In this study we assessed the existing communicable disease surveillance system in health centers of a province in northeastern Thailand. The first part of the study was an examination of medical records from 11 local health centers: 649 were examined for sensitivity, positive predictive value, and representativeness; and 433 were examined for timeliness and data quality. The second part of the...

BACKGROUND To address the shortage of health information personnel within Botswana, an innovative human resources approach was taken. University graduates without training or experience in health information or health sciences were hired and provided with on-the-job training and mentoring to create a new cadre of health worker: the district Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer. This article ...

BACKGROUND Clinical officers perform much of major emergency surgery in Malawi, in the absence of medical officers. The aim of this study was to validate the advantages and disadvantages of delegation of major obstetric surgery to non-doctors. METHODS During a three month period, data from 2131 consecutive obstetric surgeries in 38 district hospitals in Malawi were collected prospectively. Th...

In global health, partnerships between practitioners and policy makers facilitate stakeholders in jointly addressing those issues that require multiple perspectives for developing, implementing, and evaluating plans, strategies, and programs. For family planning, costed implementation plans (CIPs) are developed through a strategic government-led consultative process that results in a detailed p...

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...

BACKGROUND Kenya, like many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, has been affected by shortages of health workers in the public sector. Data on the rates and leading reasons for health workers attrition in the public sector are key in developing effective, evidence-based planning and policy on human resources for health. METHODS This study analysed data from a human resources health facilit...

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...

OBJECTIVE To identify the strengths and weaknesses of the devolved district health system from the experiences of different stakeholders, and recommend direction for reforms in the existing system. METHODS Using qualitative exploratory design, the study was conducted in 3 cities of the province of Sindh in Pakistan--Karachi, Khairpur and Larkana--from January to March 2010. Nine in-depth inte...