Dynamic process-based crop simulation models are useful tool in predicting crop growth and yield in response to environmental and cultural factors but are constrained by lack of availability of the required large number of inputs when applied for regional studies. In this study we report (a) development of a prototype Crop Growth Monitoring System (CGMS) for wheat using WTGROWS simulation model...

Background In early 1990s, Tanzania like other African countries, adopted health sector reform (HSR). The most strongly held centralisation system that informed the nature of services provision including health was, thus, disintegrated giving rise to decentralisation system. It was within the realm of HSR process, user fees were introduced in the health sector. Along with user fees, various typ...

District services in developing countries are afflicted with frequent system breakdowns, caused by a combination of resource constraints, limitations of the health workforce, and poorly developed management systems. Narrowly focused, outcome-oriented quality improvement initiatives and sporadic accreditation visits fail to address the most pressing need of district health services- to improve m...

ABSTRACT Mayurbhanj, a hilly district, is rich in ethno medicinal plants. In the present paper 58 plant species belonging to 34 families used in folk medicine have been documented. Due to poor condition of modern healthcare facilities and poverty, indigenous people of the district fully or partially depend on local medicinal plants. An attempt has been made to document traditional knowledge fro...

1 Centre for Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2 KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi District Hospital, Kilifi, Kenya, 3 Mahidol Oxford Research Unit, Bangkok, Thailand, 4 Hospital for Tropical Diseases, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 5 Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, V...

BACKGROUND Aga Khan University is developing its undergraduate medical education curriculum for East Africa. In Kenya, a 1 year internship is mandatory for medical graduates' registration as practitioners. The majority of approved internship training sites are at district hospitals. The purposes of this study were to determine: (1) whether recent Kenyan medical graduates are prepared for their ...

BACKGROUND This case study from DR Congo demonstrates how rational operational planning based on a health systems strengthening strategy (HSSS) can contribute to policy dialogue over several years. It explores the operationalization of a national strategy at district level by elucidating a normative model district resource plan which details the resources and costs of providing an essential hea...

BACKGROUND Like other African countries, Tanzania has in recent years, been implementing various exemptions and targeting programmes to protect and ensure equitable access to health care by poorer segments of the population. A body of evidence indicates that exemption policies, while potentially effective in principle, are ineffective in implementation. However, there is evidence that some dist...