Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Feb 2007
Drug toxicity and cost as barriers to community participation in HAT control in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Active case-finding programmes by mobile teams are the cornerstone of West African Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) control. Low attendance rates of screening and low uptake of treatment after diagnosis are major problems. The objectives of this survey were to explore community perception of HAT, to assess acceptability of control activities and to identify barriers amenable to intervention. ⋯ Less toxic drugs, lowering financial barriers and improving confidentiality would have considerable impact on the participation in population screening for HAT.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Feb 2007
EditorialEditorial: a view from beneath: community health insurance in Africa.
This paper presents an overview of the development of Community Health Insurance (CHI) in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2003, nearly 600 CHI initiatives were registered in a dozen countries of francophone West Africa alone. At regional level, coordination networks have been created in Africa with the aim to support and monitor the developments of this innovative model of health care financing. ⋯ In practice however, enrolment rates per scheme remain low or are only slowly increasing. Context-specific research is needed on the reasons that prevent people from enrolling in larger numbers. On that basis, relevant action to be taken locally can be identified.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Nov 2006
Evaluation of the WHO Haemoglobin Colour Scale for diagnosis of anaemia in children and pregnant women as used by primary health care nurses and community health workers in western Kenya.
To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the WHO Haemoglobin Colour Scale (HCS) for anaemia in three groups of children aged 2 months to 2 years (sick children, those visiting an immunization clinic and a community-based random sample of children) and a sample of pregnant women. ⋯ In an area with high prevalence of anaemia among sick children, use of the HCS has the potential to significantly increase the proportion of sick, anaemic children who are diagnosed with anaemia and given appropriate treatment. Further evaluations of the effect of the use of the HCS on treatment practices at the health facility level are required.