With the rapid rate of urbanisation in developing countries across Asia and Africa, about 70% of the world’s population is expected to be living in cities by 2050. In their density and complexity, cities often drive national economies, provide a rich array of specialised services, ideas and innovation, with diverse social and cultural populations. However, with an estimated one billion people l...

BACKGROUND Ethiopia has been deploying specially trained new cadres of community based health workers in urban areas of the country known as urban health extension professionals since 2009. At present, relatively little work has focused on understanding to what extent this new program is accepted and used by the community. METHODS Both qualitative and quantitative surveys were performed from ...

INTRODUCTION In recent years, the country of Mongolia (population 2.8 million) has experienced rapid social changes associated with economic growth, persisting socio-economic inequities and internal migration. In order to improve health access for the urban poor, the Ministry of Health developed a "Reaching Every District" strategy (RED strategy) to deliver an integrated package of key health a...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to estimate the gap between the available and the ideal supply of human resources (physicians, nurses, and health promoters) to deliver the guaranteed package of prevention and health promotion services at urban and rural primary care facilities in Mexico. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional observational study using a convenience sample. We selecte...

INTRODUCTION On 08 October 2005, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, struck Pakistan's autonomous state of Kashmir and part of Indian-administrated Kashmir.The official death toll in Pakistan was 79,000, and nearly 1,400 in Kashmir. This study reports the findings of a three-week health needs assessment to understand the needs of rural, older people postearthquake. This study was ...

background : we need a defined population for determining prevalence and incidence of diseases, as well as conducting interventional, cohort and longitudinal studies, calculating correct and timely public health indicators, assessing actual health needs of community, performing educational programs and interventions to promote healthy lifestyle, and enhancing quality of primary health services....

BACKGROUND Universal access to health care services does not automatically guarantee equity in the health system. In the post Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) era, the progress towards universal access to maternal health care services in a developing country, like Bangladesh requires an evaluation in terms of equity lens. This study, therefore, analysed the trend in inequity and identified t...

INTRODUCTION Rural residence may reduce access to specialized mental health services. The objective of this study was to examine the role of rural residence in relation to service utilization. Using Canadian data collected in 2002, service use was examined as a function of the presence of anxiety or mood disorders and rural/urban residence. Use of four different types of professional mental hea...

INTRODUCTION Globally, pregnancy related complications contribute to more than half of the deaths among women annually. Antenatal care (ANC) is important for the prevention of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. This study identifies the socio-demographic and economic characteristics; knowledge and attitude and; health service provision for focused antenatal care (FANC) services. METH...

In recent years, medical and health care consumption has risen, making health risk an important determinant of household spending and welfare. We aimed to examine the determinants of medical and health care expenditure to help policy-makers in the improvement of China's health care system, benefiting the country, society and every household. This paper employs panel data from China's provinces ...