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Alliance News Digest

Week of 22 April 2011

NEWS FROM WHO AND PARTNERS

• Linking Up to Use Health Information for Improving Health Outcomes - Capacity Plus – (4/07)
  CapacityPlus’s iHRIS Manage software, designed for managing the health workforce, will be presented to the Philippines’s secretary of health.
• Investing in health for Africa: The case for strengthening systems for better health outcomes - Partnership on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health/WHO – (April 2011)
  A new study demonstrates that investing an additional US$21-36 per person in Sub-Saharan Africa could save states US$100 billion by 2015.
• Celebrating the Essential Work of Midwives – UNFPA – (4/19)
  Major report will be launched in June about the critical role of midwives in the challenge to save the lives of mothers and newborns.
• AMREF’s New Partnership with Open University – AMREF – (4/13)
  AMREF and the Open University will soon be embarking on a partnership to train health workers through distance learning.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• African Ministers of Finance to Improve Investments in Health - Africa Science News – (4/15)
  In line with the 2000 Abuja commitment, only 6 countries out of 52 in a continent with 11% of the world’s population, have achieved the 15% target.
• SUDAN: Lack of justice "entrenching impunity" in Darfur - UN IRIN – (4/18)
  Aid workers have raised serious concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
• FG to review residency training - Nigerian Tribune – (4/14)
  Government wants doctors to get the requisite training to meet international standard.
• A Strong Health Care Has Made an Enormous Difference (Editorial) - The New Times, Rwanda – (4/18)
  The health care system has proved that, even with minimal contributions, the difference made in the well being of the citizens is enormous.
• Cote d'Ivoire: UN Health Team Travels to Western Côte d'Ivoire to Review Medical Needs - UN News Service – (4/19)
  According to WHO only 10 of 44 health centres are now open, all surgeons and gynaecologists fled as well as most general practitioners and specialized nurses
• Inside the Accra Psychiatric Hospital - The Chronicle, Ghana – (4/13)
  Mental health in Ghana is one thing the government does not really give priority to.
• Tragedy of baby deaths - Times Live, SA – (4/18)
  A critical shortage of qualified midwives is to blame for the shocking number of babies who die at birth.
• Public sector nurses demand higher salaries - The Jordan Times – (4/21)
  Nurses demand better pay as well as an amendment to administrative regulations governing the work of public sector nurses.

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• PMA criticises evening classes proposal - DAWN.com, Pakistan – (4/17)
  PMA office-bearer emphasised the need to focus on quality of healthcare in medical institutions instead of the number of doctors.
• Spending reforms vital for saving health insurance program: experts - Focus Taiwan News Channel – (4/14)
  The key to saving the cash-strapped national health insurance system lies in the reform of its spending structure, experts said
• Shunning Hippocrates - Thanh Nien News, Vietnam – (4/15)
  Privatization of healthcare breeds unethical medical practices at public hospitals
• Birth pains - The Standard, Hong Kong – (4/15)
  Combined weight of pregnant mainlanders is straining Hong Kong's hospital facilities to such an extent that a major part of the system could collapse.
• Emergency care 'immobilised' - Mid Day, India – (4/19)
  The few government-owned Advanced Life Support ambulances that are currently operational in the Capital, function only between 8 am and 4 pm
• Discourage treatment in abroad: NMA - The Himalayan Times, Nepal – (4/18)
  As the health service and health education are not making any quality improvement, a national level directory should be formulated, said the Nepal Medical Association.
• Taiwan Medical Mission awarded for providing medical aid in Africa - China Post – (4/19)
  Within three years, the Taiwan Mission Team to Swaziland has treated a total of 4,000 people across 12 districts
• Mental illness putting stress on hospitals - The West Australian – (4/16)
  Doctors say emergency wards are the wrong places to treat mentally ill patients who need specialist care.
• How can the decline in the rural health workforce be stopped? - The Age, AU – (4/19)
  Deakin University runs $50 million project to recruit, train and keep health workers in country areas.

NORTH AMERICA

• Foreign-trained doctors kept out of practice in US - PRI’s The World – (4/14)
  About 10,000 international medical school graduates are in the US and are trying to practice here but cannot.
• How patients can help doctors practice better, less costly medicine - The Washington Post – (4/15)
  The Affordable Care Act will never succeed unless we all change our practices and our understanding of appropriate medical care.
• Hungarian Doctors Seek Fortune Abroad - The Wall Street Journal – (4/14)
  1,777 hungarian health care workers requested a license to work abroad last year, more than twice as many as just four years ago.
• Doctors could learn something about medical handoffs from the Navy - Los Angeles Times – (4/18)
  New methods are in the works at hospitals to ensure consistent care for patients after doctors’ shift changes.
• Doctor tells Putin of Russia’s medical shortcomings - The Washington Post – (4/20)
  Russian medical care is hobbled by corruption, meager salaries and a shortage of medical workers, Russia’s most prominent doctors said.
• Health reform may boost medical office building market - American Medical News – (4/18)
  Hospitals plan to add more office space for ambulatory care, but physicians are taking a wait-and-see approach.
• Aging corps of midwives poses shortage - Boston Herald – (4/19)
  The study says Massachusetts needs a new crop of this specialized medical professional to keep the benefits that midwives provide.
• Public review urged into intimidation of ER doctors - Edmonton Journal, CA – (4/14)
  Changes won't be made if doctors are afraid to talk.
• Who cares for the caregivers? - The Province, CA – (4/17)
  According to a report, worker retention is the biggest challenge for employers in the private and non-profit stream of elder care.

EUROPE

• Stillbirths: the professional organisations' perspective - The Lancet, UK – (4/14)
  FIGO, IPA, and ICM have a major part to play in saving the lives of millions of stillborn babies worldwide, especially in developing countries.
• Shershah Syed: improving maternal care in Pakistan - The Lancet, UK – (4/16)
  Each year, obstetrician-gynaecologist Shershah Syed and his team treat more than 1000 patients with vaginal fistulae in Karachi, Pakistan.
• Community Health – Fashion or Function? - ISN ETH-Zurich – (4/20)
  Community health workers are gaining resurgent attention as the panacea for human resource shortages - but can they really be the hoped for cure-all?
• How the government's immigration cap squashes the NHS - The Guardian, UK – (4/19)
  The health service relies on a newly-limited supply of non-EU skilled workers. It may have to recruit more Europeans to compensate.
• Impoverished Afghans shouldering burden of health care – Reuters – (4/17)
  Afghanistan's government and foreign donors spend barely $10 a person on health.
• HSE says up to 400 junior doctor posts may be vacant - Irish Times – (4/18)
  The HSE hopes to fill some of the gaps through a recruitment campaign in India and Pakistan.
• NHS children's care at risk through lack of well-qualified doctors and nurses - The Guardian, UK– (4/21)
  Paediatricians say 50% increase in consultants and many more children's nurses and GPs with paediatric experience needed.
• Israeli doctors cancel elective surgery in dispute over pay - British Medical Journal – (4/14)
  The Israel Medical Association points out that some young doctors earn close to the national minimum wage, despite working long hours.
• La huida de enfermeras catalanas al extranjero crece el 70% en un año - El Periódico de Catalunya, Spain – (4/16)
  Las enfermeras catalanas por su alta cualificación, son muy bien acogidas en hospitales de Reino Unido e Italia, deficitarios de este personal.

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Faltan especialistas para atender adultos mayores - La Capital, Mexico – (4/13)
  Su atención médica debe ser con geriatras que entiendan y atiendan a la perfección su salud, en Tamaulipas hay solo 5.
• Limitada atención a pacientes con VIH en Honduras - La Prensa, Honduras – (4/14)
  Las principales carencias son falta de personal e instalaciones inadecuadas.
• Los médicos bonaerenses aceptaron “en disconformidad” un aumento del 29% - Clarín, Argentina – (4/18)
  El acuerdo fue firmado con duras críticas al modo en el que el gobierno llevó adelante la negociación y manteniendo varios de los reclamos.
• Una nueva escala salarial ayudará a que la Amazonía tenga más médicos especialistas - Andes, Ecuador – (4/19)
  Se prevé un salario máximo de 3.250 dólares para los especialistas que presten sus servicios en está zonas del país.
• Piden aumento para los médicos rurales - El Siglo de Durango, Mexico – (4/15)
  Los altos costos de la estadía junto a la inseguridad, ha provocado la falta de médicos en zonas rurales.
• CSS se queda sin insumos médicos - La Estrella, Panamá – (4/20)
  Hospitales trabajan a media velocidad por la falta de materiales quirúrgicos.
• Federación Médica expresa su apoyo a enfermeros - El Impulso.com, Venezuela – (4/15)
  La salud del 100% de los enfermeros y enfermeras que se encuentran en huelga de hambre es crítica.
• Make HIV part of mainstream health system – study – Demerara Waves, Guyana – (4/20)
  Guyana must integrate its HIV services into the general healthcare system in order to better utilise the limited resources available to the sector