Thursday, October 11, 2007

[EQ] Caring for Children affected by HIV and AIDS

Caring for Children affected by HIV and AIDS

Innocenti Insight - November 2006

UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Florence Italy

Available online as PDF file [60p.] at: http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/insight-hiv-eng.pdf

“……Explores the options for the care of children in communities affected by the AIDS pandemic. Beginning with the premise that the parent-child bond is the basic building block of child development and that the family is the basic unit of society, the report first looks at ways to keep parents alive and the family together as long as possible. It then explores alternative care arrangements beyond the immediate family.

Settings range from care by the extended family, through different forms of fostering in the community, to adoption and placement in residential institutions. The report highlights ways in which actors from outside the immediate community can help to sustain and improve the capacity of households and communities to care for the children left behind….”

Content:

Chapter 1 MAGNITUDE OF THE CRISIS

1.1 Multiple epidemics

1.2 The multifaceted impact of HIV and AIDS on children

Chapter 2 Principles and commitments

2.1 Global commitments

2.2 Facing the crisis together: shared responsibility

Chapter 3 Keeping children in families and communities

3.1 Protecting the immediate family and household

3.2 Supporting the extended family

3.3 Care in the community

Chapter 4 Building community capacity

4.1 Community-based assessment

4.2 Strengthening the organization of communities

4.3 Building mutual support mechanisms

4.4 Mobilizing networks and partnerships

4.5 The leadership role of NGOs

Chapter 5 Care Beyond the Family or Community of Origin

5.1 Adoption

5.2 Institutional care

5.3 Institutionalization as a last resort

5.4 Promoting alternatives to institutional care

Chapter 6 Challenging National Governments and the Global Community

Chapter 7 Conclusion

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[EQ] Mass Gatherings and Public Health

Mass Gatherings and Public Health

The Experience of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games

Edited by: Agis D. Tsouros and Panos A. Efstathiou

The Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization - 2007

Available online as PDF [402p] at: http://www.euro.who.int/document/e90712.pdf

“….Large-scale mass gatherings, such as the Olympic Games, represent significant challenges for the entire health sector of host countries. Emerging global public health threats of natural or deliberate nature increase considerably the health and safety vulnerability of mass gatherings.

Major areas of public health responsibility include health care capacity and mass-casualty preparedness; disease surveillance and outbreak response; environmental health and food safety; public information and health promotion; public health preparedness and response to incidents potentially involving the deliberate use of explosives, biological and chemical agents or radio nuclear material; and leadership, operations and unified command.

This book comprehensively and systematically presents the experience of and lessons learned from the public health aspects of the preparations and conduct of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Documenting this experience can be a source of valuable information and knowledge for governments at all levels and communities in building their capacity for not only large-scale events but also preparing to deal with the avian influenza pandemic threat or other emergencies such as flooding and phenomena often associated with climate change….”

“….Mass gatherings, such as the Olympic Games, represent significant challenges for the public health system and the health care system. Mass gatherings are typically defined as more than 1000 people at a specific location for a defined period of time

(1). Much of the literature, however, describes events with more than 25 000 attendees. The term special event medical care has also been used and has been

defined as “the provision of preventive measures, or definitive, primary care, or hospital referral to persons attending or participating in major sports, recreational or political events”

(2). Characteristics of mass gatherings that impact public health services include large attendance, duration of the event and security concerns. The incidence of illness and injury at mass gatherings is believed to be higher than would occur naturally in a population of comparable size

(3). Environmental factors, such as weather, can contribute to large numbers of ill people….”

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[EQ] A systematic review of inequalities in the use of maternal health care in developing countries

A systematic review of inequalities in the use of maternal health care in developing countries: examining the scale of the problem and the importance of context

Lale Say, UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
Rosalind Raine , Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, England
Bulletin of the World Health Organization - Volume 85, Number 10, October 2007, 733-820

Available online at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/85/10/06-035659/en/index.html

“……This review demonstrates variations in the use of maternal health care across populations both within and between 23 developing countries. Variations were partly explained by methodological differences in study designs. However, important and diverse contextual factors were also identified, many relating to the funding and organization of health care. In addition, more subtle, but equally influential, context-specific individual level factors emerged, as did interactions between individual level and health service-related factors.

Two reasons for the limited success of the safe motherhood campaign during the past two decades have been the lack of rigorous analysis of the data available on variations in use, together with an inadequate grasp of the contextual issues that must be addressed if inequalities in maternal health care use are to be reduced. Our results highlight the need to thoroughly explore and address context-specific causes of variable use of maternal health care if safe motherhood is to become a reality in developing countries…..”

Annex 1. Characteristics and quality assessment of studies [html 21kb]

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