Finding ways to leverage the substantial investment in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV to address other maternal, neonatal, and child health threats is a priority. With increased emphasis on health systems strengthening and the integration of disease-specific initiatives within primary care, we propose three areas for consideration: 1) increased integration of service delivery...

There is an urgent need to assess the vulnerability of eco-environmental health to climate change. This paper aims to provide an overview of current research, to identify knowledge gaps, and to propose future research needs in this challenging area. Evidence shows that climate change is affecting and will, in the future, have more (mostly adverse) impacts on ecosystems. Ecosystem degradation, p...

The climate is changing and this poses significant threats to human health. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing Pacific Island countries and territories due to their unique geophysical features, and their social, economic and cultural characteristics. The Pacific region also faces challenges with widely dispersed populations, limited resources and fragmented health systems. ...

BACKGROUND Understanding the process by which research is translated into practice is limited. This study sought to examine how interventions change during implementation. METHODS Data were collected from July 2005 to September 2007. A real-time and cross-case comparison was conducted, examining ten interventions designed to improve health promotion in primary care practices in practice-based...

Both prior literature and reported managerial practices have claimed that the Balanced Scorecard is a management tool that can help organizations to effectively implement strategies. In this article, we examine some of the contributions, dilemmas, and limitations of Balanced Scorecards in health care organizations. First, we describe the evolution of Balanced Scorecards from multidimensional pe...

BACKGROUND Since 2003, the Global Fund has supported the scale-up of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria control in low- and middle-income countries. This paper presents and discusses a methodology for estimating the lives saved through selected service deliveries reported to the Global Fund. METHODS Global Fund-supported programs reported, by end-2007, 1.4 million HIV-infected persons on anti...

Most residences of the northern parts of Golestan Province, have historically used rooftop rainwater for drinking. Its adoption rate and continued use have declined in recent years for various reasons. Based on a survey of 380 cases, this research attempted to identify what factors are contributing to the adoption of these systems. The results demonstrated that the adoption changes in response ...

background in many parts of the world, ongoing deficiencies in health systems compromise the delivery of health interventions. the world health organization (who) identified four functions that health systems need to perform to achieve their goals: efforts to strengthen health systems focus on the way these functions are carried out. while a number of studies on health systems functions have be...