Croatian medical journal
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Croatian medical journal · Jun 2008
Influence of urbanization level and gross domestic product of counties in Croatia on access to health care.
To examine the association of counties' urbanization level and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita on the access to health care. ⋯ The lack of physicians, especially in primary health care can lead to a reduced access to health care and increased workload of physicians, predominantly in rural counties, regardless of the counties' GDP.
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Croatian medical journal · Jun 2008
Professionals with delivery skills: backbone of the health system and key to reaching the maternal health Millennium Development Goal.
The attainment of the fifth Millennium Development Goal requires adequate national reserves of skilled birth attendants. Nurses, midwives, and their equivalents form the frontline of the formal health system are a critical element of global efforts to reduce ill-health and poverty in the poorest areas of the world. Planning and policies supporting these cadres of workers must be placed high on the development agenda and championed by key international and national players. ⋯ Investment in the largely female cadre that cares for the majority of the world's poorer women has simply not been a high enough priority. Five key policy recommendations include harnessing political will and adequate metrics, protection of frontline workers' safety and livelihoods, ensuring an adequate pipeline with a focus on girls' education, donor support for training and professional organizations, and a rapid scale-up of a robust cadre of delivery care professionals. Finally, a call for unified international support of rapid scale-up of cadres of delivery care workers is put forth.