Health Systems
This case study examines whether health system reconstruction in northern Uganda has promoted equality and created a health system that is gender equitable. Measuring the health system against the World Health Organization’s six health system building blocks, the case study highlights that northern Uganda needs a post-conflict recovery plan which is sensitive to gender concerns…. Read more
Sierra Leone is almost at the bottom in the Human Development Index, ranking 180th out of 187 countries. There is significant gender inequality where a mere 23% of women are literate, half the rate among men, while domestic violence is widespread. In addition, infectious diseases such as malaria, TB and HIV/ AIDS are the leading… Read more
A common assumption is that strengthening the health system will automatically lead to better health for men and women. However, health systems are not neutral: they reflect gender norms, and as such, can reinforce gender inequalities and discrimination. Health system reform has largely paid little attention to how health service integration, human resource policies, information… Read more
The period just after conflict is a time of turmoil when social norms are in a state of flux, donor funds are available and there is often a political will for change. A window of opportunity for reform in public sector institutions can open, offering a chance to “build back better” in health and gender… Read more
The post-conflict or post-crisis period provides the opportunity for wide-ranging public sector reforms; social norms are in a state of uncertainty, donor funds are available and there is often a political will for change and to ‘build back better’. Health system reform can improve the quality and accessibility of health care; increase the effectiveness and… Read more
The single biggest barrier for countries in sub-Saharan Africa to achieving Universal Health Coverage is the lack of an adequate and well-performing health workforce. This deficit can be addressed by training more new health personnel and/or by improving the performance of the existing health workforce. So far efforts have mostly focused on training new staff… Read more
This spring, when my team from the Ebola Response Anthropology Platform evaluated Community-Based Ebola Care Centres (CCCs) in Sierra Leone, one thing we constantly heard complaints about was human-resource management. Residents of the communities where the Centres were located grumbled about favouritism: well-paying jobs in the Centres were given to friends and family of the… Read more
Kenya has one of the most vibrant economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Economic growth is strong, and in 2014 it was announced that Kenya had crossed the threshold from a ‘low-Income country’ to a ‘lower-middle-Income country’ (LMIC). Yet, 43% of the people live on less than $1.25 a day and in some parts of Kenya only… Read more
In this blog post Maureen Njue discusses the purpose, use, and range of different online research ethics training courses. “For protocols to be reviewed, all the listed Principal Investigators (PIs) and co-PIs need a certificate as proof of having done an online ethics course.” “All applications must be accompanied by a certificate of completion from… Read more
Many countries are now attempting to roll out and scale up Community Health Worker (CHW) programmes. CHWs provide a wide range of health services. They are community-based workers who are trained, but have no formal professional or paraprofessional certificate. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to find out how intervention design can influence… Read more
Kenya’s community health strategy (2006) expounds the country’s plan to expand access to community health care for the whole population, through two close-to-community providers: community health workers (CHWs) (community selected community members who carry out a range of activities at household level) and community health extension workers (CHEWs) (government selected workers who supervise CHWs among… Read more