The News Review:
- 24 Mar 2008, 0815 hrs IST, Manash Pratim Gohain,TNN
- Health outreach teams help neighbors in need
- Conference To Explore Using Technology To Increase Access To Health…
- Two in three children checked in intervention listed for follow-ups
- Nigeria: And Our Women Continue to Die
24 Mar 2008, 0815 hrs IST, Manash Pratim Gohain,TNN
Times of India – Mar 24, 2008
Meanwhile, a new academy has already been set-up under the aegis
of the Indian Association of Public Health (IAPH) for critical analysis of
public health policies in the country. During its recent annual
conference held at the Maulana Azad Medical College in the Capital, the IAPH
instituted the Indian Academy of Public Health to provide an organised platform
to public health practitioners in the country. Convened by Dr Sandeep Ray,
secretary general, IAPH, the conference discussed environment and public health,
apart from issues such as leprosy, tuberculosis and neonatal child health. Speaking about the new
academy, Dr Faruque Ahmed, principal, Khaja Banda Nawaz Institute of Medical
Sciences, Gulbarga, Karnataka, and the advisor to the new academy, stated: “Our
first concern is that even though the public health institutes are churning out
Master’s in public health, where are the employment opportunities for these new
graduates? Our aim is to train them so that they can further train the health
workers and thereby create employment opportunities… Meanwhile, a new academy has already been set-up under the aegis
of the Indian Association of Public Health (IAPH) for critical analysis of
public health policies in the country. During its recent annual
conference held at the Maulana Azad Medical College in the Capital, the IAPH
instituted the Indian Academy of Public Health to provide an organised platform
to public health practitioners in the country. Convened by Dr Sandeep Ray,
secretary general, IAPH, the conference discussed environment and public health,
apart from issues such as leprosy, tuberculosis and neonatal child health. Speaking about the new
academy, Dr Faruque Ahmed, principal, Khaja Banda Nawaz Institute of Medical
Sciences, Gulbarga, Karnataka, and the advisor to the new academy, stated: “Our
first concern is that even though the public health institutes are churning out
Master’s in public health, where are the employment opportunities for these new
graduates? Our aim is to train them so that they can further train the health
workers and thereby create employment opportunities. ” IAPH’s academy would also
be providing managerial training for the rural health mission. When asked about the upcoming
public health institutes and about expertise being brought in from universities
like Yale and other US institutions, Ahmed was sceptical. “This is unfortunate,
because it is the Indian practitioners who have controlled small-pox and
malaria.
Health outreach teams help neighbors in need
San Francisco Chronicle – Mar 24, 2008
Vega is part of a fast-growing grassroots network of community health advocates in California who work in low-income immigrant communities. Across the Bay Area, health “promoters” present classes on safer sex, managing diabetes and preventing domestic violence. They also offer one-on-one aid to neighbors who need advice on finding an affordable dentist or treating an asthmatic baby. Volunteer health workers are familiar to many Latin American immigrants because the model has its roots in places such as Mexico, where more than 200,000 government-trained promotores de salud vaccinate children and deliver babies in rural areas. In California, nonprofit health clinics, county health departments and even giant health maintenance organizations are embracing the approach as a way to teach healthy habits and connect residents to medical care, especially the state’s 5 million uninsured and those unfamiliar with the U.
Conference To Explore Using Technology To Increase Access To Health…
Medical News Today – Medical News Today (press release) – Mar 24, 2008
The day-long event, sponsored by the Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality (Hcheq), is the first conference of its kind to bring together policy and health care technology experts to discuss the role technology should play in increasing access to public health programs for all eligible individuals. The conference focuses on New York State, where roughly 900,000 people — 40 percent of the state’s 2. 2 million uninsured — are eligible but not enrolled in public health insurance provided by Medicaid, Family Health Plus or Child Health Plus (CHPlus) programs. “We need enlightened health care policy, but also the administrative infrastructure and technology in place to support it,” explains Georganne Chapin, President and CEO of Hcheq. “Information technology initiatives are already at work in health care programs in New York and other states and have huge potential to increase coverage and access. This conference will bring together leaders from New York’s health care community to start a productive and, hopefully, ongoing discussion about how to leverage information technology in the enrollment and eligibility process for New York’s public health insurance programs. ” The conference will feature panels of experts in health care, IT, and public policy.
Two in three children checked in intervention listed for follow-ups
abc.net.au – Mar 24, 2008
The director of Remote Health Noelene Swanson says five new medical teams are heading out to communities from this week, starting with the Luritja and Pintubi regions. She says two-thirds of the 6,000 children already checked have been referred for follow-up treatment. “The primary health care teams that have been out on the ground now have been diligently following that through since the very first child health check teams, so I’m quite confident in saying that all of the follow up that was required, the treatments have been initiated or completed. There’s dental follow-ups, paediatrric follow-ups and also ENT and hearing follow-ups and some of those are well under-way.
Nigeria: And Our Women Continue to Die
AllAfrica.com – Mar 24, 2008
An estimated 40 per cent of pregnant women in Nigeria, according to a report by a Consultative Forum which collaborated with some development partners a year ago, experienced pregnancy-related problems, and that for every woman that dies, 15 – 20 other women suffer short or long-term disabilities including obstetrics fistulae, rupture uterus and paralysis. Prominent among these complications are Vesico Virginal Fistulae (VVF). The World Health Organisation’s maternal mortality ratio in the country put it at 800 per 100,000 live births. However, the story becomes bleaker in the northern part of the country, legendary for its backwardness in key areas like health delivery and education. The northern region statistics is as high as 1,500 – 2,000 per 100,000 live births. In fact, a report by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Nigeria (SOGON) put the deaths at 3,000 per 100,000 live births. This in essence means that the north contributes the bulk of women in the country that die before, during or after child birth due to pregnancy-related complications… Socio-cultural practices, religion, ignorance and poverty have been singled out as responsible for the high deaths in the north. A recent observation by a coalition of health-related Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) noted that "many socio-cultural practices in Nigeria as in other African countries are associated with women’s low status. From childhood, the girl child is brought up to accept an inferior status in all aspects of existence, even in situations that threaten her life and wellbeing. The low status of women in the north is also a major contributor to their poor survival rates in pregnancy and childbirth and also that of their offspring. "In most cases, decisions are made for them about childbearing, as to the numbers of children and timing, and access to health care and services. Women who mostly suffer from these deaths and disabilities from maternal mortality are usually young, illiterate, poor rural girls who have often times been given out in marriage at very young ages and become pregnant soon after. They lack the information and knowledge to make informed decision about child bearing and use of available services.
