Health, Education, Social Protection News & Notes 03/2011

Health, Education, Social Protection
News & Notes 03/2011

A bi-weekly newsletter supported by GIZ
(Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit)
30 January 2011
You can download back issues (2005 - 2011) of this newsletter at:
http://german-practice-collection.org/en/links/newsletters/hesp-news-and-notes
Table of Contents:
BOOKS ................................................................................ 4
Broken Promises: How the AIDS Establishment Has Betrayed the Developing World .......... 4
Human Rights Watch World Report 2011 ............................................................................... 4
Improving Global Health: Forecasting the Next 50 Years....................................................... 4
African Statistical Yearbook - Annuaire statistique pour l’Afrique 2010 .................................. 5
UNESCO Science Report 2010: The Current Status of Science around the World ............... 5
ONLINE PUBLICATIONS .................................................... 5

Global Health.............................................................................................................. 5
The Lancet Series: Health in Southeast Asia.......................................................................... 5
Corruption by Global Fund Grant Implementers ..................................................................... 6
Emerging and Transitioning Countries’ Role in Global Health................................................ 6
Quality in health care and globalization of health services: accreditation and regulatory
oversight of medical tourism companies ................................................................................. 6
The evolution, etiology and eventualities of the global health security regime ....................... 6
HIV - AIDS - STI ......................................................................................................... 7
Correcting Mortality for Loss to Follow-Up: A Nomogram Applied to Antiretroviral Treatment
Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa ....................................................................................... 7
HIV-malaria co-infection: effects of malaria on the prevalence of HIV in East sub-Saharan
Africa ....................................................................................................................................... 7
Finding a cure for HIV: will it ever be achievable? .................................................................. 7
Interim Guidance: Preexposure Prophylaxis for the Prevention of HIV Infection in Men Who
Have Sex with Men ................................................................................................................. 8
HIV/AIDS Behaviour Change Communication: A Toolkit for the Workplace .......................... 8
Immunovirological outcomes and resistance patterns at 4 years of antiretroviral therapy use
in HIV-infected patients in Cambodia...................................................................................... 8
Distribution of Antiretroviral Treatment Through Self-Forming Groups of Patients in Tete
Province, Mozambique............................................................................................................ 9
HIV self-testing among health workers ................................................................................... 9
Keeping health staff healthy: evaluation of a workplace initiative to reduce morbidity and
mortality from HIV/AIDS in Malawi .......................................................................................... 9
HIV & Me: An African American’s Guide to Living With HIV ................................................. 10
Sexual & Reproductive Health .................................................................................. 10
Reclaiming & Redefining Rights - ICPD+15: status of Sexual and Reproductive Health and
Rights in Asia ........................................................................................................................ 10
Community-based provision of injectable contraceptives in Madagascar: ‘task shifting’ to
expand access to injectable contraceptives.......................................................................... 10
Sexual and reproductive health: Core competencies in primary care .................................. 11
Human Trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and the Sex Sector ............................................................... 11
Maternal & Child Health............................................................................................ 11
Maternal Health: Investing in the Lifeline of Healthy Societies & Economies....................... 11
The Role of Pregnancy Outcomes in the Maternal Mortality Rates of Two Areas in Matlab,
Bangladesh ........................................................................................................................... 12
HESP-News & Notes - 03/2011 - page 1

Destined to fail? How violence against women is undoing development ............................. 12
Malaria ..................................................................................................................... 12
Special issue of PLoS Medicine on a Research Agenda for Malaria Elimination ................. 12
Coverage of malaria protection in pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa: a synthesis and
analysis of national survey data ............................................................................................ 13
Marked Reduction in Prevalence of Malaria Parasitemia and Anemia in HIV-Infected
Pregnant Women Taking Cotrimoxazole with or without Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine
Intermittent Preventive Therapy during Pregnancy in Malawi............................................... 13
DDT and Malaria Prevention: Addressing the Paradox ........................................................ 13
The United Nations’ Scientific Fraud against DDT................................................................ 14
Tuberculosis ............................................................................................................. 14
Guidelines for intensified tuberculosis case-finding and isoniazid preventive therapy for
people living with HIV in resourceconstrained settings......................................................... 14
Other Infectious Diseases......................................................................................... 14
Antiviral Agents for the Treatment and Chemoprophylaxis of Influenza ............................... 14
Possible impact of rising sea levels on vector-borne infectious diseases ............................ 15
What’s Next For Disease Eradication? ................................................................................. 15
What You Need to Know About Infectious Disease .............................................................. 15
Essential Medicines .................................................................................................. 16
Improving access to high-quality low-cost essential medicines in Tanzania - assessing an
NGO’s contribution ................................................................................................................ 16
Social Protection....................................................................................................... 16
Provision of health services for microfinance clients: Analysis of evidence from India ........ 16
The financial protection effect of Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme: evidence from
a study in two rural districts ................................................................................................... 16
Water, Sanitation & Hygiene..................................................................................... 17
Systematic review: Handwashing behaviour in low- to middle-income countries: outcome
measures and behaviour maintenance ................................................................................. 17
Human Resources.................................................................................................... 17
Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN)....................................................................... 17
Efficiency and effectiveness of aid flows towards health workforce development................ 17
Human resources for health and burden of disease: an econometric approach .................. 18
What motivates people to volunteer? The case of volunteer AIDS caregivers in faith-based
organizations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa....................................................................... 18
Reflections on the ethics of recruiting foreign-trained human resources for health.............. 18
Health Systems & Research ..................................................................................... 19
Research on health transition in Africa: time for action......................................................... 19
Enhancing capacity for ‘systematic’ thinking in public health................................................ 19
Performance Based Financing can help to increase coverage in remote areas .................. 20
Out of Sync? Demographic and other social science research on health conditions in
developing countries ............................................................................................................. 20
Information & Communication Technology ............................................................... 20
Big publishers cut access to journals in poor countries ........................................................ 20
The Impact of eHealth on the Quality and Safety of Health Care: A Systematic Overview.. 21
Why is it difficult to implement e-health initiatives? A qualitative study ................................ 21
Standards and eHealth.......................................................................................................... 21
Education ................................................................................................................. 22
Teacher Education at a Distance: Impact on Development in the Community..................... 22
World Bank as a global education ministry? ......................................................................... 22
Harm Reduction and Drug Use................................................................................. 22
Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol ........................................................ 22
Atlas on substance use (2010): Resources for the prevention and treatment of substance
use disorders ......................................................................................................................... 23
Smoking behaviours, access to cigarettes and relationships with alcohol in 15- and 16-year-
old schoolchildren.................................................................................................................. 23
Millennium Development Goals ................................................................................ 23
The path to achieving the Millennium Development Goals: A synthesis of evidence from
around the world.................................................................................................................... 23
Financing Goal 1 of the MDGs in Africa: Some Evidence from Cross-Country Data ........... 24
MDG Achievements, Determinants, and Resource Needs: What Has Been Learnt? .......... 24
Development Assistance .......................................................................................... 24

New Challenges, New Beginnings - Next Steps in European Development Cooperation ... 24
Sustainable Development: From Brundtland to Rio 2012..................................................... 25
The Case for Investing in Young People as Part of a National Poverty Reduction Strategy 25
Poverty in Numbers: The Changing State of Global Poverty from 2005 to 2015 ................. 25
Others ...................................................................................................................... 26
The Globalization of Clinical Trials: Testimonies from Human Subjects............................... 26
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES ............................................ 26

Towards 4+5: A database of interventions to improve maternal and newborn survival ....... 26
HIV Resistance Response Database Initiative...................................................................... 26
AIDSinfo Country fact sheets ................................................................................................ 26
Guttmacher Institute International Data Center..................................................................... 27
INTERESTING WEB SITES .............................................. 27

New web resource on trachoma............................................................................................ 27
World TB Day 2011: On the move against tuberculosis ....................................................... 27
IMAXI International Cooperative ........................................................................................... 27
International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS)................................................. 28
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES............................................ 28
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Poverty Reduction, Reproductive Health and
Health Sector Reform............................................................................................................ 28
E-learning Course: Health Outcomes and the Poor.............................................................. 28
Health Care and Management in Tropical Countries (HCMTC) ........................................... 28
CARTOON ......................................................................... 29
TIPS & TRICKS ................................................................. 29

4 Ways to Minimize Open Windows in Windows 7 ............................................................... 29
Another Way to Save Internet Images .................................................................................. 30
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BOOKS
Broken Promises: How the AIDS Establishment Has Betrayed the Develop-
ing World
by Edward C. Green
PoliPoint Press, 2011 - 288 pp.
The book is officially launched on February 15, but it is available now, e.g.
via Amazon (US$ 12.21): http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Promises-
Establishment-Betrayed-Developing/dp/1936227002
Harvard University researcher Edward Green shows how four forces - ideology, politics,
a fixation on technology, and money - have produced AIDS policy failures in Africa,
where two-thirds of all AIDS victims live. The author calls for a more flexible and empiri-
cally based policy focused on promoting fidelity - the only approach that has proven ef-
fective in Africa.
***
Human Rights Watch World Report 2011

Events of 2010
Editors: Joe Saunders, Ian Gorvin, Danielle Haas et al.

Human Rights Watch, January 2011
668 pp. 4.3 MB:

http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/wr2011_publication.pdf
This 21st annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90
countries and territories worldwide. With increasing frequency, governments that might
exert pressure for human rights improvement are accepting the rationalizations and sub-
terfuges of repressive governments, favouring private “dialogue” and “cooperation” over
more hard-nosed approaches. Human Rights Watch calls on governmental supporters
of human rights to ensure that the quest for cooperation does not become an excuse for
inaction.
***
Improving Global Health: Forecasting the Next 50 Years

Patterns of Potential Human Progress
by Barry B. Hughes, Randall Kuhn, Cecilia M. Peterson et al.

Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures, University of Den-
ver, January 2011
370 pp. 3.6 MB:

http://www.ifs.du.edu/assets/documents/PPHP3/PPHP3V1.pdf
This volume drills down into arguably the most important of all issues for humans: that of
health. It recognizes the remarkable epidemiologic and demographic transitions that,
while long underway, have gained, lost, and regained momentum in the last 50 years. It
explores where the next five decades may take us. Therefore, this volume devotes at-
tention not only to the drivers of change in health prospects but also to the ways in
which those prospects affect broader demographic and economic futures.

African Statistical Yearbook - Annuaire statistique pour l’Afrique 2010
by Dimitri Sanga, Charles Lufumpa, Kouassi Réné Nguettia, et al.

African Development Bank Group, 2010
401 pp. 3.5 MB:

http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publication
s/ADB_Yearbook_2010_web.pdf
The book makes a key contribution to economic policy analysis and the monitoring of
progress in vital economic and social sectors in the continent. Up-to-date and reliable
statistics have become even more important in the context of the global economic and
financial crisis because of the need to evaluate its impact on the lives of African people.
***
UNESCO Science Report 2010: The Current Status of Science around the
World
by Lidia Brito, Susan Schneegans, Sarah Colautti et al.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
(UNESCO) 2010
541 pp. 8.5 MB:

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001899/189958e.pdf
The report analyses the trends and developments that have shaped scientific research,
innovation and higher education over the past five years. It depicts an increasingly com-
petitive environment, one in which the flow of information, knowledge, personnel and in-
vestment has become a two-way traffic. Both China and India, for instance, are using
their newfound economic might to invest in high-tech companies in Europe and else-
where to acquire technological expertise overnight. Other large emerging economies are
also spending more on research and development than before, among them Brazil,
Mexico, South Africa and Turkey.
ONLINE PUBLICATIONS
Global Health
The Lancet Series: Health in Southeast Asia
Launched in Bangkok, Thailand, Jan 25, 2011
Access online at:

http://www.lancet.com/series/health-in-southeast-asia
The health of 10 countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,

Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) analysed in the
Lancet Series on Southeast Asia concerns the health of 580 million people. The series
highlights key health issues: infectious disease control, maternal and child health, r e-
ducing the impact of chronic diseases, and the finance and human resource issues that
need to be addressed to improve health and health equity in this diverse region of the
world.
***

Corruption by Global Fund Grant Implementers
by Bernard Rivers
Global Fund Observer (GFO) Issue 139 - 27 January 2011
Read online at: http://www.aidspan.org/index.php?issue=139&article=1
Over the last few days, there have been news stories worldwide about corruption in the
implementation of Global Fund grants. As a consequence Sweden, Denmark and Ger-
many have put their contribution to the Global Fund on hold. The author reviews the sto-
ries and the underlying facts, and makes some recommendations.
***
Emerging and Transitioning Countries’ Role in Global Health
by Jennifer Prah Ruger and Nora Y. Ng

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy; 3:253-289; 2010
38 pp. 198 kB:

http://law.slu.edu/healthlaw/journal/archives/Ruger_and_Ng_Article.pdf
Global health scholarship has failed to adequately consider the “BRIC” cluster of nations
- Brazil, Russia, India and China - particularly in the aggregate. An article search with
the keywords “BRIC” and “public health” yields just one publication. But these countries
have a unique role to play in the global health enterprise by addressing global health
problems as they build their own health systems and help developing countries improve
their populations’ health.
***
Quality in health care and globalization of health services: accreditation

and regulatory oversight of medical tourism companies
Leigh G. Turner
Int J Qual Health Care (2011) 23 (1): 1-7. Published online: December 9,
2010
7 pp. 106 kB:

http://intqhc.oxfordjournals.org/content/23/1/1.full.pdf+html
Patients are crossing national borders in search of affordable and timely health care.
Many medical tourism companies are now involved in organizing cross-border health
services. Despite the rapid expansion of the medical tourism industry, few standards ex-
ist to ensure that these businesses organize high-quality, competent international health
care. Addressing the regulatory vacuum, 10 standards are proposed as a framework for
regulating the medical tourism industry.
***
The evolution, etiology and eventualities of the global health security re-
gime
by Steven J Hoffman
Health Policy Plan. (2010) 25 (6): 510-522. Published online: August 22,
2010

13 pp. 136 kB:
http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/6/510.full.pdf+html
Attention to global health security governance is more important now than ever before.
Scientists predict that a possible influenza pandemic could affect 1.5 billion people,
cause up to 150 million deaths and leave US$ 3 trillion in economic damages. A public
health emergency in one country is now only hours away from affecting many others.
HIV - AIDS - STI
Correcting Mortality for Loss to Follow-Up: A Nomogram Applied to Anti-

retroviral Treatment Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa
by Matthias Egger, Ben D. Spycher, John Sidle et al.

PLoS Med 8(1): e1000390 (18 January 2011)
11 pp. 476 kB:

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/fetchObjectAttachment.action?uri=info%3Adoi
%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000390&representation=PDF
The amount of bias in mortality estimates can be large in ART programmes with sub-
stantial loss to follow-up. Programmes should routinely report mortality among patients
retained in care and the proportion of patients lost. A simple nomogram can then be
used to estimate mortality among all patients who started ART, for a range of plausible
mortality rates among patients lost to follow-up.
***
HIV-malaria co-infection: effects of malaria on the prevalence of HIV in East

sub-Saharan Africa
Diego F Cuadros, Adam J Branscum and Philip H Crowley

Int. J. Epidemiol. (2011) Published online: January 11, 2011
9 pp. 93 kB:
http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/01/11/ije.dyq256.full.pdf+html
This is the first study to report malaria as a risk factor of concurrent HIV
infection at the population level. According to the results, individuals who live in areas
with high P. falciparum parasite rate have about twice the risk of being HIV positive
compared with individuals who live in areas with low P. falciparum parasite rate. The
work emphasizes the need for field studies focused on quantifying the interaction
among parasitic infections and risk of HIV infection, and studies to explore the impact of
control interventions.
***
Finding a cure for HIV: will it ever be achievable?
by Sharon R Lewin, Vanessa A Evans, Julian H Elliott et al.

Journal of the International AIDS Society 2011, 14:4 (24 January 2011)
37 pp. 281 kB:

http://www.jiasociety.org/content/pdf/1758-2652-14-4.pdf

Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has led to a major reduction in HIV-related
mortality and morbidity. However, HIV can still not be cured. With the absence of an ef-
fective prophylactic or therapeutic vaccine, increasing numbers of infected people,
emerging new toxicities secondary to cART and the need for life-long treatment, there is
now a real urgency to find a cure for HIV. There are currently multiple barriers to curing
HIV. The most significant barrier is the establishment of a latent or "silent" infection in
resting CD4+ T cells.
***
Interim Guidance: Preexposure Prophylaxis for the Prevention of HIV Infec-

tion in Men Who Have Sex with Men
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 28 January, 2011; 60

(03); 65-68
28 pp. 1.4 MB:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/wk/mm6003.pdf
This report provides interim guidance for health-care providers in the United States
based on results of the only large clinical trial testing the efficacy and safety of daily pr e-
exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for reducing HIV acquisition by men who have sex with
men (MSM). For MSM whose behaviours place them at high risk for HIV infection and
who do not use other effective prevention methods consistently, PrEP might reduce their
risk for HIV infection. Until comprehensive U.S. Public Health Service guidelines are
available, CDC is providing interim guidance to help guide clinical practice.
***
HIV/AIDS Behaviour Change Communication: A Toolkit for the Workplace
by Behrouz Shahandeh
International Labour Organization Programme on HIV/AIDS & the World
of Work and Family Health International, 2008
630 pp. 6.2 MB:

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---
ilo_aids/documents/publication/wcms_115460.pdf
Behaviour change communication (BCC) is an interactive process that helps to under-

stand the (selected) population, develop a focused strategy, and produce tailored mes-
sages, which are delivered using a variety of communication channels to promote pos i-
tive behaviour. The Toolkit provides a step-by-step approach, emphasizing prevention
through education, gender awareness and practical support for behaviour change.
***
Immunovirological outcomes and resistance patterns at 4 years of antiret-

roviral therapy use in HIV-infected patients in Cambodia
by Mar Pujades-Rodríguez, Birgit Schramm, Leakena Som et al.

Tropical Medicine and International Health Vol. 16, No 2, pp 205-213,
February 2011
9 pp. 160 kB:

http://fieldresearch.msf.org/msf/bitstream/10144/120329/1/101119_Pujades_ART
-Cambodia-outcomes-resist_TMIH-2011-16-205-13.pdf

The objective of the study was to report immunovirological outcomes and resistance
patterns in adults treated with triple combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) for 4 years
in an HIV programme of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The authors observed good clinical
and immunovirological outcomes and self-reported treatment adherence at 4 years of
therapy in this cohort of adults who started cART at an advanced stage of HIV disease.
***
Distribution of Antiretroviral Treatment Through Self-Forming Groups of

Patients in Tete Province, Mozambique
by Tom Decroo, Barbara Telfer, Marc Biot et al.

Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes: 1 February 2011,
Vol. 56, Issue 2, pp e39-e44
6 pp. 111 kB:

http://fieldresearch.msf.org/msf/bitstream/10144/120331/1/101113
_Decroo_ART-patient-grps-Moz_JAIDS-2011-56-e39-44.pdf
As antiretroviral treatment cohorts continue to expand, ensuring patient retention over

time is an increasingly important concern. This, together with capacity and human r e-
source constraints, have led to the consideration of out-of-clinic models for the delivery
of antiretroviral therapy (ART). The Community ART Group model was initiated by p a-
tients to improve access, patient retention, and decongest health services. Early out-
comes are highly satisfactory in terms of mortality and retention in care, lending support
to such out-of-clinic approaches.
***
HIV self-testing among health workers
by Sue Napierala Mavedzenge, Rachel Baggaley, Ying Ru Lo et al.

World Health Organization, January 2011
45 pp. 434 kB:

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789241501033_eng.pdf
This paper examines the issues of self-testing among health workers in sub-Saharan Af-
rica, where high levels of interest and motivation for self-testing has been reported and
informal self-testing already practiced. Health workers may benefit in a number of ways
from formalized self-testing, however there are concerns which also need to be ad-
dressed. Further research is needed to explore ways of supporting increased access to
testing for health workers and before definitive guidance on whether to promote or dis-
courage self-testing can be given.
***
Keeping health staff healthy: evaluation of a workplace initiative to reduce

morbidity and mortality from HIV/AIDS in Malawi
by Marielle Bemelmans, Thomas van den Akker, Olesi Pasulani et al.

Journal of the International AIDS Society 2011, 14:1 (5 January 2011)
7 pp. 300 kB:

http://www.jiasociety.org/content/pdf/1758-2652-14-1.pdf
In Malawi, the dramatic shortage of human resources for health is negatively impacted
by HIV-related morbidity and mortality among health workers and their relatives. Many

staff find it difficult to access HIV care through regular channels due to fear of stigma
and discrimination. From this study the authors conclude that staff clinic and support
group services successfully provided care and support to HIV-positive health workers.
Similar initiatives should be considered in other settings with a high HIV prevalence.
***
HIV & Me: An African American’s Guide to Living With HIV
A Special Report from thebody.com - The HealthCentral Network, 2010
31 pp. 6.3 MB:

http://img.thebody.com/hivandme/afram.pdf?ic=700100
The booklet includes updated personal stories and treatment information, and is meant
to provide newly diagnosed African Americans with some of the basic information they
need as they cope with their HIV status.
Sexual & Reproductive Health
Reclaiming & Redefining Rights - ICPD+15: status of Sexual and Reproduc-

tive Health and Rights in Asia
by Sivananthi Thanenthiran and Sai Jyothirmai Racherla

Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women, 2010
173 pp. 1.1 MB:

http://www.arrow.org.my/images/publications/ICPD+15/Reclaiming&
RedefiningRightsICPD+15.pdf
This is a comprehensive monitoring report of 15 years of International Conference on

Population and Development (ICPD) implementation in 12 Asian countries. The report
covers areas of women’s empowerment, reproductive health, reproductive rights, sexual
health and sexual rights. Without full implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action,
it will not be possible to Achieve Goal 5: reducing maternal mortality and ensuring uni-
versal access to reproductive health; and other Millennium Goals that are inextricably
linked to Program of Action.
***
Community-based provision of injectable contraceptives in Madagascar:

‘task shifting’ to expand access to injectable contraceptives
by Theresa H Hoke, Stephanie B Wheeler, Kelsey Lynd et al.

Health Policy Plan. (2011) Published online: January 21, 2011
8 pp. 117 kB:

http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/01/20/heapol.czr003.full.pdf+html
This experience from Madagascar is among the first evidence from sub-Saharan Africa
documenting the feasibility, effectiveness and acceptability of community base distribu-
tion (CBD) services for injectable contraceptives. This evidence influenced national and
global policy makers to recommend expansion of the practice. CBD of injectables is an
example of effective task shifting of a clinical practice as a means of extending services
to underserved populations without further burdening clinicians.

Sexual and reproductive health: Core competencies in primary care
Attitudes, knowledge, ethics, human rights, leadership, management, teamwork, co m-
munity work, education, counselling, clinical settings, service, provision
by Deborah Hennessy, Levent Cagatay, Sharad Iyengar et al.

Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organi-
zation, January 2011
67 pp. 816 kB:

The core sexual and reproductive health (SRH) competencies that are desirable for use
in primary health care (PHC) are collected together in this document. They reflect the at-
titudes, tasks, knowledge and skills that health personnel in PHC may need, to protect,
promote and provide SRH in the community. These competencies serve as the first step
for policy-makers, planners, service organizations and academic / training establish-
ments, to understand and meet both the education / training requirements and the ser-
vice-delivery support needed by SRH staff to provide safe, quality SRH care.
***
Human Trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and the Sex Sector
by Shilpa Merchant, Sylvia Mollet Sangaré, Gabriela Leite et al.

Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) and Center for Human
Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University Washington Col-
lege of Law, October 2010
74 pp. 2.7 MB:

http://www.genderhealth.org/files/uploads/change/publications/Human_Trafficking
_HIVAIDS_and_the_Sex_Sector_12_3_2010_FINAL.pdf
Human trafficking and forced labor are global human rights abuses. Over the past ten
years, the United States has supported some excellent programs but it has also
adopted an ideologically driven approach to the sex sector that harms women and their
families, increases the vulnerability of sex workers to violence, trafficking and HIV infec-
tion, prevents health care workers from accessing sex workers, and does little or nothing
to prevent trafficking.
Maternal & Child Health
Maternal Health: Investing in the Lifeline of Healthy Societies & Economies
Africa Progress Panel Policy Brief, September 2010
36 pp. 3.2 MB:

http://www.who.int/entity/pmnch/topics/maternal/app_maternal_hea
lth_english.pdf
There are known, cost-effective interventions that can dramatically reduce maternal
mortality. Investing in maternal health is a political and social imperative, as well as a
cost-effective investment in strong health systems overall. Three key approaches can
considerably improve the health of women in Africa: maximizing services of health
workers; efficient financing mechanisms; and building political partnerships.

The Role of Pregnancy Outcomes in the Maternal Mortality Rates of Two
Areas in Matlab, Bangladesh
by Mizanur Rahman, Julie DaVanzo and Abdur Razzaque

International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Vol. 36,
Nr. 4, December 2010
8 pp. 175 kB:

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3617010.pdf
The Matlab Maternal Child Health-Family Planning (MCH-FP) project provides maternity
care as part of its reproductive health services. It is important to assess whether this
project has reduced maternal mortality and, if so, whether this was due to differences
between the MCH-FP area (which received project services) and the comparison area
(which did not) in pregnancy rates, pregnancy outcomes or case-fatality rates. The au-
thors conclude that the interventions could substantially reduce maternal mortality in
Bangladesh and similar countries.
***
Destined to fail? How violence against women is undoing development
by Zohra Moosa, Zarrena Almeda, Victorine Djitrinou et al.

ActionAid, February 2010
48 pp. 1.5 MB:

http://www.actionaid.org.uk/doc_lib/destined_to_fail.pdf
Violence against women and girls is one of the starkest collective failures of the interna-
tional community in the 21st century. Violence affects one in three women globally and
is one of the most widespread abuses of human rights worldwide in times of both con-
flict and peace. It is a leading cause of death and disability among women of all ages.
As this report shows, women face violence and the threat of violence at every stage of
their lives.
Malaria
Special issue of PLoS Medicine on a Research Agenda for Malaria Elimina-

tion
The Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) Initiative, January

2011
http://www.ploscollections.org/article/browseIssue.action?issue=info:doi/1
0.1371/issue.pcol.v07.i13
Download the complete collection (101 pp. 3.6 MB):

http://www.ploscollections.org/downloads/plos_medicine_malERA2011_collection.pdf
The editors of the open access general medical journal PLoS Medicine announced the
publication of a collection of 12 reviews, comprising three reflective pieces and nine re-
search and development agendas. They hope that by publishing this Collection better
transparency in defining research priorities will be achieved for malariologists around the
world. The articles also provide fascinating insights into what the selected malaria ex-
perts who took part agree are the priority research themes that must be tackled in order
to eradicate malaria.

Coverage of malaria protection in pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa:
a synthesis and analysis of national survey data
by Anna Maria van Eijk, Jenny Hill, Victor A Alegana et al.

The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Early Online Publication, 26 January 2011
18 pp. 11.0 MB(!):

http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473309910702954.pdf?id
=40bade4753939e7f:-6960e6dd:12dcd905739:-733e1296234323905
Insecticide-treated nets and intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-

pyrimethamine are recommended for the control of malaria during pregnancy in en-
demic areas in Africa, but there has been no analysis of coverage data at a sub-national
level. The authors conclude that despite success in a few countries, coverag e of insecti-
cide-treated nets and intermittent preventive treatment in pregnant African women is in-
adequate; increased efforts towards scale-up are needed.
***
Marked Reduction in Prevalence of Malaria Parasitemia and Anemia in HIV-

Infected Pregnant Women Taking Cotrimoxazole with or without Sulfadox-
ine-Pyrimethamine Intermittent Preventive Therapy during Pregnancy in
Malawi
Atupele Kapito-Tembo, Steven R. Meshnick, Michaël Boele van Hens-

broek et al.
J Infect Dis. (2011) 203 (4): 464-472. Published online: January 7, 2011
9 pp. 172 kB:

http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/203/4/464.full.pdf+html
Effectiveness of cotrimoxazole (CTX) compared with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP)

intermittent-preventive-therapy (IPTp) for malaria in HIV-infected pregnant women is un-
known. The authors found that in HIV-infected pregnant women, daily CTX was associ-
ated with reduced malaria parasitemia and anemia compared with SP-IPTp. CTX plus
SP-IPTp was associated with further reduction in malaria parasitemia but toxicity was
not fully assessed.
***
DDT and Malaria Prevention: Addressing the Paradox
by Hindrik Bouwman, Henk van den Berg and Henrik Kylin

Environmental Health Perspectives, National Institutes of Health, 18 January 2011
17 pp. 146 kB:

http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchObjectAttachment.action;jsessionid=92FA7AE5E4D7D3
11B8006E7A22B28DDA?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.1002127&representation=PDF
The debate regarding DDT in malaria prevention and human health is polarized. It can
be classified into three positions: anti-DDT, centrist-DDT, pro-DDT. The objective of this
study is to arrive at a synthesis by matching a series of questions on the use of DDT as
indoor residual spray (IRS) with literature and insights, and to identify options and o p-
portunities.
***

The United Nations’ Scientific Fraud against DDT
by Donald Roberts, Roger Bate, and Richard Tren

Health Policy Outlook No. 1, January 2011
9 pp. 118 kB: http://www.aei.org/docLib/2011-HPO-01-g.pdf
For over seventy years, DDT has been a vital insecticide in the battle against disease.
Yet it is vilified for largely illegitimate concerns about its impact on the environment and
human health. Through a mix of environmental fervour, self-interest, and disregard for
evidence-based policy, United Nations (UN) agencies are misleading the public about
DDT - mistakenly claiming it is not needed and can be eliminated globally by 2020. Such
claims must be withdrawn, and the aggressive timeline for the elimination of DDT must
be shelved.
Tuberculosis
Guidelines for intensified tuberculosis case-finding and isoniazid preven-

tive therapy for people living with HIV in resourceconstrained settings
Edited by Bandana Malhotra

Department of HIV/AIDS, Stop TB Department, World Health Organization
January 2011
50 pp. 666 kB:

The objective of these guidelines is to provide guidance to national AIDS and tuberculo-
sis programmes and those providing HIV services to accelerate the nationwide imple-
mentation of Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) and Intensified tuberculosis Case Find-
ing (ICF). They include evidence-based recommendations for adults, children and in-
fants living with HIV, address implementation issues and identify key research gaps in
order to scale up TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment as a core component of HIV
prevention, treatment and care.
Other Infectious Diseases
Antiviral Agents for the Treatment and Chemoprophylaxis of Influenza

Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
by Anthony E. Fiore, Alicia Fry, David Shay et al.

Influenza Division, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Dis-
eases, 21 January, 2011
28 pp. 1.0 MB:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr6001.pdf
This report updates previous recommendations by CDC’s Advisory Committee on Im-

munization Practices (ACIP) regarding the use of antiviral agents for the prevention and
treatment of influenza. It contains information on treatment and chemoprophylaxis of in-
fluenza virus infection and provides a summary of the effectiveness and safety of antivi-
ral treatment medications. Additional information is available from CDC’s influenza web-
site at: http://www.cdc.gov/flu

Possible impact of rising sea levels on vector-borne infectious diseases
by Ranjan Ramasamy and Sinnathamby N Surendran

BMC Infectious Diseases 2011, 11:18 (18 January 2011)
26 pp. 184 kB:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2334-11-18.pdf
Vector-borne infectious diseases are a significant cause of human and animal mortality
and morbidity. Modeling studies predict that changes in climate that accompany global
warming will alter the transmission risk of many vector-borne infectious diseases in dif-
ferent parts of the world. Global warming will also raise sea levels, which will lead to an
increase in saline and brackish water bodies in coastal areas. The potential impact of
rising sea levels, as opposed to climate change, on the prevalence of vectorborne infec-
tious diseases has hitherto been unrecognised.
***
What’s Next For Disease Eradication?
by Martin Enserink
Science, Vol. 330, 24 December 2010
Download the article (4 pp. 988 kB) from the URL at the end of article (Link to full article
in Science):
http://www.scidev.net/en/features/disease-eradication-where-are-we-at-now-
.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_features
Thirty years on, smallpox remains the only human disease to have been eradicated, de-
spite relentless efforts to get rid of others. Today there are eradication programmes for
polio, lymphatic filariasis and guinea worm. Measles might be next on the list when the
World Health Assembly meets in Geneva in May, following an expert group conclusion
in August that “measles can and should be eradicated” and a report commissioned by
the WHO that found that measles eradication would cost US$ 7-14 billion but would
save more.
***
What You Need to Know About Infectious Disease
by Madeline Drexler
Institute of Medicine and the National Academies’ Office of Communica-
tions, January 2011
44 pp. 1.6 MB:

http://download.nap.edu/cart/deliver.cgi?&record_id=13006
The publication provides an overview of infectious disease, drawing on reports of the In-
stitute of Medicine. Written for a general audience, it describes the biology, history, and
future trends of some of the world’s most widespread and harmful infections and e x-
plains what we need to do - as individuals and as a society - to address this global chal-
lenge.
***

Essential Medicines
Improving access to high-quality low-cost essential medicines in Tanzania

- assessing an NGO’s contribution
Thesis submitted by Christine Häfele-Abah (action medeor) to the Department of Tropi-

cal Hygiene and Public Health, Heidelberg University, August 2010
112 pp. 1.1 MB:

http://www.medicusmundi.org/en/contributions/reports/2010/improving-access-to-high-quality-low-
cost-essential-medicines-in-tanzania-assessing-an-ngos-contribution/thesis_haefele-abah_2010.pdf
This study shows that “action medeor”, though being a small NGO, has managed to
contribute to improved quality of locally manufactured drugs in Tanzania – through ca-
pacity building and technology transfer – and to increased supply of medicines, espe-
cially to private non-profit customers, leading to better availability of medicines at health
facility level.
Social Protection
Provision of health services for microfinance clients: Analysis of evidence

from India
by Somen Saha
Int. J. Med. Public Health, Vol. 1, Issue 1; January - March 2011
5 pp. 1.4 MB:

http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.49313/Somen_IJMEDPH.pdf
Microfinance has proved to be an effective and powerful tool for poverty reduction.
There is a greater reduction in poverty when microfinance programs are combined with
increased access to basic social services, including health, than when the programs fo-
cus on credit alone. Studies have shown that illness and related expenditures are the
leading cause for micro-business failures and loan default. This paper is an attempt to
understand the health programs offered by MFIs in India, and build the case for wider in-
tegration of health into microfinance programs.
***
The financial protection effect of Ghana National Health Insurance

Scheme: evidence from a study in two rural districts
by Ha T H Nguyen, Yogesh Rajkotia and Hong Wang

International Journal for Equity in Health 2011, 10:4 (19 January 2011)
38 pp. 228 kB:

http://www.equityhealthj.com/content/pdf/1475-9276-10-4.pdf
One of the key functions of health insurance is to provide financial protection against
high costs of health care, yet evidence of such protection from developing countries has
been inconsistent. The current study uses the case of Ghana to contribute to the evi-
dence pool about insurance’s financial protection effects. It evaluates the impact of the
country’s National Health Insurance Scheme on households’ out-of-pocket spending
and catastrophic health expenditure.

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
Systematic review: Handwashing behaviour in low- to middle-income

countries: outcome measures and behaviour maintenance
by Stephen M. Vindigni, Patricia L. Riley and Michael Jhung

Tropical Medicine & International Health, Article first published online: 12
January 2011
12 pp. 271 kB:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2010.02720.x/pdf
While the literature is replete with a variety of handwashing studies in community,

school and health care settings, none have been able to definitively document long-term
behaviour change, thereby challenging the sustainability of various interventions. Addi-
tionally, there is a need to better understand which research approach is most effective
in promoting long-term behaviour compliance in global low- and middle-income settings.
Human Resources
Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN)
Riitta-Liisa Kolehmainen-Aitken, Peter Hornby, Marjolein Dieleman et al.

World Health Organization, December 2010
The WISN human resource planning and management tool gives health managers a
way to analyze and calculate. The WISN approach is based on a health worker’s work-
load, with activity (time) standards applied for each workload component. The com-
pletely revised WISN User’s Manual comes with accounts of the practical application of
WISN in a number of countries. It also includes newly developed software to run WISN
studies and an easy-to-follow software instruction manual.
Applying the WISN Method in Practice (44 pp 1.4 MB)

Case studies from Indonesia, Mozambique and Uganda:
WISN User’s Manual (52 pp. 1.2 MB):

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2010/9789241500197_users_eng.pdf
Software Manual (40 pp. 1.3 MB):

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2010/9789241500197_software_eng.pdf
CD-ROM: Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN):

http://apps.who.int/bookorders/anglais/detart1.jsp?sesslan=1&codlan=1&codcol=99&codcch=48
***
Efficiency and effectiveness of aid flows towards health workforce devel-

opment
Exploratory study based on four case studies from Ethiopia, the Lao People’s Demo c-
ratic Republic, Liberia and Mozambique
by Mario R. Dal Poz, Gulin Gedik and Mark Wheeler

Human Resources for Health Observer No. 7 - World Health Organization January 2011

28 pp. 733 kB:
Over the last decade, it has become increasingly clear that the health
workforce deficit is an important obstacle to achieving the MDGs, and that
significant investment is needed to scale up the health workforce. This
paper reflects an initial review of aid effectiveness in relation to human re-
sources for health (HRH). It asks whether the recent aid effectiveness
agenda, as expressed in commitments made to the Paris Declaration, is responding ap-
propriately to the specific needs of HRH and countries’ efforts to strengthen and scale
up human resources.
***
Human resources for health and burden of disease: an econometric ap-

proach
by Carla Castillo-Laborde
Human Resources for Health 2011, 9:4 (26 January 2011)
37 pp. 357 kB:

http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/pdf/1478-4491-9-4.pdf
The effect of health workers on health has been proven to be important for various
health outcomes (e.g. mortality, coverage of immunisation or skilled birth attendants).
This study presents evidence of a statistically negative relationship between the density
of health workers (especially physicians) and the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).
An increase of one unit in the density of health workers per 1000 will decrease, on aver-
age, the total burden of disease between 1% and 3%. However, in line with previous
findings in the literature, the density of nurses and midwives could not be said to be st a-
tistically associated to DALYs.
***
What motivates people to volunteer? The case of volunteer AIDS caregiv-

ers in faith-based organizations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
by Olagoke Akintola
Health Policy Plan. (2011) 26 (1): 53-62. First published online: May 28, 2010
10 pp. 108 kB:

http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/1/53.full.pdf+html
Volunteers are increasingly being relied upon to provide home-based care for people liv-
ing with AIDS in South Africa and this presents several unique challenges specific to the
HIV/AIDS context in Africa. Yet it is not clear what motivates people to volunteer as
home-based caregivers. Drawing on the functional theory on volunteer motivations, this
study uses data from qualitative interviews with 57 volunteer caregivers of people living
with HIV/AIDS in six semi-rural South African communities to explore volunteer motiva-
tions. Findings revealed complex motivations underlying volunteering in AIDS care.
***
Reflections on the ethics of recruiting foreign-trained human resources for

health
by Vivien Runnels, Ronald Labonte and Corinne Packer

Human Resources for Health 2011, 9:2 (20 January 2011)
41 pp. 230 kB:

http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/pdf/1478-4491-9-2.pdf
Developed countries’ gains in health human resources (HHR) from developing countries
with significantly lower ratios of health workers have raised questions about the ethics or
fairness of recruitment from such countries. By attracting and/or facilitating migration for
foreign-trained HHR, notably those from poorer, less well-resourced nations, recruitment
practices and policies may be compromising the ability of developing countries to meet
the health care needs of their own population. Little is known, however, about actual re-
cruitment practices.
Health Systems & Research
Research on health transition in Africa: time for action
by Dermot Maher and James Sekajugo

Health Research Policy and Systems 2011, 9:5 (28 January 2011)
9 pp. 156 kB:

http://www.health-policy-systems.com/content/pdf/1478-4505-9-5.pdf
With rapidly increasing globalization, trends towards unhealthy diets, obesity, sedentary
lifestyles and unhealthy habits are resulting in an increased worldwide burden of chronic
non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Whereas previous epidemics, including HIV, have
caught Africa unprepared, the opportunity now arises to take the advancing wave of
health transition in Africa seriously. Health research has a key role to play in meeting
health and development goals, and must be responsive to changing disease patterns,
such as health transition.
***
Enhancing capacity for ‘systematic’ thinking in public health

Cochrane Update
by Belinda J. Hall, Rebecca Armstrong, Daniel P. Francis et al.

J Public Health (2010) 32 (4): 582-585. Published online: October 26,
2010
4 pp. 92 kB:
http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/32/4/582.full.pdf+html
This paper outlines the benefit of a multi-strategic approach to increasing the critical
thinking capacity of the public health workforce. This should incorporate undergraduate
and postgraduate training programs and workforce development initiatives. The system-
atic review process illustrates an evidence-informed approach to answering a question.
The transferable skills required to undertake this process are useful not only for those
who wish to undertake a systematic review but also those who will need to use system-
atic reviews and other forms of research evidence to inform their public health-related
decisions.
***

Performance Based Financing can help to increase coverage in remote ar-
eas
by EPLM Schoffelen, Haryoko, JPM Tacoy

CORDAID, The Hague, Netherlands, October 2010
8 pp. 1.5 MB
http://www.cordaidpartners.com/address/performance-based-
financing/blog/4276/attachments/attach%2Buem4usoXL.msword
There is mounting evidence that Performance Based Financing (PBF) can improve utili-
zation and quality of health care services. In a PBF system, the way health providers are
paid is not entirely input-based, but at least in part made dependent on their output (per-
formance based). The system is increasingly embraced by international agencies and
donors. The authors argue that universal coverage of health insurance will not, by itself,
automatically improve utilization and quality of services if not linked to a method of pay-
ment to health providers that encourages performance.
***
Out of Sync? Demographic and other social science research on health

conditions in developing countries
by Jere Behrman, Julia Behrman, Nykia M. Perez

Demographic Research Vol. 24, Article 2, pp. 45-78 (18 January 2011)
36 pp. 504 kB:

http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol24/2/24-2.pdf
The authors present a framework for considering whether the marginal social benefits of
demographic and social science research on various health conditions in developing
countries are likely to be relatively high. Based on this framework, they argue that the
relative current and future predicted prevalence of burdens of different health/disease
conditions, as measured by disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), provide a fairly accu-
rate reflection of some important factors related to the relative marginal social benefits of
demographic and social science research on different health conditions.
Information & Communication Technology
Big publishers cut access to journals in poor countries
by Tracey Pérez Koehlmoos and Richard Smith

The Lancet, Vol. 377, Issue 9762, pp. 273-276, 22 January 2011, Published Online: 20
January 2011
4 pp. 839 kB:

http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673611600676.pdf?i
d=5bbe37e152166496:6c941b29:12dd0a3beb7:68151296292506460
The world’s main system for allowing free access to scientific journals in low-income
countries seems to be falling apart as big publishers withdraw. At the beginning of 2011,
researchers in Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, received a letter an-
nouncing that four big publishers would no longer be allowing free access to their 2,500
journals through the Health InterNetwork for Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) sys-

tem. It emerged later that other countries are also affected. This is a major step back-
wards for science, health, and development in low-income countries, and the authors
urge the publishers to reconsider.
***
The Impact of eHealth on the Quality and Safety of Health Care: A System-
atic Overview
by Ashly D. Black, Josip Car, Claudia Pagliari et al.

PLoS Med 8(1): e1000387 (18 January 2011)
16 pp. 234 kB:

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/fetchObjectAttachment.action?uri=info%3Adoi
%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000387&representation=PDF
There is a large gap between the postulated and empirically demonstrated benefits of
eHealth technologies. In addition, there is a lack of robust research on the risks of im-
plementing these technologies and their cost-effectiveness has yet to be demonstrated,
despite being frequently promoted by policymakers and “techno-enthusiasts” as if this
was a given. In the light of the paucity of evidence in relation to improvements in patient
outcomes, as well as the lack of evidence on their cost-effectiveness, it is vital that fu-
ture eHealth technologies are evaluated against a comprehensive set of measures, ide-
ally throughout all stages of the technology's life cycle.
***
Why is it difficult to implement e-health initiatives? A qualitative study
by Elizabeth Murray, Joanne Burns, Carl May et al.

Implementation Science 2011, 6:6 (19 January 2011)
33 pp. 208 kB:

http://www.implementationscience.com/content/pdf/1748-5908-6-6.pdf
The use of information and communication technologies in healthcare is seen as essen-

tial for high quality and cost-effective healthcare. However, implementation of e-health
initiatives has often been problematic, with many failing to demonstrate predicted bene-
fits. This study aimed to explore and understand the experiences of implementers - the
senior managers and other staff charged with implementing e-health initiatives and their
assessment of factors which promote or inhibit the successful implementation, embed-
ding, and integration of e-health initiatives.
***
Standards and eHealth

ITU‐T Technology Watch Report
by Laura DeNardis, Yale University

ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, January 2011
15 pp. 961 kB:

http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/oth/23/01/T23010000120001PDFE.pdf
eHealth systems that use information and communication technologies for the delivery
of healthcare services and information hold great promise for improving global access to
healthcare services and health information, particularly in the developing world. Deliver-

ing on this promise requires more universal eHealth interoperability standards, overcom-
ing technical infrastructure barriers, and addressing privacy, security, and other legal re-
quirements.
Education
Teacher Education at a Distance: Impact on Development in the Commu-

nity
by Felicity Binns and Tony Wrightson

Department for International Development: Educational Papers, 2006
74 pp. 583 kB:

http://www.lcgbangladesh.org/education/reports/teacher-education-
distance-64.pdf
The objective of this study was to reveal areas in which training teachers by distance
education methods can reach beyond the immediate audience to assist development in
the wider community. The conclusions reached will be of interest to policy makers in
ministries of education, practitioners in training institutions and regional/local education
offices, and funders of educational projects. The findings should enable the added value
of distance education to become a further consideration in the development of teacher
training programmes.
***
World Bank as a global education ministry?

Proposed strategy lacks a focus on human rights
Zoe Godolphin, University of Bristol School of Law

Published by Bretton Woods Project, January 2011
Read online at: http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art-567384
In early 2011 the Bank will approve a new education strategy amid indications that in-
ternational goals on education will not be met. The author argues that the Bank’s pr o-
posals fail conceptually because they do not accept education as a human right. They
fail pragmatically because they continue to advocate a template approach instead of
supporting genuinely country-driven priorities in education planning.
Harm Reduction and Drug Use
Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol
World Health Organization, 2010
44 pp. 1.7 MB:

http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/msbalcstragegy.pdf
Every year, the harmful use of alcohol kills 2.5 million people, including 320,000 young
people between 15 and 29 years of age. It is the eighth leading risk factor for deaths
globally, and harmful use of alcohol was responsible for almost 4% of all deaths in the
world, according to the estimates for 2004. In addition to the resolution, a global strategy
developed by WHO in close collaboration with Member States provides a portfolio of
policy options and interventions for implementation at national level with the goal to re-

duce the harmful use of alcohol worldwide.
***
Atlas on substance use (2010): Resources for the prevention and treatment
of substance use disorders
by Daniela Fuhr, Nicolas Clark, Vladimir Poznyak et al.

World Health Organization, 2010
Download chapter by chapter (140 pp.) as Adobe PDF files at:

http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/Media/en/index.html
To better prevent and treat alcohol and illicit drug use disorders, the World Health Or-
ganization has launched the first global report on resources currently in use to respond
to these health concerns. The Atlas on substance abuse has collected information from
147 countries, representing 88% of the world's population. It has a particular focus on
low- and middle-income countries.
***
Smoking behaviours, access to cigarettes and relationships with alcohol in

15- and 16-year-old schoolchildren
by Sara K. Hughes, Karen Hughes, Amanda M. Atkinson et al.

Eur J Public Health (2011) 21 (1): 8-14
7 pp. 83 kB:
http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/1/8.full.pdf+html
Adolescent smoking is a significant public health concern in the UK and across Europe.
This study examines smoking behaviours, methods of accessing cigarettes and use of
non-commercial (fake, foreign and single) cigarettes across a sample of schoolchildren.
Relationships with alcohol consumption, deprivation, personal income and extra-
curricular activities are also explored.
Millennium Development Goals
The path to achieving the Millennium Development Goals: A synthesis of

evidence from around the world
by Roger Malone, Usman Iftikhar, Sara van Gaalen et al.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), June 2010
84 pp. 2.2 MB:

http://www.undp.org.bd/info/HQ%20Publications/MDGs%20Assessment%202010.pdf
This report synthesizes country-level evidence generated through a sample of 34 MDG

Country Reports. These reports are part of a new generation MDG Country Reports fo-
cused on trends in progress, successes and failures as well as the impact of recent
global crises. They were supplemented by other background government documents
that focus on trends in progress toward the MDGs and on the gaps and disparities that
have arisen. This report examines interventions that have worked in bringing individual
countries on track toward achieving specific MDGs, as well as some of the common bot-
tlenecks.

Financing Goal 1 of the MDGs in Africa: Some Evidence from Cross-
Country Data
by Abebe Shimeles
African Development Bank, December 2010
35 pp. 1.2 MB:

http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-related-
Procurement/WORKING%20121%20word%20document%20BB.pdf
This study explores the role of development assistance to finance the required growth to
reduce extreme poverty by half in 2015 in Africa. The findings suggest that efficiency in
the utilization of development assistance by recipients, or optimal disbursement of aid
by donors would take the Africa region a long way in reaching the target without add i-
tional assistance. This evidence provides empirical support to the recent debate on aid
effectiveness in particular and reforming aid architecture in general.
***
MDG Achievements, Determinants, and Resource Needs: What Has Been

Learnt?
by Jann Lay
GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, June 2010
34 pp. 704 kB:

http://www.giga-
hamburg.de/dl/download.php?d=/content/publikationen/pdf/wp137_lay.pdf
This paper reviews the effectiveness and efficiency of key policy instruments for MDG
achievement. The authors first demonstrate that average MDG progress is likely to be
too slow to meet the education and health sector targets in a number of developing
countries. More detailed analysis reveals that the transition towards universal primary
enrolment in poor countries with low initial enrolment has accelerated considerably in
the more recent past. The paper then focuses on the role of demand- versus supply-
side factors in social service utilization in education and health.
Development Assistance
New Challenges, New Beginnings - Next Steps in European Development

Cooperation
by Paul Engel, Mikaela Gavas, Stefan Gänzle et al.

European Think-Tanks Group, Overseas Development Institute, February
2010
94 pp. 2.9 MB:

http://www.ecdpm.org/Web_ECDPM/Web/Content/Download.nsf/0/2CDE90D55E
BA608EC12576BF0033F161/$FILE/EUmemo.pdf
On the one hand, Europe has emerged from eight years of introspection with new struc-
tures, a new leadership team and a new platform (the Lisbon Treaty) for more effective
collective action. On the other hand, the global financial crisis has provided a sobering

wake-up call about the extent of mutual inter-dependence and the scale of the chal-
lenges the world must face. The global challenges will shape international development
cooperation in coming years and have already led to new thinking and new approaches.
***
Sustainable Development: From Brundtland to Rio 2012
by John Drexhage and Deborah Murphy

International Institute for Sustainable Development, September 2010
26 pp. 140 kB:

http://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/climatechange/shared/gsp/docs/GSP1-
6_Background%20on%20Sustainable%20Devt.pdf
The term, sustainable development, was popularized in “Our Common Future”, a report
published by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. Also
known as the Brundtland report, Our Common Future included the “classic” definition of
sustainable development: “development which meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Yet the concept
remains elusive and implementation has proven difficult. Unsustainable trends continue
and sustainable development has not found the political entry points to make real pro-
gress.
***
The Case for Investing in Young People as Part of a National Poverty Re-
duction Strategy
by Julie Larsen, Richard Curtain, Robert Huber et al.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 2010
68 pp. 2.4 MB:

http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publica
tions/2010/investing_young_2010.pdf
This paper presents evidence and analysis to support the integration of young people’s
rights, needs, and aspirations in poverty reduction strategies. It shows how to make a
convincing and evidence-based case for prioritizing the needs of young people among
other competing claims for resources for the poverty eradication agenda.
***
Poverty in Numbers: The Changing State of Global Poverty from 2005 to

2015
by Laurence Chandy and Geoffrey Gertz

The Brookings Institution, January 2011
23 pp. 2.3 MB:

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2011/01_global_
poverty_chandy/01_global_poverty_chandy.pdf
Poverty reduction lies at the core of the global development challenge. For the interna-
tional development community, this objective serves not only as a source of motivation,
but as a defining theme across its work. Many of the world’s most prominent aid organi-
zations cite poverty reduction as their overarching goal. But while our common goal of

poverty reduction is never disputed, we find it remarkably difficult to measure whether it
is happening, and if so how fast.
Others
The Globalization of Clinical Trials: Testimonies from Human Subjects
by Annelies den Boer

Wemos Foundation, The Netherlands, December 2010
64 pp. 1.6 MB:

http://www.wemos.nl/files/Documenten%20Informatief/Bestanden
%20voor%20%27Medicijnen%27/Testimonies_Wemos.pdf
In this publication, the Wemos Foundation presents the testimonies of people participat-
ing in clinical trials in Poland, Russia, the United States, China and India. Wemos would
like to clarify the reasons why these people choose to participate and the way in which
they are being treated.
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Towards 4+5: A database of interventions to improve maternal and new-
born survival
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine / Institute of Child
Health: http://www.towards4and5.org.uk/search.php
“Towards 4+5” has created a searchable database of more than 90 interventions for ma-
ternal and newborn health. This practical tool is unique because it shows how the inter-
ventions can be integrated according to who they are for, how they can be delivered,
and the maternal and neonatal outcome addressed.
***
HIV Resistance Response Database Initiative
http://www.hivrdi.org/
The HIV Resistance Response Database Initiative is a not-for-profit organisation with

the mission of improving the clinical management of HIV infection through the applic a-
tion of bioinformatics to HIV drug resistance and treatment outcome data. Specifically it
aims to develop and make freely available a system to predict treatment response, as
an aid to optimising and individualising the clinical management of HIV infection.
***
AIDSinfo Country fact sheets
http://www.unaids.org/en/dataanalysis/
tools/aidsinfo/countryfactsheets/
AIDSinfo is a data visualization and dissemination tool to facilitate the use of AIDS-
related data in countries and globally. AIDSinfo is populated with multisectoral HIV data
from a range of sources including WHO, UNICEF, UNAIDS and Measure DHS. The

data provided by UNAIDS include AIDS spending, epidemiological estimates, inform a-
tion on policies, strategies and laws, and other country-reported data from government
and civil society.
***
Guttmacher Institute International Data Center
http://www.guttmacher.org/datacenter/index.jsp
The Guttmacher Institute announces the launch of its new International Data Center.
This new tool allows researchers, advocates, policymakers, journalists and others work-
ing on reproductive health issues at the international level to build, download and print
custom tables and maps using the most current information available from a wide range
of countries and regions.
INTERESTING WEB SITES

New web resource on trachoma
http://www.trachoma.org
Forty-one million people are need of treatment for trachoma - the

world’s biggest infectious cause of blindness. The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI)
has launched a new website in order to improve the availability of information on the
disease, and to build support for the implementation of the SAFE initiative - a public
health approach to fighting trachoma that involves surgery, antibiotics, facial-cleanliness
and environmental improvement.
***
World TB Day 2011: On the move against tuberculosis
http://www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/2011/
For World TB Day 2011 [24 March 2011] we enter the second
year of a two-year campaign, “On the move against tuberculosis”
whose goal is to inspire innovation in TB research and care. This year’s campaign chal-
lenges us to look at the fight against TB in an entirely new way: that every step we take
should be a step towards TB elimination.
***
IMAXI International Cooperative
http://www.imaxi.org/
IMAXI is a new international Cooperative (NGO) started by a few people living with HIV
and/or TB and a couple of IT wizards. Its members, from four continents, are rooted in
two communities: open source development and public health advocacy, and combine
their energy and expertise to forge new tools needed to advance a common cause. The
mission of IMAXI is to maximize access and increase civil society involvement in public
health issues and institutions through the innovative use of new i-tools and mHealth
platforms.
***

International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS)
http://www.ideas-int.org/home/
The International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS) was inaugurated to help

fill a gap in the international evaluation architecture. IDEAS’ mission is “to advance and
extend the practice of development evaluation by refining methods, strengthening ca-
pacity and expanding ownership”, with a particular focus on developing and transitional
economies.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Poverty Reduction, Repro-
ductive Health and Health Sector Reform
2-6 May, 2011, Budapest, Hungary
This course offers state-of-the-art knowledge and skills for designing and delivering
more efficient, equitable, and financially sustainable reproductive health interventions, in
the context of health sector strengthening and evolving international policies. It is tar-
geted to staff from governments, international organizations, NGOs, training institutions,
and academics involved in health, especially reproductive health. Application deadline is
February 15th, 2011.
Please click here for more information: http://wbi.worldbank.org/wbi/event/achieving-
mdgs
***
E-learning Course: Health Outcomes and the Poor
Duration and course load: 6 Weeks - 8 to 10 hours per week

Dates: February 16 to March 30, 2011
Application deadline: 31 January 2011
Participants: (Health) Professionals involved in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
process either as PRSP authors or as advisors to the government.
Language: English; Course fee: US$ 500
Organizers: The World Bank Institute
Course contact: Jo Hindriks at jhindriks@worldbank.org
For more information please go to:
http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/healthandaids/elearning
***
Health Care and Management in Tropical Countries (HCMTC)
March 28th, 2011 - June 24th, 2011

Schweizerisches Tropen- und Public Health-
Institut (Swiss TPH), Basel, Switzerland
Course Content: Health problems and responses, health care, child health, health sys-
tem management and communication, management strategies (selection).
Target Audience: Health professionals, managers, planners, social scientists, health

systems researchers, anthropologists, educators.

Language: English; Fees: CHF 6,500
Entry Requirements: At least 2 years of professional experience, TOEFL 79-80 (internet

based) or IELTS 6.0, commitment to work in a developing country
For more information contact:

Bernadette Peterhans
Tel.: +41-61-2848-234
Fax: +41-61-2848-106
mailto:bernadette.peterhans@unibas.ch
mailto:courses-sti@unibas.ch
or see: http://www.swisstph.ch/en/teaching/advanced-studies-in-internat-health/health-
care-and-management-in-tropical-countries.html
For more courses and conferences see also:

http://www.going-international.at/index.php?lang=EN
CARTOON
TIPS & TRICKS

4 Ways to Minimize Open Windows in Windows 7
When working on a PC, it is easy to wind up with lots of open windows. They clutter up
your PC and affect your work flow. Sometimes it is better to minimize the windows you
are not using and work on one at a time. Windows 7 provides many shortcuts to accom-
plish that goal.
There are two categories. The first is to minimize all the windows except the one on
which you are working. The second is to minimize all the windows.
Minimize All Inactive Windows
Aero Shake: Aero Shake is an advanced technique available in Windows 7. Select the
window in which you are working, left click on its top pane, and shake your mouse so
that the window also shakes. All the opened windows, except the one you are shaking
instantly disappear. This feature is available only in Home Premium, Professional, Ult i-

mate, and Enterprise editions of Windows 7.
Win + Home: Don’t have Aero Shake feature on your Windows 7 PC? You can accom-
plish the same thing with a keyboard shortcut. Press Win + Home on your keyboard si-
multaneously. You will notice that all the other windows except the one on which you
are working disappear.
Minimize All Windows
Win + D: Let’s say want to minimize all opened windows. In that case, you can use a
Windows 7 desktop shortcut Win + D. Press the Windows Key and D key simultane-
ously and all windows will minimize. Now press Win+D again to maximize all the win-
dows and it will take you to the previous state.
Show Desktop in Windows 7:
There is a show desktop button at the bottom right side, at the

end of taskbar (next to the Windows clock). If you hover your
mouse pointer over that button, all the open windows become
transparent and you can preview your desktop without minimizing any window. When
you click on this button, it will minimize all the windows instantly. Clicking it again will
bring all the windows back up.
***
Another Way to Save Internet Images
As you already may know, saving images from the Internet to your computer has always
been a matter of right-clicking and choosing “Save Image As...”, which is pretty easy by
itself.
Yet, there is an even quicker way, and it works in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google
Chrome. Just click on an image that strikes your fancy. Now, make sure that your
browser window is small enough so that you can still see your desktop, then click and
drag the image to your desktop. There it is!
Best regards,
Dieter Neuvians MD

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News & Notes 03/2011

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS .................................................... 5

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2011 - page 1

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2011 - page 2

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES ............................................ 26

INTERESTING WEB SITES .............................................. 27

TIPS & TRICKS ................................................................. 29

To subscribe for free to the newsletter send an e-mail to:

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2011 - page 3

Human Rights Watch World Report 2011

Editors: Joe Saunders, Ian Gorvin, Danielle Haas et al.

668 pp. 4.3 MB:

Improving Global Health: Forecasting the Next 50 Years

by Barry B. Hughes, Randall Kuhn, Cecilia M. Peterson et al.

370 pp. 3.6 MB:

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2011 - page 4

by Dimitri Sanga, Charles Lufumpa, Kouassi Réné Nguettia, et al.

401 pp. 3.5 MB:

by Lidia Brito, Susan Schneegans, Sarah Colautti et al.

541 pp. 8.5 MB:

The Lancet Series: Health in Southeast Asia

Launched in Bangkok, Thailand, Jan 25, 2011

Access online at:

The health of 10 countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2011 - page 5

Read online at: http://www.aidspan.org/index.php?issue=139&article=1

Emerging and Transitioning Countries’ Role in Global Health

by Jennifer Prah Ruger and Nora Y. Ng

38 pp. 198 kB:

Quality in health care and globalization of health services: accreditation

7 pp. 106 kB:

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2011 - page 6

HIV - AIDS - STI

Correcting Mortality for Loss to Follow-Up: A Nomogram Applied to Anti-

by Matthias Egger, Ben D. Spycher, John Sidle et al.

11 pp. 476 kB:

HIV-malaria co-infection: effects of malaria on the prevalence of HIV in East

Diego F Cuadros, Adam J Branscum and Philip H Crowley

Finding a cure for HIV: will it ever be achievable?

by Sharon R Lewin, Vanessa A Evans, Julian H Elliott et al.

37 pp. 281 kB:

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2011 - page 7

Interim Guidance: Preexposure Prophylaxis for the Prevention of HIV Infec-

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 28 January, 2011; 60

28 pp. 1.4 MB:

HIV/AIDS Behaviour Change Communication: A Toolkit for the Workplace

630 pp. 6.2 MB:

Behaviour change communication (BCC) is an interactive process that helps to under-

Immunovirological outcomes and resistance patterns at 4 years of antiret-

by Mar Pujades-Rodríguez, Birgit Schramm, Leakena Som et al.

9 pp. 160 kB:

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2011 - page 8

Distribution of Antiretroviral Treatment Through Self-Forming Groups of

by Tom Decroo, Barbara Telfer, Marc Biot et al.

6 pp. 111 kB:

As antiretroviral treatment cohorts continue to expand, ensuring patient retention over

HIV self-testing among health workers

by Sue Napierala Mavedzenge, Rachel Baggaley, Ying Ru Lo et al.

45 pp. 434 kB:

Keeping health staff healthy: evaluation of a workplace initiative to reduce

by Marielle Bemelmans, Thomas van den Akker, Olesi Pasulani et al.

7 pp. 300 kB:

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2011 - page 9

Health, Education, Social Protection News & Notes 03/2011

Health, Education, Social Protection News & Notes 03/2011