Helpdesk Reports
The evidence found for this report shows that vending machines have been used to make contraceptives available to vulnerable groups in low and middle income countries in a number of programmes. Examples from different parts of the world include: A six-year HIV prevention pilot programme started in 2009, which plans to install 100 CVMs using… Read more
This annotated bibliography highlights 14 key resources drawn from the studies which underpinned the questions answered in this helpdesk report. Some selection criteria included the source’s relevance to the query, recent publication, contextual relevance and methodology. The sources below are grouped into three sets: those selected based on their relevance to the Syrian context; those… Read more
This report summarises available literature and evidence relating to the above two specific questions. The geographical focus of this research is Syria and neighbouring countries. However, examples of evidence from different contexts are also drawn to inform this review. Education and psychosocial support are purported to have a dynamic and mutually reinforcing relationship. The Education… Read more
Most of the evidence concentrates on the nutrition of vulnerable groups – mainly very young children and CBA. The little data available on nutritional status of the elderly is for those living in residential homes. For men, published evidence relates to Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries and is therefore not given here. The report includes… Read more
Improving the efficiency, effectiveness, equity and responsiveness of supply chains and procurement processes for pharmaceuticals, vaccines and other health products, which make up a large share of total health expenditure in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), has important implications for health system performance and population health. Decentralised governance of health services provides greater autonomy in… Read more
Some individual studies noted factors for success and what did not work well. However, there was not enough evidence to get a synthesis on barriers and enablers to sport for development in general. Often programmes in the literature were described but rarely evaluated. Where they were evaluated, specific features contributing to success or otherwise were… Read more
Research looking at the use of smartphones to monitor doctor attendance in Pakistan found many other factors affecting attendance other than the monitoring (Callen et al 2013). Health systems inspectors uploaded results to an aggregating website. Smartphone monitoring doubled inspection rates and relatively few phones were used to cover a large population. Because politicians provide… Read more