Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Jul 2011
Health care-seeking behaviour and diagnostic delays for Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
About half of the patients with Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are currently detected by fixed health facilities and not by mobile teams. Given the recent policy to integrate HAT control into general health services, we studied health seeking behaviour in these spontaneously presenting patients. ⋯ Substantial patient as well as health system delays are incurred in HAT cases detected passively. Public health centres are performing poorly in the diagnostic work-up for HAT, mainly because HAT is a relatively rare disease with few and non-specific early symptoms. Integration of HAT diagnosis and treatment into general health services requires strong technical support and well-organized supervision and referral mechanisms.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Jun 2011
Multicenter StudyNeed for improved antimicrobial and infection control stewardship in Vietnamese intensive care units.
Survey of antibiotic consumption, microbial resistance and hygiene precautions in the intensive care units of three hospitals in northern Vietnam. ⋯ Low antibiotic consumption, poor hygiene precautions and the high level of antibiotic resistance indicate that there is room for improvement regarding antibiotic use and infection control.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Mar 2011
How much longer will Africa have to depend on western nations for support of its capacity-building efforts for biomedical research?
Advances in biomedical research techniques have resulted in the conquest of many diseases and the improvement in the health and well-being of populations, yet sub-Saharan Africa continues to lag behind western nations in terms of research infrastructure and capacity. The increasing numbers of links and collaborations between western institutions of higher learning and teaching hospitals and universities in sub-Saharan Africa have undoubtedly promoted scholarly research activity on the continent. However, most of the research agenda is, understandably, dominated by western collaborators who provide the much needed funding. Given the recent exposure by events on Wall Street of the frailties of western economies, Africa urgently needs to look inwards in its quest to train biomedical researchers of repute and to secure funding for its capacity-building needs.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Feb 2011
India calling: harnessing the promise of mobile phones for HIV healthcare.
The technology that has been able to straddle the digital divide most effectively in resource-constrained settings has been the mobile phone. The tremendous growth seen in Africa and Asia in mobile phone use over the last half decade has spurred plans to integrate mobile phones with healthcare delivery globally. ⋯ It highlights the widespread use of mobile phones in developing areas of the world, those which have a heavy burden of HIV and infectious diseases. There is scope for exploiting existing mobile phone technology and infrastructure for healthcare enhancement in resource-constrained settings.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Jan 2011
Viewpoint: When the 'non-workable ideological best' becomes the enemy of the 'imperfect but workable good'.
This brief paper addresses some of the difficulties inherent in international ideological approaches to solving the complex problems of health care financing and delivery in poor countries using Ghana as an example. It concludes with an appeal for problem solving approaches involving informed debate as to optimal ways forward to solve low income country health financing woes that are open minded about possible options rather than vested in particular positions.