The World Health Organisation (WHO), with support from PEPFAR, is leading an initiative on the transformative scale up of health professional education in low and middle-income countries. This process of scaling up health workers is proposing a change from "business-as-usual" in order to ensure that there is not only an increase in the numbers of health workers but in their quality and relevance to the communities they serve. Driven by population health needs, transformative scale-up is a process of education and health systems reform that addresses the quantity, quality and relevance of health care providers in order to increase access to health services and to improve population health outcomes. This cannot be done without the involvement of all relevant stakeholders at the country and regional levels. WHO are therefore inviting participation and call for input on‪ how you can advocate with WHO for scaling up transformative education at the country level, and what WHO can contribute to your efforts at the country, regional and global levels.
Useful Resources
The Medicines Patent Pool, an initiative aiming at increasing access to HIV drugs through voluntary licences of patented drugs, has launched a new database of patent information on HIV medicines. The Medicines Patent Pool's patent database provides information on the patent status of selected antiretrovirals in a large number of low- and middle-income countries. It enables users to search by country/region and by medicine to obtain information on the key patents relating to each medicine. Wherever a patent has been applied for or granted in a given jurisdiction, the relevant patent number is also provided if available. The data was obtained from and cross-checked between a variety of sources, including many local patent offices that agreed to make this information available via theWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The number of countries included in the database will be expanded periodically as the relevant information is collected by the Medicines Patent Pool.
'Freedom of Information and Women’s Rights in Africa' is a toolkit guide published by the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) with the support of UNESCO. The book provides guidance for women’s organisations in Africa on how to organise around freedom of information. It has compiled five case studies from five African countries, namely, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia under different scenarios.
This collection is a groundbreaking volume that provides a critical mapping of the plurality of African sexualities while also challenging the reader to interrogate assumptions, thereby unmapping the intricate tapestry of the broad range of contemporary African sexualities. Incorporating original research and analysis, life stories and artistic expression, this accessible but scholarly book examines, from a distinctly African perspective, dominant and deviant sexualities, analyses the body as a site of political, cultural and social contestation and investigates the intersections between sex, power, masculinities and femininities. Using feminist approaches, African Sexualities analyses sexuality within patriarchal structures of oppression while also highlighting its emancipatory potential.
This webpage provides links to external funders that give small, unrestricted grants internationally to directly support community-based organisations and groups. The grants are intended to help small, local organisations firmly establish themselves as civil society institutions within their community. Grants amounts are less than US$20,000.
The TB Process-Based Performance Review (TB-PBPR) tool was developed to identify ‘missed opportunities’ for timely and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). The tool enables performance assessment at the level of process and quality of care. It is a single-page structured flow-sheet that identifies 14 clinical actions (grouped into elicited symptoms, clinical examination and investigations). In this study, the tool is evaluated. Medical records from selected deceased patients were reviewed at two South African mine hospitals (A = 56 cases; B = 26 cases), a South African teaching hospital (C = 20 cases) and a UK teaching hospital (D = 13 cases). The researchers found that, in hospital A, where autopsy was routine, TB was missed in life in 52% of cases and was wrongly attributed as the cause of death in 16%. Clinical omissions were identified at each hospital and at every stage of clinical management. For example, recording of chest symptoms was omitted in up to 39% of cases, sputum smear examination in up to 85% and chest radiograph in up to 38% of cases respectively. In conclusion, the authors found that simple clinical actions were omitted in many cases and the tool was effective in detecting these errors. The tool, in conjunction with a manual describing best practice, is adaptable to a range of settings, is educational and enables detailed feedback within a TB programme.
This knowledge translation self-assessment tool for research institutes (SATORI) was designed to assess the status of knowledge translation in research institutes. It identifies the gaps in capacity and infrastructure of knowledge translation support within research organisations. Research institutes using SATORI have pointed out that strengthening knowledge translation is paramount and may be achieved through the provision of financial support for knowledge translation activities, creating supportive and facilitating infrastructures, and facilitating interactions between researchers and target audiences to exchange questions and research findings.
The One World Trust (OWT), with support from the International Development Research Centre, has created an interactive, online database of tools to help organisations conducting policy relevant research become more accountable. OWT believes policy-relevant research and innovation must continually take into account and balance the needs of a diverse set of stakeholders: from the intended research users, to their clients and donors, to the research community and the research participants. Responsiveness to all of these is crucial if they are to be legitimate and effective. In this, accountable processes are as important as high quality research products. OWT has built the online accountability database to support researchers, campaigners and research managers to think through the way they use evidence to influence policy in an accountable way. The database provides an inventory of over two hundred tools, standards and processes within a broad, overarching accountability framework. Each tool is supported by sources and further reading.
This online resource can help doctors select the most effective combination of anti-HIV drugs for patients with extensive experience of antiretroviral therapy. The HIV Resistance Response Database Initiative is a not-for-profit organisation with the mission of improving the clinical management of HIV infection through the application of bioinformatics to HIV drug resistance and treatment outcome data. The RDI has three specific goals: to be an independent repository of HIV resistance and treatment outcome data; to use bioinformatics to explore the relationships between resistance, other clinical and laboratory factors and HIV treatment outcome; and to develop and make freely available a system to predict treatment response, as an aid to optimising and individualising the clinical management of HIV infection. The HIV Treatment Response Prediction System is based on a computer model that includes information gathered from 65,000 HIV-positive patients across the world.
This aide-memoire from the World Health Organization identifies the key universal precautions that health care workers (HCWs) should take to lessen their risk of contracting blood-borne diseases in the workplace, notably HIV and hepatitis B and C. It argues for hepatitis B immunisation for all HCWs, provision of necessary safety equipment, like gloves and goggles, and effective management of post-exposure treatment of HCWs who may have been accidentally exposed to blood. A number of procedures are proposed for healthcare facilities that wish to implement a strategy for dealing with accidental exposure, such as setting up and empowering an Infection Control Committee, using surveillance to identify risk situations and procedures and modify them wherever possible, and achieving compliance with universal precautions though ongoing commitment and training of all staff members. The strategy emphasises the important role of health managers in monitoring and supervising the programme, in co-ordination with the Infection Control Committee.