Articles: health.
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Trop. Med. Parasitol. · Dec 1985
Comparative StudyControl of deaths from diarrheal disease in rural communities. I. Design of an intervention study and effects on child mortality.
From May through October 1980, the "Strengthening Rural Health Delivery" project (SRHD) under the Rural Health Department of the Ministry of Health of Egypt had conducted an investigation into prevention of child mortality from diarrheal disease through testing various modules of Oral Rehydration Therapy delivery mechanisms. In a six-cell design counting a total of almost 29,000 children, ORT was provided both as hypotonic sucrose/salt solution prepared and administered by mothers and normotonic, balanced electrolyte solution in the hands of both mothers and health care providers and the effects on child mortality during the peak season of diarrheal incidence were measured. ⋯ A cost-benefit analysis was performed on the cost of the services as well as on the outcome for each of five study cells using the sixth, the control, as reference. Results showed that early rehydration with a sucrose/salt solution in the hands of mothers, backed by balanced oral rehydration solution in the hands of health care providers proved the most cost-effective means of reducing diarrhea-specific mortality as well as being as safe as prepackaged commercial preparations.
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Recent developments that influence patterns of antibiotic prescription for obstetric-gynecologic patients include a better understanding of the multibacterial dimensions of pelvic infections, the introduction of new antibiotics, and the pressures for cost-containment in medical care. Prophylaxis has become established as effective for prevention of infection following vaginal hysterectomy and cesarean section, but its success in abdominal hysterectomy has been less uniform. For patients with pelvic infections, the poorest clinical response occurs in those whose infection is well established before initiation of therapy. ⋯ Both metronidazole and clindamycin meet these criteria. Controlled studies of infections seen early in the clinical course are few. The initial selection of agents effective against gram-negative anaerobes seems important in the treatment of endomyometritis following cesarean section, whereas curettage seems the most significant therapy for infections following abortion.
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Third World Plann Rev · Nov 1985
Myths and misconceptions in primary health care: lessons from experience.
Primary health care (PHC) is neither new nor cheap. It is a step forward in the consistent commitment of the public health movement over the past century and a half to seek out and redress the wrongs of society, paying particular attention to those most in need. PHC is not 2nd class medicine; it is not simpler but rather more complex. Selective PHC and primary medical care are significant parts of PHC but not the whole. PHC is essentially a combination of task-oriented basic health services and process-oriented community development. The former is a community-desired service, the latter less so. Community participation and community self-help in health care is more productive if based on an informed community, rather than otherwise, and is open to abuse. Health education and health legislation are the trusted tools of health advancement. Medical schools and other institutions of higher learning have a significant, if not vital, role to play in research education, evaluation, and services. They also have a coordinating role to promote PHC team effort. The selection and preparation of voluntary health workers and paid auxiliaries is at least as difficult as that for professional health workers. The preparation of their teachers is a sadly neglected aspect, without which there is little hope of any major progress in improving the image of PHC. Traditional practitioners could and should have an important role in promoting modern PHC since it is simply an update of their traditional role. Data and information systems require revision to meet the needs of local communities rather than those of central intelligence.