27 November 2007
Civil society report to the WHO Commision on the Social Determinants of Health
Draft report, June 2007
Civil Society Organisations, especially those actively engaged with the health sector, have been largely of the opinion that the Commission constitutes a major opportunity to address key issues in the health sector. This is especially so as the Commission is seen to be engaged in examining and taking forward some of the key fundamentals of the Alma Ata declaration – viz. a Health Systems approach that foregrounds Primary Health Care and locating health in a larger social, economic and political context.
Public health decision making: The way forward
AbouZahr C, Cleland J, Coullare F, Macfarlane SB, Notzon FC, Setel P, Szreter S: The Lancet 370(9601): 1791-1799, November 2007
Good public-health decisionmaking is dependent on reliable and timely statistics on births and deaths (including the medical causes of death). All high-income countries, without exception, have national civil registration systems that record these events and generate regular, frequent, and timely vital statistics. By contrast, these statistics are not available in many low-income and lower-middle-income countries, even though it is in such settings that premature mortality is most severe and the need for robust evidence to back decisionmaking most critical. Civil registration also has a range of benefits for individuals in terms of legal status, and the protection of economic, social, and human rights. However, over the past 30 years, the global health and development community has failed to provide the needed technical and financial support to countries to develop civil registration systems. There is no single blueprint for establishing and maintaining such systems and ensuring the availability of sound vital statistics. Each country faces a different set of challenges, and strategies must be tailored accordingly. There are steps that can be taken, however, and we propose an approach that couples the application of methods to generate better vital statistics in the short term with capacity-building for comprehensive civil registration systems in the long run.
Malaria control among children under five in sub-Saharan Africa: the role of empowerment and parents' participation besides the clinical strategies
Houeto D, D'Hoore W, Ouendo E, Charlier D, Deccache A: Rural and Remote Health, 31 October 2007
Despite acknowledged curative and preventive measures, child malaria remains a concern in many countries. Does parental empowerment and participation in control efforts offer a way forward? This review of recent literature suggests a unique approach. Successful interventions met the health promotion strategies wholly or partly. Although these interventions were sometimes incomplete, the development took into account people’s perceptions and representations. The authors acted on the belief that empowerment of parents and their participation in the development of interventions to control child malaria, is likely to yield better results and assist in reducing the prevalence of malaria morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years.
THE EXPERIENCE OFA VILLAGE VOLUNTEER PROGRAMME IN YUMBE DISTRICT,UGANDA
Innocent K: Health Policy and Development 5(1): 21-27, 2007
Community participation in health has been an elusive concept since the days of the Alma Ata Declaration. Many faltering steps have been taken towards genuine community participation only to be retraced because the programmes were either ill-conceived or derailed by the loss of the spirit of voluntarism. In Yumbe District of north-western Uganda, Village Health Teams (VHT) have been established in line with the national strategy for community involvement in health. The Yumbe VHT programme has won an award for innovative support to strengthening decentralisation. This paper reviews aspects of the programme outlining its successes and challenges. Its success has been mainly due to integration of pre-existing volunteer cadres, intersectoral approach to the monitoring of the teams and involvement of the community in the selection of the top-up team members. Its challenges include the relatively young age of the majority of the volunteers and the likely loss of financial support for the activities of the volunteers. The paper concludes that the VHT programme is a delicate venture requiring both programme support through intersectoral inputs to the Community Action Plans developed by communities and sociological approaches to educate the communities to support the VHT for its sustainability.
Reclaiming SADC for peoples solidarity and development: Let the people speak
Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN), 16 August 2007
Members of Civil Society Organisations, trade unions, faith based organizations, student bodies and economic justice networks from the SADC region met in Lusaka, Zambia on August 15-16, under the auspices of the Southern Africa Peoples' Solidarity Network (SAPSN), to constitute the SADC People's Summit held parallel to the 27th Heads of State Summit. This document serves as the statement given on their regional theme with respect to civil society.
The role of communication in sustainable development
The Drum Beat: The Communication Initiative, (410), 3 September 2007
This Drum Beat is one of a series of commentary and analysis pieces. Getting communication included is an integral element in development programmes, for example improving maternal health. Addressing this challenge needs actions at many levels, all of which entail particular types of communication.
Tradition a force against HIV/AIDS?
Integrated Regional Information Network, 14 September 2007
Circumstance, rather than planning, has placed the battle against HIV/AIDS firmly in the hands of Swaziland's 355 chiefdoms. The decentralisation strategy has evolved from government's failure to command the fight against the disease, or even deliver healthcare at its urban hospitals, and much less so in rural areas, where four out of five Swazis live. Swaziland, ruled by sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch, King Mswati III, has a well-established traditional hierarchy, and the use of it to coordinate efforts against HIV/AIDS is being seen as a grassroots-driven solution.
HIV/AIDS and democratic governance in Africa: Illustrating the impact on electoral processes
Chirambo K, IDASA, 22 May 2007
The research presented in this paper responds to years of academic speculation and subsequent policy concerns about the possible collapse of Africa’s democratic project under the complex waves of impacts introduced by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is the result of three years of exploratory studies in seven countries: Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa, Senegal and Zambia. Anecdotes of Lesotho and Zimbabwe have also been highlighted.
Tackling, developing and sustaining stewardship and health system management for health equity
Gilson L: Commission on the Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), June 2007
This paper argues that stronger and values-based public sector management and leadership is essential in building health systems that better address health inequities. By considering evidence on existing weaknesses in health system action to redress inequity, it identifies a complex and inter-locking set of problems involving individuals, organisational culture and the ways in which wider political, economic and socio-cultural forces influence public sector organisations. It then examines the particular features of organisational culture in organisations judged to be better performing, and considers how change in organisational culture can be brought about. It also identifies the particular competencies of public sector managers and reviews evidence on how these competencies can be developed.