Health, Education, Social Protection News & Notes 03/2012

A bi-weekly newsletter supported by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit)

29 January 2012
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Table of Contents: BOOKS ................................................................................ 4

Human Rights Watch World Report 2012 ............................................................................... 4 World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012 ...................................................................... 4 Immunization Essentials: A Practical Field Guide................................................................... 4

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

Global Health................................................................................................................ 5
The Case for Europe as a Leader in Research and Innovation for Global Health.................. 5 Financing Global Health 2011: Continued Growth as MDG Deadline Approaches................ 5

HIV - AIDS - STI ........................................................................................................... 5

Safety and Efficacy of the PrePex Device for Rapid Scale-Up of Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention in Resource-Limited Settings ................................................................................ 5 Learning from large scale prevention efforts: findings from Avahan....................................... 6 The first decade of antiretroviral therapy in Africa .................................................................. 6 The report of the UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and Sex Work ......................................... 6 Evidence from Participatory Research on Community Health Systems for HIV treatment and support in East and southern Africa ........................................................................................ 7

Sexual & Reproductive Health ..................................................................................... 7

Testing the Safe Abortion Care model in Ethiopia to monitor service availability, use, and quality ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Induced abortion: incidence and trends worldwide from 1995 to 2008................................... 7 Contextualising rights: the lived experience of sexual and reproductive health rights ........... 8 Early marriages, adolescent and young pregnancies ............................................................. 8

Maternal & Child Health ............................................................................................... 8

Innovating for Every Woman, Every Child .............................................................................. 8 How many births in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia will not be attended by a skilled birth attendant between 2011 and 2015?........................................................................................ 8 Effectiveness of agricultural interventions that aim to improve nutritional status of children: systematic review .................................................................................................................... 9

Malaria.......................................................................................................................... 9
Malaria Drugmakers See the Light.......................................................................................... 9 Malaria Educator Manual ...................................................................................................... 10 Integrated vector management for malaria control in Uganda: knowledge, perceptions and policy development................................................................................................................ 10 Early experiences on the feasibility, acceptability, and use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests at peripheral health centres in Uganda--insights into some barriers and facilitators ............ 10

Tuberculosis ............................................................................................................... 11
India reports cases of totally drug-resistant tuberculosis ...................................................... 11 Tuberculosis that is resistant to all drugs............................................................................ 11 Private Sector Involvement in National TB Control in Ghana, Malawi and Namibia: What is known and what is done?...................................................................................................... 11

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Children and Tuberculosis: Exposing a Hidden Epidemic .................................................... 11

Other Infectious Diseases .......................................................................................... 12

Global Trends in the Use of Insecticides for Vector-borne Disease Control......................... 12 Low Efficacy of Single-Dose Albendazole and Mebendazole against Hookworm and Effect on Concomitant Helminth Infection in Lao PDR.................................................................... 12 Schistosomiasis: population requiring preventive chemotherapy and number of people treated in 2010 ...................................................................................................................... 12

Non-communicable Diseases..................................................................................... 13
Tackling Non-Communicable Diseases in African Businesses............................................. 13 Silent Killer, Economic Opportunity: Rethinking Non-communicable Diseases.................... 13

Essential Medicines.................................................................................................... 13
Guidelines for Medicine Donations ....................................................................................... 13

Social Protection ........................................................................................................ 14

Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) Case Study Report - Turkana ............................... 14 High Level Expert Group Report on Universal Health Coverage for India............................ 14 Social Protection and Climate Resilience ............................................................................. 14 Indias JSY cash transfer program for maternal health: Who participates and who doesnt - a report from Ujjain district ....................................................................................................... 15 Five Years of Researching Financial Services for the Poor.................................................. 15 Best practices in micro-savings for successfully and sustainably reaching the Poor ........... 15 Assessment of the Government Health Financing System in Nepal: Suggestions for Reform ............................................................................................................................................... 16

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene ...................................................................................... 16

Scaling up rural sanitation in Vietnam: political economy constraints and opportunities...... 16

Human Resources...................................................................................................... 16
Health Workers Reach Index ................................................................................................ 16

Health Systems & Research ...................................................................................... 17

Verbal autopsy: innovations, applications, opportunities - Improving cause of death measurement ........................................................................................................................ 17 The judgment process in evidence-based medicine and health technology assessment .... 17 Understanding health system reform - a complex adaptive systems perspective ................ 17 Community accountability at peripheral health facilities: a review of the empirical literature and development of a conceptual framework ....................................................................... 18 Sex-Specific Reporting of Scientific Research...................................................................... 18 Forms of benefit sharing in global health research undertaken in resource poor settings: A qualitative study of Stakeholders views in Kenya ................................................................ 18 Gender, Women and Primary Health Care Renewal: A Discussion Paper .......................... 19

Information & Communication Technology ................................................................ 19

Is HINARI appropriate for medical students in the developing world?.................................. 19 Making a difference - Stories from the field: how access to scientific literature is improving the livelihoods of communities around the world .................................................................. 19 Envisioning a Learning Health Care System: The Electronic Primary Care Research Network, A Case Study ......................................................................................................... 20 Apps For Development: Lessons From mPowering ............................................................. 20

Education ................................................................................................................... 20
Beyond Busan: Strengthening aid to improve education outcomes ..................................... 20 Improving Instructional Quality - Focus on Faculty Development......................................... 21

Millennium Development Goals.................................................................................. 21

Revisiting MDG Cost Estimates from a Domestic Resource Mobilisation Perspective ........ 21

Development Assistance............................................................................................ 21
South-South development cooperation: A challenge to the aid system? ............................. 21 Making systematic reviews work for international development research ............................ 22 Left Behind by the G20?........................................................................................................ 22 Tracking Development in South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa: The Primacy of Policy22 Innovative Financing for Development: A New Model for Development Finance?............... 23

Others......................................................................................................................... 23
Fighting Corruption in the Health Sector: Methods, Tools and Good Practices ................... 23 Nutrition and Business: How to engage? .............................................................................. 23 Health economic assessment tools (HEAT) for walking and for cycling............................... 24

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ELECTRONIC RESOURCES ............................................ 24

The AfriPop project................................................................................................................ 24 Western Pacific Surveillance and Response (WPSAR)........................................................ 24 Moving Evidence Into Action ................................................................................................. 24 Newsletter of the Public Health Global Network ................................................................... 25

INTERESTING WEB SITES .............................................. 25

Health Systems Evidence ..................................................................................................... 25 Implementing Best Practices (IBP) Knowledge Gateway ..................................................... 25 UHC Forward - Towards Universal Health Coverage ........................................................... 25 Wikipedia: WikiProject Medicine/Translation Task Force ..................................................... 26

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES............................................ 26
Call for Applications: Human Rights and Drug Policy Summer Course................................ 26 Social Health Protection: addressing inequities in access to health care............................. 26

CONFERENCES................................................................ 27
Berlin Conference on Evidence for Sustainable Development ............................................. 27

CARTOON ......................................................................... 27 TIPS & TRICKS ................................................................. 27

Google Chrome Home Button ............................................................................................... 27 Google Search: A Different Perspective ............................................................................... 28 Open Web Links in a New Tab ............................................................................................. 28 Beware saving passwords in your browser........................................................................... 28

Fair Use: This Newsletter is produced under the principles of 'fair use'. We source relevant news articles, resources and research documents and strive to attribute sources by providing reference and/or direct links to authors and websites. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this newsletter, do not necessarily represent those of GIZ or the editor of HESP-News & Notes. While we make every effort to ensure that all facts and figures quoted by authors are accurate, GIZ and the editor of the Newsletter cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies contained in any articles. Please contact dneuvians@gmx.de if you believe that errors are contained in any article and we will investigate and provide feedback.

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HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 3

BOOKS
Human Rights Watch World Report 2012
Human Rights Watch, January 2012 690 pp. 4.2 MB: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/wr2012.pdf This 22nd annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide in 2011. It reflects extensive investigative work that Human Rights Watch staff has undertaken during the year, often in close partnership with domestic human rights activists. ***

World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012

by Rob Vos, Grigor Agabekian, Abdallah Al Dardari et al. United Nations, 2012 204 pp. 1.7 MB:
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wesp/wesp_current/2012wesp.pdf

The world economy is on the brink of another major downturn. The report discusses several policy directions which could avoid a double-dip recession, including: optimal design of fiscal policies to stimulate more direct job creation and investment in infrastructure, energy efficiency and sustainable energy supply, and food security; stronger financial safety nets; better coordination between fiscal and monetary policies; and the provision of sufficient support to developing countries in addressing the fallout from the crisis and the coordination of policy measures at the international level. ***

Immunization Essentials: A Practical Field Guide

by Murray Trostle, Robert Steinglass, Rebecca Fields et al. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), April 2009 280 pp. 5.4 MB: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADR866.pdf This book has been written for immunization programme managers at national and subnational levels in developing countries and for people who support these managers, particularly field staff of donor agencies. The intention is to provide information that is practical as well as technically and operationally sound. For readers who would like to explore topics in greater depth, additional references are being provided. ***

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 4

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS
Global Health The Case for Europe as a Leader in Research and Innovation for Global Health
by Samantha Battams, Stephen A. Matlin, Albrecht Jahn et al. Global Health Europe, Geneva, November 2012 29 pp. 394 kB: http://www.globalhealtheurope.org/images/stories/ghe/GHElongversion2012.pdf Europe is well placed to take a lead role in developing global health research and innovation. This paper explores the potential and makes recommendations for Europes role in research and innovation to improve global health. It highlights the need for coherence between Horizon 2020 and other key EU policies, including that on the EUs role in global health, and the potential for global health research to play an instrumental role in achieving Europe 2020 goals of growth, innovation and social inclusion. ***

Financing Global Health 2011: Continued Growth as MDG Deadline Approaches

by Jill Oviatt, William Heisel, Patricia Kiyono et al. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), 2011 98 pp. 13.1 MB(!): http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org/sites/default/files/policy _report/2011/FGH_2011_full_report_medium_resolution_IHME.pdf The publication offers a comprehensive view of trends in public and private financing of health assistance with preliminary estimates for health financing in the most recent years. It shows that development assistance for health (DAH) continues to rise, albeit at a slower rate than before the recession. It also details the trends in spending on health by developing countries and examines how DAH affects that spending.

HIV - AIDS - STI Safety and Efficacy of the PrePex Device for Rapid Scale-Up of Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention in Resource-Limited Settings
Jean Paul Bitega, Muyenzi Leon Ngeruka, Theobald Hategekimana et al. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes: 15 December 2011 Vol. 58 - Issue 5 - pp. e127-e134 8 pp. 642 kB: http://german-practice-collection.org/en/download-centre/doc_download/1002 The objective of the study was to assess the safety and efficacy of the PrePex device for nonsurgical circumcision in adult males as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention program in Rwanda. The authors conclude that the device was safe and effective for HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 5

nonsurgical adult male circumcision without anaesthesia or sterile settings and may be useful in mass circumcision programmes to reduce the risk of HIV infection, particularly in resource-limited settings. ***

Learning from large scale prevention efforts: findings from Avahan

Edited by Lalit Dandona and Eric Benotsch BMC Public Health, Volume 11, Supplement 6, 29 December 2011 http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/supplements/11/S6 The Avahan HIV prevention initiative in India is a major effort funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that aims to reduce HIV transmission in the general population by focusing HIV prevention efforts on female sex workers and their clients, men who have sex with men, truck drivers and injecting drug users who are at high risk of getting HIV. This free supplement of BMC Public Health has 17 papers reporting a set of findings from studies associated with the evaluation of Avahan. ***

The first decade of antiretroviral therapy in Africa

by Nathan Ford, Alexandra Calmy and Edward J Mills Globalization and Health 2011, 7:33 (29 September 2011) 6 pp. 246 kB: http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/pdf/1744-8603-7-33.pdf The past decade has seen remarkable progress in increasing access to antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings. Early concerns about the cost and complexity of treatment were overcome thanks to the efforts of a global coalition of health providers, activists, academics, and people living with HIV/AIDS, who argued that every effort must be made to ensure access to essential care when millions of lives depended on it. This article provides an overview of the main policy and delivery challenges to the provision of effective ART in resource-limited settings, before outlining some of the future challenges for the coming years. ***

The report of the UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and Sex Work
UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and Sex Work, December 2011 30 pp. 1.5 MB: http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/documents/unaidspublicati on/2011/20111215_Report-UNAIDS-Advisory-group-HIV-Sex-Work_en.pdf The Advisory Group strongly affirms that sex workers and their organisations play a crucial role in confronting HIV and in many places have an outstanding record in helping to achieve universal access. However, sex workers often face widespread and interconnected human rights violations which impede both their effective participation in HIV responses and their right to access HIV and other health and social services. ***

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Evidence from Participatory Research on Community Health Systems for HIV treatment and support in East and southern Africa
by F Machingura, R Loewenson, K Chikaphupha et al. Training and Research Support Centre (TARSC), October 2011 25 pp. 222 kB: http://www.cobasys.eu/wpcontent/uploads/2010/01/COBASYS_Synthesis-Final-Dec2011.pdf The programme conducted research at 12 sites in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana and Tanzania. The biggest barriers to effective HIV treatment were centralised service provision, which meant many primary health centres did not stock ARVs, and a shortage of health workers. Some health workers were also charging patients to have their CD4 counts taken or to get ARVs in some rural facilities although these were supposed to be free.

Sexual & Reproductive Health Testing the Safe Abortion Care model in Ethiopia to monitor service availability, use, and quality
by Karen Otsea, Janie Benson, Tibebu Alemayehu et al. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 115 (2011) 316-321 6 pp. 732 kB: http://www.ipas.org/Library/Other/Testing_the_safe_abortion_care _model_in_Ethiopia_to_monitor_service_availability_use_quality.pdf Findings from a two-year project in the Tigray region of Ethiopia showed that using the Safe Abortion Care (SAC) model, public health facilities tracked progress and made needed adjustments, which improved service delivery. Continued focus on critical safe abortion care elements should increase the availability, quality, and use of life-saving care to reduce preventable abortion mortality in the region. ***

Induced abortion: incidence and trends worldwide from 1995 to 2008

by Gilda Sedgh, Susheela Singh, Iqbal H Shah et al. The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 19 January 2012 8 pp. 201 kB: http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673611617868.pdf After a period of substantial decline, the global abortion rate has stalled. Between 1995 and 2003, the overall number of abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age (15-44 years) dropped from 35 to 29; the global abortion rate in 2008 was virtually unchanged, at 28 per 1,000. This plateau coincides with a slowdown, documented by the United Nations, in contraceptive uptake, which has been especially marked in developing countries. The authors also found that nearly half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe, and almost all unsafe abortions occur in the developing world. *** HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 7

Contextualising rights: the lived experience of sexual and reproductive health rights
Edited by Hilary Standing, Rose N Oronje and Kate Hawkins BMC International Health and Human Rights 2011, 11(Suppl. 3), 16 December 2011 Read/download all articles online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinthealthhumrights/supplements/11/S3 Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) remain controversial and contested; sexual rights in particular are poorly understood by many policy actors, they are not easy to operationalise downstream in policies and programmes, and their place and relevance in peoples day to day lives have been much less explored. The papers in this volume are one contribution to the task of laying out why it is important to fill this gap and what the analytical challenges are in doing so. ***

Early marriages, adolescent and young pregnancies

Report by the WHO Secretariat, December 2011 4 pp. 39 kB: http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB130/B130_12-en.pdf In 2008, there were 16 million births to mothers aged 15-19 years, representing 11% of all births worldwide. About 95% of these births occurred in low- and middle-income countries. The global adolescent birth rate has declined from 60 per 1000 in 1990 to 48 per 1000 in 2007, with rates ranging from 5 per 1000 women in eastern Asia to 121 per 1000 in sub-Saharan Africa in 2007. Although adolescent birth rates are declining, the absolute number of births has declined less, owing to the increase in the adolescent population.

Maternal & Child Health Innovating for Every Woman, Every Child
by Daniel Altman, Helga Fogstad, Lars Grnseth et al. The Global Campaign for the Health Millennium Development Goals, July 2011 52 pp. 1.6 MB:
http://www.who.int/pmnch/activities/jointactionplan/innovation_report_lowres_20110830.pdf

Improving the health of women and children contributes extensively to economic development. This report describes business models that innovators have used with success, as well as case studies of some of the most powerful and ingenious innovations in women and childrens health. ***

How many births in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia will not be attended by a skilled birth attendant between 2011 and 2015?
by Sonya Crowe, Martin Utley, Anthony Costello et al. HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 8

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2012, 12:4 (17 January 2012) 23 pp. 222 kB: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2393-12-4.pdf The fifth Millennium Development Goal target for 90% of births in low and middle income countries to have a skilled birth attendant (SBA) by 2015 will not be met. In response to this, policy has focused on increasing SBA access. However, reducing maternal mortality also requires policies to prevent deaths among women giving birth unattended. The authors conclude that over the next five years, many millions of women within South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa will give birth without an SBA. Efforts to improve access to skilled attendance should be accompanied by interventions to improve the safety of non-attended deliveries. ***

Effectiveness of agricultural interventions that aim to improve nutritional status of children: systematic review
by Edoardo Masset, Lawrence Haddad, Alexander Cornelius et al. BMJ 2012;344:d8222 (17 January 2012) 7 pp. 286 kB: http://www.bmj.com/highwire/filestream/559369/field_highwire_article_pdf/0.pdf The question posed by the review cannot be answered with any level of confidence. The data available show a poor effect of agricultural interventions on nutritional status, but methodological weaknesses of the studies cast serious doubts on the validity of these results. More rigorous and better designed studies are needed, as well as the establishment of agreed quality standards to guide researchers in this important area.

Malaria Malaria Drugmakers See the Light

by Kai Kupferschmidt Science, 18 January 2012 Read online at: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/01/malaria-drugmakerssee-the-light.html?ref=hp Artemisinin, a crucial drug in the global fight against malaria, could soon become cheaper and easier to make, thanks to researchers who have found a better way to synthesize the compound. Artemisinin is naturally produced by a plant called sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), which has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine but the plant holds only a tiny fraction of artemisinin - between 0.001% and 0.8%. Synthesizing artemisinin from scratch has been too costly and cumbersome so far. Now, two chemists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, say they may have conquered that problem. ***

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 9

Malaria Educator Manual

by SC Johnson & Son, Inc. and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/ AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria (GBC), 2011 Download the Malaria Educator Manual (34 pp.) and the Flipchart prompts (36 pp.) serving as a visual guide for trainers discussing the programme materials (packed as zip files - 6.7 MB) at: http://www.gbchealth.org/system/documents/category_12/83/scj-iec-files.zip?1315324856 This new Anti-Malaria Information, Education & Communication (IEC) programme is a powerful learning tool to help NGOs, governments, businesses and community health groups raise awareness about the disease and reduce the rate of new infections among people living and working in the hardest-hit regions of the world. Developed in a train the trainer format, the IEC provides information to educate employees, customers and the broader community on the risks of malaria. It also provides life-saving information on effective prevention measures, as well as the latest on anti-malaria treatment. ***

Integrated vector management for malaria control in Uganda: knowledge, perceptions and policy development
by Clifford M Mutero, Dieter Schlodder, Narcis Kabatereine et al. Malaria Journal 2012, 11:21 (14 January 2012) 19 pp. 384 kB: http://www.malariajournal.com/content/pdf/1475-2875-11-21.pdf Integrated vector management (IVM) is increasingly being recommended as an option for sustainable malaria control. However, many malaria-endemic countries lack a policy framework to guide and promote the approach. The objective of the study was to assess knowledge and perceptions in relation to current malaria vector control policy and IVM in Uganda, and to make recommendations for consideration during future development of a specific IVM policy. ***

Early experiences on the feasibility, acceptability, and use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests at peripheral health centres in Uganda--insights into some barriers and facilitators
by Caroline Asiimwe, Daniel J Kyabayinze, Zephania Kyalisiima et al. Implementation Science 2012, 7:5 (23 January 2012) 34 pp. 306 kB: http://www.implementationscience.com/content/pdf/1748-5908-7-5.pdf Ugandas decision to deploy and scale up malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs) in public health facilities and at the community level provides a useful entry point for documenting field experience, acceptance, and predictive variables for technology acceptance and use. These findings are important in informing implementation of new health technologies, plans, and budgets in low-resourced national disease control programmes. The authors conclude that mRDTs were found to be acceptable to and used by the target users, provided clear policy guidelines exist, ancillary tools are easy to use and health supplies beyond the diagnostic tools are met.

HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 10

Tuberculosis India reports cases of totally drug-resistant tuberculosis

by Samuel Loewenberg The Lancet, Vol. 379, Issue 9812, pp. 205, 21 January 2012 1 pp. 60 kB: http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673612600853.pdf Mismanagement of tuberculosis in Mumbai has led to the emergence of India's first known cases of a totally drug-resistant form of the disease, say doctors. Researchers in Mumbai have identified 12 patients with a virulent strain of tuberculosis that seems to be resistant to all known treatments. The cases of so-called totally drug-resistant tuberculosis (TDR-TB) have been detected in the city in the past 3 months. ***

Tuberculosis that is resistant to all drugs

Read online at: http://www.who.int/tb/challenges/mdr/tdrfaqs/en/index.html Recently there has been broad media coverage worldwide about so-called totally drugresistant TB. WHO states that the term totally drug resistant has not been clearly defined for tuberculosis because there is not a reliable method to diagnose it through drug susceptibility testing. WHO has now released Questions and Answers (Q&A) on this issue. ***

Private Sector Involvement in National TB Control in Ghana, Malawi and Namibia: What is known and what is done?
by Brigitte Jordan-Harder, Valentine Douala-Mouteng, Anita Chvez et al. Pan-African Business Coalition on HIV and Health (PABC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), January 2011 46 pp. 635 kB: http://awisa-network.net/sites/awisanetwork.net/files/private_sector_involvement_case_study_2011.pdf The case study sheds light on an area of public private partnership with potential to improve national TB control. It looks at TB transmission at the workplace as well as legal frameworks for workplace TB management and current practices. ***

Children and Tuberculosis: Exposing a Hidden Epidemic

by ACTION (Advocacy to Control TB Internationally), 2011 12 pp. 668 kB: http://c1280352.r52.cf0.rackcdn.com/childrens_tb_0811v2.pdf Tuberculosis (TB) remains among the top ten killers of children worldHESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 11

wide, yet virtually no public or political attention is paid to TB as a childrens health issue. TB preys on the most vulnerable children - the orphaned, the malnourished, those living with HIV - and it causes an almost unimaginable burden to children and their families. We must stop neglecting TB as a childrens health issue and take immediate steps to stop TB from needlessly infecting and killing children.

Other Infectious Diseases Global Trends in the Use of Insecticides for Vector-borne Disease Control
by Henk van den Berg, Morteza Zaim, Rajpal Singh Yadav et al. Environmental Health Perspectives, online 17 January 2012 27 pp. 301 kB:
http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchObjectAttachment.action;jsessionid=9ED8675E59A1607 F02C675FBDF2FB0BD?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.1104340&representation=PDF

Data on insecticide use for vector control are essential for guiding pesticide management systems on judicious and appropriate use, resistance management, and reduction of risks to human health and the environment. The objective was to study global use and trends in the use of insecticides for control of vector-borne diseases for the period 20002009. The global use of DDT has not changed substantially since the Stockholm Convention entered into force. The dominance of pyrethroid use has major implications due to the spread of insecticide resistance with potential to reduce the efficacy of longlasting insecticidal nets. ***

Low Efficacy of Single-Dose Albendazole and Mebendazole against Hookworm and Effect on Concomitant Helminth Infection in Lao PDR
by Phonepasong Ay Soukhathammavong, Somphou Sayasone, Khampheng Phongluxa et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 6(1): e1417 (3 January 2012) 8 pp. 170 kB:
http://clinicaltrials.ploshubs.org/article/fetchObjectAttachment.action;jsessionid=ECC6CD23096061 68C58165D267F11A1B?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0001417&representation=PDF

Albendazole and mebendazole are increasingly deployed for preventive chemotherapy targeting soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections. The authors conclude that both albendazole and mebendazole showed disappointing cure rates against hookworm, but albendazole cured infection and reduced intensity of infection with a higher efficacy than mebendazole. Single-dose administrations showed an effect against Opisthorchis viverrini, and hence it will be interesting to monitor potential ancillary benefits of a preventive chemotherapy strategy that targets STHs in areas where opisthorchiasis is co-endemic. ***

Schistosomiasis: population requiring preventive chemotherapy and number of people treated in 2010
Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER), 27 January 2012, Vol. 87, 4 (pp. 3744) 8 pp. 873 kB: http://www.who.int/entity/wer/2012/wer8704.pdf HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 12

The global burden of schistosomiasis has been expressed as the number of infected individuals (200-209 million) and as the number of people at risk of infection living in endemic countries (600-779 million). This report presents estimates of the populations requiring preventive chemotherapy for schistosomiasis and describes how these data were obtained.

Non-communicable Diseases Tackling Non-Communicable Diseases in African Businesses

A Practical Guide on Raising Awareness on lifestyle-related Diseases among Employees by Norbert Roesch, Valentine Douala-Mouteng, Ute Papkalla et al. Pan-African Business Coalition on HIV and Health (PABC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), December 2011 32 pp. 1.4 MB: http://awisa-network.net/sites/awisanetwork.net/files/ncd_guide_giz_2011_engl..pdf Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are the new global threat to health and its impact will slowly, but steadily rise during the next years and decades to come. The negative effects will also be increasingly felt in the African private sector in the near future. The purpose of this document is to raise awareness among African companies on NCDs, to provide an understanding of their causes and risk factors, and to come up with approaches how companies can contribute to the fight against NCDs. ***

Silent Killer, Economic Opportunity: Rethinking Non-communicable Diseases

by Sudeep Chand The Chatham House, Centre on Global Health Security, January 2012 12 pp. 665 kB: http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Gl obal%20Health/0112bp_chand.pdf Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the greatest cause of deaths and disability for humans. Usually slowly developing conditions such as heart disease, cancer, asthma, diabetes and depression, some are preventable and others amenable to cost-effective treatment. A coherent response might prioritize tobacco control and child nutrition, focus innovation on efficient community-based models of care, and ensure access to basic offpatent medicines.

Essential Medicines Guidelines for Medicine Donations

Revised 2010 by Lisa Bero et al. World Health Organization (WHO), October 2011 HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 13

26 pp. 1.8 MB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789241501989_eng.pdf The guidelines are intended to improve the quality of medicine donations in international development assistance and emergency aid. Good medicine donation practice is of interest to both donors and recipients.

Social Protection Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) Case Study Report - Turkana
by Carrie Ndoka Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) Secretariat, 2011 25 pp. 2.4 MB: http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/565/HSNP%20Case%2 0study%20report-%20Turkana.pdf This report defines the behaviour of HSNP beneficiaries receiving cash transfers in coping with and overcoming the challenges of extreme poverty magnified by shocks of environmental extremities of drought, famine, floods and socio-economic marginalisation. Further, it documents how some beneficiaries have been able to build some form of stable livelihoods (a desired knock on effect) using the cash transfers and in the context of the three year prolonged drought. ***

High Level Expert Group Report on Universal Health Coverage for India
by Abhay Bang, Mirai Chatterjee, Jashodhra Dasgupta et al. Planning Commission of India, November 2011 343 pp. 8.2 MB: http://uhcforward.org/sites/uhcforward.org/files/India_report.pdf The High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) was constituted by the Planning Commission of India in October 2010, with the mandate of developing a framework for providing easily accessible and affordable health care to all Indians. While financial protection was the principal objective of this initiative, it was recognised that the delivery of UHC also requires the availability of adequate healthcare infrastructure, skilled health workforce and access to affordable drugs and technologies to ensure the entitled level and quality of care given to every citizen. ***

Social Protection and Climate Resilience

Report from an International Workshop, Addis Ababa, March 14-17, 2011 by Christophe Bn, Andrew Newsham, Alejandro de la Fuente et al. The World Bank, IDS, DFID, UNECA, 2011 68 pp. 9.1 MB:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resourc es/244362-1232059926563/5747581-1239131985528/WBSocProtec_Final.pdf

The new report highlights the importance of interaction among three areas of research HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 14

and policymaking: social protection, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. The report argues that greater integration and knowledge sharing among these fields would allow policies to better address household poverty and vulnerability. Currently, researchers and practitioners in these fields often work independently. ***

Indias JSY cash transfer program for maternal health: Who participates and who doesnt - a report from Ujjain district
by Kristi Sidney, Vishal Diwan, Ziad El-Khatib et al. Reproductive Health 2012, 9:2 (24 January 2012) 20 pp. 635 kB: http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/pdf/1742-4755-9-2.pdf India launched a national conditional cash transfer program, Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), aimed at reducing maternal mortality by promoting institutional delivery in 2005. It provides a cash incentive to women who give birth in public health facilities. This paper studies the extent of program uptake, reasons for participation/non-participation, factors associated with non-uptake of the program among mothers in Ujjain district in Madhya Pradesh, India. ***

Five Years of Researching Financial Services for the Poor

Editors: Shardul K. Oza and Jagori Saha Center for Microfinance (CMF) at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR), 2011 80 pp. 4.5 MB: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document1.9.56264/Five%20Years%20of%20Researching%20Financial%20Services.pdf This report is a collection of studies conducted by the Center for Microfinance (CMF) at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (Madras, India) over the last five years. It is meant to serve as a reference document for policymakers, practitioners, researchers and others interested in financial services for the poor. The studies intend to inform both general and expert audiences about financial access research being conducted in India. ***

Best practices in micro-savings for successfully and sustainably reaching the Poor
by Chris De Noose, Anne-Franoise Lefvre, Mina Zhang et al. World Savings Banks Institute (WSBI), July 2011 19 pp. 283 kB:
http://www.globalmicrocreditsummit2011.org/userfiles/file/Workshop%20Papers/C_%20D e%20Noose%20-%20Best%20Practices%20in%20microsavings%20for%20successfully%20and%20sustainably%20reaching%20the%20poor.pdf

This paper highlights the potential of microsavings as a poverty alleviation tool. It describes the experiences of World Savings Banks Institutes (WSBI) member institutions in providing access to savings services to the low income market in different parts of the HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 15

world. The paper provides a detailed picture of regional experiences and core characteristics of microsavings services in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It presents lessons learned on how best to reach poor people that are based on a program that WSBI is running. ***

Assessment of the Government Health Financing System in Nepal: Suggestions for Reform
by Lluis Vinyals i Torres, Ghan Shyam Gautam, Franziska Fuerst et al. Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, November 2011 88 pp. 2.0 MB: http://german-practice-collection.org/en/downloadcentre/doc_download/1001 This report aims to contribute to the reform process of the health financing system in Nepal to ensure social health protection for Nepalese citizens. It has a particular focus on purchasing mechanisms and makes recommendations on how to move towards better utilisation of resources and strategic purchasing. The analysis follows the World Health Organizations three health financing functions - revenue collection, risk pooling and purchasing - leading to the described assessment of the key challenges.

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Scaling up rural sanitation in Vietnam: political economy constraints and opportunities
by Daniel Harris, Michelle Kooy and Pham Quang Nam Overseas Development Institute (ODI), December 2011 57 pp. 547 kB: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/docs/7550.pdf This Working Paper presents findings from an analysis of the governance and political economy of water and sanitation service delivery in Vietnam. The objective of the research is to develop the utility of political economy analysis for the water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector, with a focus on improving the operational impact of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) (and other donor) country programming.

Human Resources Health Workers Reach Index

by Save the Children, U.K., 2011 7 pp. 2.3 MB: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/HealthW orkerIndexmain_4.pdf This major new index has ranked the best and worst countries for a child to fall sick in with Chad and Somalia at the bottom and Switzerland and Finland at the top. The index HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 16

measures not only how many health workers there are but also their reach and impact. It also tracks the proportion of children who receive regular vaccinations and mothers who have access to life-saving emergency care at birth.

Health Systems & Research Verbal autopsy: innovations, applications, opportunities - Improving cause of death measurement
Edited by Alan D Lopez, Rafael Lozano, Christopher JL Murray, and Kenji Shibuya Population Health Metrics, 5 August 2011 http://www.pophealthmetrics.com/series/verbal_autopsy Verbal autopsy (VA) can be used to determine individuals causes of death and causespecific mortality fractions in areas without a vital registration system. A standard VA instrument paired with easy-to-implement and reliable analytic methods could help bridge significant gaps in information about causes of death, particularly in resource-poor settings. The research published in these 24 freely accessible articles emerged from the Global Congress on Verbal Autopsy: State of the Science, held in Bali, Indonesia, in February 2011. ***

The judgment process in evidence-based medicine and health technology assessment

by Michael P Kelly and Tessa A Moore Social Theory & Health (2012) 10, 1-19, December 2011 19 pp. 174 kB:
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/sth/journal/v10/n1/pdf/sth201121a.pdf

This article describes the judgements used to interpret evidence in evidence-based medicine (EBM) and health technology assessment (HTA). It outlines the methods and processes of EBM and HTA. Respectively, EBM and HTA are approaches to medical clinical decision making and efficient allocation of scarce health resources. At the heart of both is a concern to review and synthesise evidence, especially evidence derived from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of clinical effectiveness. The driver of the approach of both is a desire to eliminate, or at least reduce, bias. ***

Understanding health system reform - a complex adaptive systems perspective

by Joachim P. Sturmberg, Di M. O'Halloran, Carmel M. Martin Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, Vol. 18, Issue 1, pp. 202208, February 2012 7 pp. 953 kB: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.13652753.2011.01792.x/pdf Everyone wants a sustainable well-functioning health system. However, this notion has HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 17

different meaning to policy makers and funders compared to clinicians and patients. The former perceive public policy and economic constraints, the latter clinical or patientcentred strategies as the means to achieving a desired outcome. The authors contrast the likely functions and outcomes of a health system with a people-centred attractor and one with a financial attractor. This analysis suggests a shift in the systems attractor is fundamental to progress health reform thinking. ***

Community accountability at peripheral health facilities: a review of the empirical literature and development of a conceptual framework
by Sassy Molyneux, Martin Atela, Vibian Angwenyi et al. Health Policy Plan. (2012); First published online: January 25, 2012 14 pp. 1.0 MB: http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/24/heapol.c zr083.full.pdf+html Public accountability has re-emerged as a top priority for health systems all over the world, and particularly in developing countries where governments have often failed to provide adequate public sector services for their citizens. One approach to strengthening public accountability is through direct involvement of clients, users or the general public in health delivery, here termed community accountability. Data are now needed on the implementation and impact of these initiatives on the ground. ***

Sex-Specific Reporting of Scientific Research

A Workshop Summary by Theresa M. Wizemann National Academy of Sciences, 2012 72 pp. 470 kB: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK83298/pdf/nap13307.pdf The workshop explored the need for sex-specific reporting of scientific results; potential barriers and unintended consequences of sex-specific reporting of scientific results; experiences of journals that have implemented sex-specific requirements, including the challenges and benefits of such editorial policies; and steps to facilitate the reporting of sex-specific results. During closing remarks, the planning committee chair summarized some of the individual suggestions discussed for advancing sex-specific reporting. ***

Forms of benefit sharing in global health research undertaken in resource poor settings: A qualitative study of Stakeholders views in Kenya
by Geoffrey M Lairumbi, Michael Parker, Raymond Fitzpatrick et al. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 2012, 7:7 (17 January 2012) 20 pp. 215 kB: http://www.peh-med.com/content/pdf/1747-5341-7-7.pdf

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Increase in global health research undertaken in resource poor settings in the last decade though a positive development has raised ethical concerns relating to potential for exploitation. Global health research should provide benefits that address both the micro and macro level issues of justice in order to forestall exploitation. Embracing the two is however challenging in terms of how the various competing interests/needs should be balanced ethically, especially in the absence of structures to guide the process. This challenge should point to the need for greater dialogue to facilitate value clarification among stakeholders. ***

Gender, Women and Primary Health Care Renewal: A Discussion Paper

by by Peju Olukoya and Sundari Ravindran World Health Organization (WHO), 2010 78 pp. 843 kB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2010/9789241564038_eng.pdf The WHO has launched an ambitious course of transforming health systems towards primary health care (PHC), yet integrating a gender perspective within PHC reform is a major challenge. This document aims to outline the basic elements of gender-equitable PHC reforms.

Information & Communication Technology Is HINARI appropriate for medical students in the developing world?
by Caleb Van Essen, Peter Cartledge, Patrick Kyamanywa et al. Tropical Medicine & International Health, Article first published online: 30 December 2011 3 pp. 138 kB: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.13653156.2011.02938.x/pdf The Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI), which arose in response to medical literature needs in developing countries, gives online access to scientific information to a variety of institutions throughout the world. The study sought to find out whether the textbooks (e-books) available on HINARI could form a virtual library that would cover the curriculum of a medical school. The authors found that they were insufficient in providing adequate subject material relevant to medical school curricula from Rwanda, the United Kingdom and the United States. This literature gap could be closed by additional medical textbooks being made available from contributing publishers. ***

Making a difference - Stories from the field: how access to scientific literature is improving the livelihoods of communities around the world
Editors Richard Gedye, Charlotte Masiello-Riome Research4Life, 2012 24 pp. 1.3 MB: http://www.research4life.org/Documents/R4L_Making_a_difference_finalfeb2012.pdf HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 19

Since 2002, four programmes Research in Health (HINARI), Research in Agriculture (AGORA), Research in the Environment (OARE), and Research for Development and Innovation (ARDI) have provided researchers at more than 6000 institutions in more than 100 developing countries and territories with free or low-cost access to more than 9000 leading journals in the fields of health, agriculture, environment and technology. This illuminating series of case studies provides insights into how access to the results of peer-reviewed research from Research4Life publisher partners is benefiting the health, well-being, and economic and social development of communities in the developing world, as well as contributing to greater environmental health and awareness. ***

Envisioning a Learning Health Care System: The Electronic Primary Care Research Network, A Case Study
by Brendan C. Delaney, Kevin A. Peterson, Stuart Speedie et al. Ann Fam Med January/February 2012, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 54-59 6 pp. 312 kB: http://www.annfammed.org/content/10/1/54.full.pdf+html The learning health care system refers to the cycle of turning health care data into knowledge, translating that knowledge into practice, and creating new data by means of advanced information technology. The electronic Primary Care Research Network (ePCRN) was a project, funded by the US National Institutes of Health, with the aim to facilitate clinical research using primary care electronic health records (EHRs). ***

Apps For Development: Lessons From mPowering

Read online at: http://www.mobileactive.org/case-studies/appsdevelopment-lessons-field-mpowering This article reports on technology developed by the California, US, non-profit organisation mPowering: customised mobile apps (computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks) to help reach people living on less than US$ 2 a day and connect them with funding opportunities and programmes in the developed world. The goal of mPowering is to leverage existing mobile infrastructure to open up channels of access to those living in remote areas of Nepal and India. These programmes provide incentives to economically poor individuals for reporting to school or work, via mobile application.

Education Beyond Busan: Strengthening aid to improve education outcomes

UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report, Policy Paper 02, November 2011 7 pp. 783 kB: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002144/214454E.pdf For millions around the world who are still denied the chance of quality education, the 4th HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 20

High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea offered hope but also real challenges. Not only is the financial crisis jeopardizing aid levels, but the latest evidence shows that the global movement for more effective aid is making disappointing headway. But some encouraging progress in education shows that the global aid effectiveness movement can achieve results. ***

Improving Instructional Quality - Focus on Faculty Development

by Ann E. Austin, Imelda Marquez, Stephen J. Banta et al. Asian Development Bank, December 2011 50 pp. 411 kB:
http://beta.adb.org/sites/default/files/improving-instructional-quality.pdf

The rapid expansion of higher education in Asia has been accompanied by challenges with no easy solutions and by issues that require innovative thinking and policy decisions. This publication focuses on the challenges in improving the internal efficiency of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Asia, examining the quality of the work done within these institutions; the efficiency and effectiveness of that work; and the problems, dilemmas, and barriers that HEIs in Asia face in fulfilling their missions.

Millennium Development Goals Revisiting MDG Cost Estimates from a Domestic Resource Mobilisation Perspective
by Vararat Atisophon, Jesus Bueren, Gregory De Paepe et al. OECD Development Centre, December 2011 66 pp. 1.6 MB: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/5/49301301.pdf This paper aims at providing an estimate of the resource envelope required in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on the global level. As widely acknowledged by previous contributors to this literature, modelling the cost of achieving the MDGs poses many data and methodological challenges. This paper relies on a very simple growth model to relate development financing - private or public - to growth in order to estimate how much it would cost to halve poverty across developing countries.

Development Assistance South-South development cooperation: A challenge to the aid system?

by Paul Quintos, Rosario Bella Guzman, Jose Enrique Africa et al. The Reality of Aid (RoA) Network, 2011 144 pp. 1.3 MB:
http://www.realityofaid.org/roareports/download/file/aCtvMzhqdU1MdEt5b2RvSzFLWFNDVjc0dDJydkl3Mkt1M0sreFMzOW h2dTdPc1YvOGhiUXUrNWdabGRQb0lFdytkT25BTFFZaE5zWGVxNW1jekwwbGc9PQ/sec/2/part/3

A number of middle-income countries from the South have recently moved from being net aid recipients to being net donors even as the vast majority of the worlds impoverHESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 21

ished population are still found in these countries. With the rapid growth of development assistance from so-called emerging donors from the South, there is increasing interest in South-South Cooperation especially within official government circles. South-South development cooperation (SSDC) has been receiving greater attention lately as developing countries gain increasing weight in the world economy. ***

Making systematic reviews work for international development research

by Jessica Hagen-Zanker, Maren Duvendack, Richard Mallett et al. Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Discussion Papers, January 2012 4 pp. 534 kB: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/docs/7546.pdf This briefing paper reflects upon the use of systematic reviews in international development research. It attempts to identify where a systematic review approach adds value to development research and where it becomes problematic. ***

Left Behind by the G20?

How inequality and environmental degradation threaten to exclude poor people from the benefits of economic growth by Richard Gower, Caroline Pearce and Kate Raworth Oxfam Briefing Paper 157 - 19 January 2012 46 pp. 644 kB:
http://policypractice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/download/get.file?id=440998&variant=pdf

In 2010, the G20 committed themselves to promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth. They argued that for prosperity to be sustained it must be shared and also endorsed green growth, which promises to decouple economic expansion from environmental degradation. But G20 countries have some way to go to match this commitment. This paper assesses their record, and points the way forward. ***

Tracking Development in South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa: The Primacy of Policy
by Jan Kees van Donge, David Henley and Peter Lewis Development Policy Review, 2012, 30 (s1): s5-s24 (16 January 2012) 20 pp. 442 kB:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1467-7679.2012.00563.x/asset/j.14677679.2012.00563.x.pdf?v=1&t=gxnpk0kh&s=201246baa3509de18d2c1a3be875de51473c302b

The Tracking Development project aims to explain the divergences in development outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia over the past fifty years through the pair-wise comparison of four countries in each region. Policies aimed at macroeconomic stabilisation were pursued in both regions, but whereas in South-East Asia these were associated with policies leading to poverty reduction, this was not the case in Africa.

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Innovative Financing for Development: A New Model for Development Finance?

by Gail Hurley and Sofia Palli United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), January 2012 66 pp. 1.0 MB:
http://www.beta.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Poverty%20Reduction/Development%20Cooperation%20and%20Finance/InnovativeFinancing_Web%20ver.pdf

This Discussion Paper explores recent experiences with innovative sources of development finance in order to capture lessons learned for the more effective implementation of both current and future initiatives. The paper also reviews a number of proposals currently on the table for future innovative development finance schemes and examines the political dynamics associated with each.

Others Fighting Corruption in the Health Sector: Methods, Tools and Good Practices
y Jillian Clare Kohler, Allen Asiimwe, Ashaba Ahebwa et al. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), October 2011 76 pp. 2.6 MB:
http://www.beta.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Democratic%20Governance/I P/Anticorruption%20Methods%20and%20Tools%20in%20Health%20Lo%20Res%20final.pdf

This publication is part of a series of UNDP-sponsored studies that present methods, tools and good practices to map corruption risks, develop strategies and sustain partnerships to address challenges and tackle corruption in the education, health and water sectors. The studies bring together UNDPs efforts to support countries to develop frameworks to accelerate their efforts to meet the MDGs as well as successfully meet the commitments of the UN Convention against Corruption. ***

Nutrition and Business: How to engage?

United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN) SCN News, No. 39, late-2011 107 pp. 4.1 MB: http://www.unscn.org/files/Publications/SCN_News/SCNNEWS39_ 10.01_low_def.pdf The UNSCN, in 2006, developed a Private Sector Engagement Policy that lays out a series of principles and mechanisms that can help to manage and minimize the possible risk of conflicting interests. This SCN News follows up and aims at adding to this long overdue and necessary debate by offering space for interested authors to not only showcase examples of public-private engagement where interests converged and generated positive results but also examine and present their insights on the potential risks, challenges and opportunities that such engagement brings. *** HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 23

Health economic assessment tools (HEAT) for walking and for cycling
by Sonja Kahlmeier, Nick Cavill, Hywell Dinsdale et al. WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2011 46 pp. 2.3 MB:
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/155631/E96097.pdf

The promotion of active transport (cycling and walking) for everyday physical activity is a win-win approach; it not only promotes health but can also lead to positive environmental effects, especially if cycling and walking replace short car trips. This publication presents the main conclusions on the methodology for economic assessment of transport infrastructure and policies regarding inclusion of the health effects of walking and cycling.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
The AfriPop project
http://www.afripop.org The new version AfriPop:demography Africa-wide population datasets are now freely available from the AfriPop project website. These new datasets provide estimates of the distribution of children under 5 years old and women of child-bearing age for each 1km grid square across Africa for the years 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015, and can be downloaded from the above URL. ***

Western Pacific Surveillance and Response (WPSAR)

http://www.wpro.who.int/wpsar/ Western Pacific Surveillance and Response (WPSAR) is an open access journal dedicated to the surveillance of and response to public health events. The goal of the journal is to create a platform for timely information sharing both within the region and globally to enhance surveillance and response activities. WPSAR is a continuous publication which means articles will be published as soon as they have completed the review and editing process. ***

Moving Evidence Into Action

http://www.fhi360.org/en/RH/Programs/RtoP/index.htm#evidence_to_action

FHI 360 announces the publication of Moving Evidence Into Action, a series of briefs for programme managers interested in implementing evidence-based programmes. With a special emphasis on underutilized interventions, they present evidence on programmes that work and provide guidance and resources for replication. The first three briefs cover safer infant feeding practices for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), with a focus on exclusive breastfeeding; isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) for TB prevention among individuals with HIV; and expanding male circumcision programmes. The briefs can be downloaded at the above URL. *** HESP-News & Notes - 03/2012 - page 24

Newsletter of the Public Health Global Network

Volume 1, Issue 1, January 2012 http://www.publichealthglobal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=art icle&id=298%3Anewsletter-volume1&catid=39%3Anewsletter&Itemid=90 The objective of this first issue of the Newsletter is to discuss human resources - specially the Frontline health workers as a critical component to public health. It presents snapshots and case-studies from different countries.

INTERESTING WEB SITES

Health Systems Evidence
http://www.mcmasterhealthforum.org/healthsystemsevidence-en Health Systems Evidence is a continuously updated repository of syntheses of research evidence about governance, financial and delivery arrangements within health systems, and about implementation strategies that can support change in health systems. Over time Health Systems Evidence will also contain a continuously updated repository of economic evaluations in these same domains, descriptions of health system reforms, and descriptions of health systems. ***

Implementing Best Practices (IBP) Knowledge Gateway

http://knowledge-gateway.org/ The IBP Knowledge Gateway is an electronic communication tool for the international development field, used by over 29,400 members and 617 communities worldwide. The Gateway is designed to improve and enhance community members ability to access the information they need, when they need it. Gateway users share local and international experience on effective practices, success stories, lessons learned, issues, and concerns relevant to the field of reproductive health. ***

UHC Forward - Towards Universal Health Coverage

http://uhcforward.org/ UHC Forward consolidates information from hundreds of sources into a one-stop portal. It is hoped that visitors will be able to stay informed of health coverage efforts in countries around the world, explore key issues and policy debates related to universal health coverage, exchange ideas with others by submitting blogs or articles, and find links to additional resources to support their own efforts. ***

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Wikipedia: WikiProject Medicine/Translation Task Force

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:MED/Translation_project This is an effort started in 2011 to first improve health cares most important topics in English and than to translate them to simple English and onto as many other languages as possible. It is an undertaking initiated by Wikiproject Medicine, Wikimedia Canada, and Translators Without Borders and is expected to carry on for a number of years. The goal is to translate the ~80 most important medical articles to as many languages as possible.

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Call for Applications: Human Rights and Drug Policy Summer Course
July 16-27, 2012 Central European University, Budapest, Hungary Application Deadline: February 15, 2012 Sponsored by the Open Society Foundations, this course aims to situate drug policies globally within a framework of fundamental human rights, and to assess the extent to which country and international drug policies fail to meet human rights standards. Discussion will focus partly on the identification and understanding of human rights including those that have their basis in international agreements and laws, and in part on evaluation and assessment of the gap between rights and practice in the implementation of drug policies in many countries and regions. The focus of the course will be global and participants will be drawn from all regions internationally. For more information see: http://www.summer.ceu.hu/drugpolicy-2012 ***

Social Health Protection: addressing inequities in access to health care

Pre-course e-learning: 20 February - 11 March 2012 Residential phase: 12 - 23 March 2012 Turin, Italy with a study visit to Chambry, France International Training Centre of the ILO Social Protection Programme Flyer: http://socialprotection.itcilo.org/pdf-and-pics/pdf-flyers/a905003en (open the file with PDF Reader) The course will identify inequities in effective access and main causes, review the importance of universal access to health care in crisis and post crisis situations, issues related to the feasibility of introducing a scheme and planning for implementation; designing the appropriate contribution levels and benefits, monitoring the provision of services and ensuring the sound governance and financing of the scheme. ***

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CONFERENCES
Berlin Conference on Evidence for Sustainable Development
5-6 October, 2012, Berlin, Germany The conference aims at bringing together scientists from different disciplines and strands of research that produce evidence to support decision-making for sustainable development, and those that study the use of such evidence. Furthermore, they invite policy-makers and practitioners working at the science-policy interface or dealing with issues of evidence use in policy making to share their experiences. For more information see: http://www.berlinconference.org/2012/

CARTOON

TIPS & TRICKS

Google Chrome Home Button
If you look at the interface of Google Chrome, as compared to other browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer, you notice one glaring difference: the lack of a home button. You know, the little house icon on the toolbar? The other browsers have it, so why doesnt Chrome? No need to get upset. It is ridiculously easy to fix. First, open Chrome, click on the Wrench icon in the upper right-hand corner and select Options. Under Toolbar, put a check next to Show Home button. The effect is instantaneous: Click Close and enjoy the added functionality of a home button in Google Chrome. ***

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Google Search: A Different Perspective

In the digital universe, Easter eggs are hidden messages or tricky devices often humorous that are generally revealed by a series of keystrokes, or by typing a particular word or phrase. These cryptic novelties can be found in games or other applications, but their creation is also a frequent diversion for the developers at Google. Here is a couple that will take your browser window in new directions: On the computer, in Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or on an iPhone or on at least some Android devices, go to http://www.google.com. Once there, type either the word tilt and tap the Enter key or the search button. Or, if searching from that angle doesnt appeal to you, try typing the phrase, do a barrel roll for a different spin on Google search. Enjoy! ***

Open Web Links in a New Tab

Did you know that if you use your middle mouse button (or roller) to click on a link that it will open that link in a new tab? It works in just about every browser, so if you are using Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer, you are good to go! It is perfect for when you are browsing around on a content-rich site (Wikipedia, for example) and you want to keep all your searches organized in separate tabs. It saves time, too. Give it a try. ***

Beware saving passwords in your browser

It is surprisingly easy for someone to get all your saved passwords from your Firefox browser. Saving passwords in Firefox makes it easy to access websites requiring you to log in without having to remember your username and password, but it comes with a significant security risk. A full list of all your saved passwords in Firefox is available to anyone within a few clicks if they gain access to your computer. The procedure to see all your saved passwords is simple: Tools/Options >> Options >> Security >> Saved Passwords >> Show passwords. There is luckily an easy way to protect your saved passwords in Firefox (apart from making sure that you never leave your computer unattended) set a master password. To set a master password Tools/Options >> Options >> Security >> Select Use a master password. Using a master password makes surfing the web less convenient, but removing the risk of having all your passwords exposed may be worth it. Best regards, Dieter Neuvians MD

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