Bulletin of the World Health Organization
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Bull. World Health Organ. · Nov 2013
Health workforce contributions to health system development: a platform for universal health coverage.
In the 1970s, Thailand was a low-income country with poor health indicators and low health service coverage. The local health infrastructure was especially weak. ⋯ A competent, committed health workforce helped strengthen the PHC system at the district level. Keeping the policy focus on the development of human resources for health (HRH) for an extended period was essential, together with a holistic approach to the development of HRH, characterized by the integration of different kinds of HRH interventions and the linking of these interventions with broader efforts to strengthen other health system domains.
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Bull. World Health Organ. · Nov 2013
Strengthening human resources for health through information, coordination and accountability mechanisms: the case of the Sudan.
Human resources for health (HRH) in the Sudan were limited by shortages and the maldistribution of health workers, poor management, service fragmentation, poor retention of health workers in rural areas, and a weak health information system. ⋯ The success of the country coordination and facilitation process was substantiated by the stakeholders' coordinated support, which was built on solid evidence of the challenges in HRH and shared accountability in the planning and implementation of responses to those challenges. The support led to political commitment and the mobilization of resources for HRH. The leadership that was promoted and the educational institutions that were opened should facilitate the training, deployment and retention of the health workers needed to achieve universal health coverage.
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Bull. World Health Organ. · Oct 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialEconomic evaluation of neonatal care packages in a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Sylhet, Bangladesh.
To evaluate and compare the cost-effectiveness of two strategies for neonatal care in Sylhet division, Bangladesh. ⋯ The home-care package represents a highly cost-effective intervention strategy that should be considered for replication and scale-up in Bangladesh and similar settings elsewhere.
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Bull. World Health Organ. · Sep 2013
Integration of comprehensive women's health programmes into health systems: cervical cancer prevention, care and control in Rwanda.
Although it is highly preventable and treatable, cervical cancer is the most common and most deadly cancer among women in Rwanda. ⋯ Low-income countries should begin to address cervical cancer by integrating prevention, screening and treatment into routine women's health services. This requires political will, cross-sectoral collaboration and planning, innovative partnerships and robust monitoring and evaluation. With external support and adequate planning, high nationwide coverage rates for HPV vaccination and screening for cervical cancer can be achieved within a few years.