Health, Education, Social Protection News & Notes 12/2012

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03 June 2012
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Table of Contents: BOOKS ................................................................................ 5

Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects .............................................................. 5 Africa Human Development Report 2012: Towards a Food Secure Future ........................... 5 One Planet to Share: Sustaining Human Progress in a Changing Climate ............................ 5 Climate Change in Brazil: Economic, Social and Regulatory Aspects ................................... 6 Primary Care and Public Health: Exploring Integration to Improve Population Health ........... 6 Amnesty International Report 2012: The State of the Worlds Human Rights ........................ 6 Frontiers in Development Policy: A Primer on Emerging Issues ............................................ 7

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS .................................................... 7

Global Health.............................................................................................................. 7
65th World Health Assembly closes with new global health measures .................................. 7 Defining and assessing evidence for the effectiveness of technical assistance in furthering global health ............................................................................................................................ 7 Allocating Scarce Resources Strategically - An Evaluation and Discussion of the Global Funds Pattern of Disbursements ............................................................................................ 8 A Framework Convention on Global Health: Health for All, Justice for All ............................. 8 The US Global Health Initiative: where does it stand?............................................................ 8

HIV - AIDS - STI ......................................................................................................... 9

HIV Operational Plan 2012 - 2013 .......................................................................................... 9 Retention in HIV Programmes: Defining the challenges and identifying solutions ................. 9 The (Mis)Reporting of Male Circumcision Status among Men and Women in Zambia and Swaziland: A Randomized Evaluation of Interview Methods .................................................. 9 Treatment as prevention: Making it work for communities most affected by HIV ................. 10 HIV Clients as Agents for Prevention: A Social Network Solution ........................................ 10 Tools for Change: Applying United Nations standards to secure womens housing, land, and property rights in the context of HIV...................................................................................... 10 Palliative Care: A Handbook of Palliative Care in Africa....................................................... 11

Sexual & Reproductive Health .................................................................................. 11

The sexual behaviour of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: patterns and trends from national surveys .................................................................................................................... 11 From desires to behavior: Moderating factors in a fertility transition..................................... 11 Reproductive Health and Economic Development: What Connections Should We Focus On?........................................................................................................................................ 12 Family Planning: The Smartest Investment We Can Make .................................................. 12

Maternal & Child Health............................................................................................ 12

Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health: Progress Report 2010-2011.................. 12 Levels and trends in child mortality - Report 2011 ................................................................ 13 Measuring Child Poverty: New league tables of child poverty in the worlds rich countries . 13 Improving Quality of Care for Maternal and Newborn Health: Prospective Pilot Study of the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist Program .............................................................................. 13 Adolescent Mental Health ..................................................................................................... 14

HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 1

Making Abortion Services Accessible in the Wake of Legal Reforms: A Framework and Six Case Studies ......................................................................................................................... 14

Malaria ..................................................................................................................... 14
Drug quality and the fight against malaria............................................................................. 14 Poor-quality antimalarial drugs in southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa .......................... 15 Inaugural Meeting of the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee to the WHO: Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 15 Global Plan for Insecticide Resistance Management in Malaria Vectors ............................. 15 Prevalence of Malaria and Sexually Transmitted and Reproductive Tract Infections in Pregnancy in Sub-Saharan Africa......................................................................................... 16 Good practices for selecting and procuring rapid diagnostic tests for malaria ..................... 16 The Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI) ................................................................................ 16 Essential Malaria Actions Guide for Kenyan Families .......................................................... 17 Scepticism towards insecticide treated mosquito nets for malaria control in rural community in north-western Tanzania..................................................................................................... 17

Tuberculosis ............................................................................................................. 17
Management of children exposed to multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis ........ 17 Treatment outcomes for children with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis ................................................................................................................. 18 Point-of-care detection of lipoarabinomannan (LAM) in urine for diagnosis of HIV-associated tuberculosis: a state of the art review.................................................................................... 18 New laboratory tests to enhance TB diagnosis: Microscopy, LAM and Xpert MTB/RIF used as a drug resistance test ....................................................................................................... 18 Vaccines against Tuberculosis: Where Are We and Where Do We Need to Go?................ 19

Other Infectious Diseases......................................................................................... 19

Polios last stand ................................................................................................................... 19 Neglected Disease Research and Development: Is Innovation under Threat? .................... 19 Eliminating Soil-Transmitted Helminthiases as a Public Health Problem in Children........... 20

Non-communicable Diseases ................................................................................... 20

The Global Economic Burden of Noncommunicable Diseases ............................................ 20 Resource Needs for Addressing Noncommunicable Disease in Low- and Middle-Income Countries ............................................................................................................................... 20

Essential Medicines .................................................................................................. 21

A practical handbook on the pharmacovigilance of medicines used in the treatment of tuberculosis ........................................................................................................................... 21 Priority live-saving medicines for women and children 2012 ................................................ 21 Methodology Report 2012 for the Access to Medicine Index................................................ 21 WHO Drug Information, Vol. 26, N 1, March 2012 .............................................................. 22 The Selection and Use of Essential Medicines ..................................................................... 22

Social Protection....................................................................................................... 22
Social Protection: Shared Interests in Vulnerability Reduction and Development................ 22 Can Conditional Cash Transfers Improve Maternal Health and Birth Outcomes? Evidence from El Salvadors Comunidades Solidarias Rurales ........................................................... 23 Alternative Cash Transfer Delivery Mechanisms: Impacts on Routine Preventative Health Clinic Visits in Burkina Faso .................................................................................................. 23 Impact of education on informal workers willingness to pay and knowledge of health insurance ............................................................................................................................... 23 Developing Asias Pension Systems and Old-Age Income Support ..................................... 24

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene..................................................................................... 24

Roles of Companies in Water Management - Extending the Boundaries of Private Sector Responsibility? ...................................................................................................................... 24 Water Safety Planning for Small Community Water Supplies .............................................. 24

Human Resources.................................................................................................... 25
Preparing the Next Generation of Community Health Workers: The Power of Technology for Training.................................................................................................................................. 25 Measuring workload for tuberculosis service provision at primary care level: a methodology ............................................................................................................................................... 25

Health Systems & Research ..................................................................................... 25

Innovation for health: Research that makes a difference...................................................... 25 How a Global R&D Convention Could Fill the Gaps Left by Todays Medical Innovation System................................................................................................................................... 26

HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 2

Primary Health Care in Low-Income Countries: Building on Recent Achievements............. 26 How can Disease Control Programmes Contribute to Health System Strengthening? Country Report: Liberia ......................................................................................................... 26

Information & Communication Technology ............................................................... 27

Bridging Gaps, Building Opportunity: Broadband as a Catalyst of Economic Growth and Social Progress in Latin America and the Caribbean ........................................................... 27 Layout-Aware Text Extraction from Full-text PDF of Scientific Articles ................................ 27 Open science, open access and open source software at Open Medicine .......................... 27

Education ................................................................................................................. 28
Education for Sustainable Development: Sourcebook.......................................................... 28 World Education 1951-2011: Celebrating 60 Years.............................................................. 28 A New Face of Education: Bringing Technology into the Classroom in the Developing World ............................................................................................................................................... 28 The eLearning Africa 2012 Report ........................................................................................ 29

Harm Reduction and Drug Use................................................................................. 29

Social service offices as a point of entry into substance abuse treatment for poor South Africans.................................................................................................................................. 29 The War on Drugs: Creating crime, enriching criminals ....................................................... 29

Millennium Development Goals ................................................................................ 30

Post-2015 Goals, Targets and Indicators.............................................................................. 30 Sustainable Development Goals and the Relationship to a Post-2015 Global Development Framework ............................................................................................................................ 30 Getting to Zero: Finishing the Job the MDGs Started ........................................................... 30

Development Assistance .......................................................................................... 31

Integrated Monitoring: A Practical Manual for Organisations that Want to Achieve Results 31 The Effects of Aid on Rights and Governance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment.......... 31 What if three quarters of the worlds poor live (and have always lived) in Low Aid Countries? ............................................................................................................................................... 32

Others ...................................................................................................................... 32
Shaping cities for health: complexity and the planning of urban environments in the 21st century................................................................................................................................... 32 How To Make Cities More Resilient - A Handbook For Local Government Leaders............ 32 Making Research Evidence Matter: A Guide to Policy Advocacy in Transition Countries.... 33 A Guide for Transboundary Research Partnerships ............................................................. 33 A Learning Package for Social and Behavior Change Communication................................ 33

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES ............................................ 34

Hans Rosling: Religions and babies ..................................................................................... 34 Food Security Insights - Issue 82, January 2012 .................................................................. 34 InsightsAfrica ......................................................................................................................... 34 Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, Vol. 18 No. 4, April 2012 ........................................ 34 Bulletin of the World Health Organization ............................................................................. 35

INTERESTING WEB SITES .............................................. 35

Antimalarial Quality Surveyor ................................................................................................ 35

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES............................................ 35
Summer School of International Nutrition: Double Burden of Malnutrition ......................... 35

CONFERENCES................................................................ 36
Report on the Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2012........................................................ 36

CARTOON ......................................................................... 36 TIPS & TRICKS ................................................................. 36

Forward Slash - Backslash.................................................................................................... 36

HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 3

Android Text Response......................................................................................................... 37 Android Punctuation made easy ........................................................................................... 37

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HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 4

BOOKS
Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects
2nd edition Edited by Iris F. F. Benzie and Sissi Wachtel-Galor CRC Press; 2011; ISBN-13: 978-1-4398-0713-2 488 pp. 4.5 MB: http://german-practice-collection.org/en/download-centre/doc_download/1040 Or read chapter by chapter online at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92771/ The global popularity of herbal supplements and the promise they hold in treating various disease states have caused an unprecedented interest in understanding the molecular basis of the biological activity of traditional remedies. This volume focuses on presenting current scientific evidence of biomolecular effects of selected herbs and their relation to clinical outcome and promotion of human health. This book also addresses the ethical challenges of using herbal medicine and its integration into modern, evidence-based medicine. ***

Africa Human Development Report 2012: Towards a Food Secure Future

by Pedro Conceio, Ricardo Fuentes-Nieva, Sebastian Levine et al. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA), May 2012 190 pp. 8.0 MB: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/HDR/Afric a%20HDR/UNDP-Africa%20HDR-2012-EN.pdf This report explores why hunger remains pervasive in Africa, despite abundant agricultural resources, a favourable growing climate and rapid economic growth rates. It also emphasises that food security is essential for human development. The report argues that to boost food security action is needed in four interrelated areas: agricultural productivity, nutrition, access to food and empowerment of the rural poor. The report highlights that although women are significant food producers their control of land in subSaharan Africa is less than in any other region in the world. ***

One Planet to Share: Sustaining Human Progress in a Changing Climate

Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2012 by Anuradha Rajivan, Caroline Borchard, Elena Borsatti et al. United Nations Development Programme, April 2012 269 pp. 5.4 MB:
http://asiapacifichdr.aprc.undp.org./sites/default/files/files/UNDP%20%28Book%29_Low%20resolution.pdf

People in Asia-Pacific will be profoundly affected by climate change. Poverty continues to decline in this dynamic region, but climate change may undercut hard-won gains. Growing first and cleaning up later is no longer an option, as it once was for the developed countries. Developing nations need to grow and manage climate consequences at HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 5

the same time. They must both support resilience, especially among vulnerable populations, and shift to lower-carbon pathways. Emerging threats, whether from melting glaciers or rising sea levels, cross borders and demand coordinated regional and global action. ***

Climate Change in Brazil: Economic, Social and Regulatory Aspects

Editors: Ronaldo Seroa da Motta, Jorge Hargrave, Gustavo Luedemann et al. Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), Brasilia 2011 364 pp. 3.9 MB: http://www.ipea.gov.br/portal/images/stories/PDFs/livros/livros/livro _climatechange_ingles.pdf This publication testifies to the importance of the climate change topic for the process of formulating public policies and actions. The principal objective is to offer readers a Br azilian publication about policies that address global warming, through analytical texts produced by 40 specialists. The intention of this book is not to exhaust all topics nor to present academic texts. But rather to offer chapters with analytical rigor that discuss some aspects of the Brazilian and international regulatory frameworks from various pe rspectives. ***

Primary Care and Public Health: Exploring Integration to Improve Population Health
Committee on Integrating Primary Care and Public Health; Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice; Institute of Medicine, 2012 178 pp. 1.5 MB: http://download.nap.edu/cart/download.cgi?&record_id=13381&free=1 Primary Care and Public Health identifies the best examples of effective public health and primary care integration and the factors that promote and sustain these efforts, examines ways by which Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) can use provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to promote the integration of primary care and public health, and discusses how HRSA-supported primary care systems and state and local public health departments can effectively integrate and coordinate to improve efforts directed at disease prevention. ***

Amnesty International Report 2012: The State of the Worlds Human Rights
Amnesty International, May 2012 444 pp. 6.7 MB: http://files.amnesty.org/air12/air_2012_full_en.pdf The report documents specific restrictions on free speech in at least 91 countries as well as cases of people tortured or otherwise ill-treated in at least 101 countries in many cases for taking part in demonstrations. Ousting individual leaders however tyrannical is not enough to deliver long-term change. Governments must uphold freedom of expression at home and abroad, take international responsibilities HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 6

seriously, and invest in systems and structures that ensure justice, freedom and equality before the law. ***

Frontiers in Development Policy: A Primer on Emerging Issues

by Raj Nallari, Shahid Yusuf, Breda Griffith and Rwitwika Bhattacharya The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, 2011 316 pp. 3.4 MB: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/23 50/644420PUB0Fron00ID0187850BOX361537B.pdf?sequence=1 The book, developed for courses at the World Bank and elsewhere, is a primer that examines interlinkages in various parts of the economy and the need for practical policy making to reach development goals in a globalized world of instabilities and complexities. This primer has been used by leading policy experts around the world and is intended for policy makers, practitioners - particularly government sector officials - and researchers from NGOs and think tanks interested in international development policy and marketing trends.

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS
Global Health 65th World Health Assembly closes with new global health measures
The Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly concluded 26 May 2012 after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues. The six days of discussions involved nearly 3000 delegates, including health ministers and senior health officials from amongst the 194 WHO Member States, as well as representatives from civil society and other stakeholders. The agenda covered some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing public health today. For more information see: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2012/wha65_closes_20120526/en/index.html ***

Defining and assessing evidence for the effectiveness of technical assistance in furthering global health
by Gary R. West, Sheila P. Clapp, E. Megan Davidson et al. Global Public Health, 2012, 1:16 (21 May 2012) 18 pp. 311 kB: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17441692.2012.682075 In an era when health resources are increasingly constrained, international organisations are transitioning from directly managing health services to providing technical assistance (TA) to in-country owners of public health programmes. TA can build sustainable capacities, strengthen health systems and support country ownership. However, the authors assessment of published evaluations found limited evidence for its effectiveness. They summarise socio-behavioural theories relevant to TA, review published evaluations and describe skills required for TA providers. Considering its important role HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 7

in global health, more rigorous evaluations of TA efforts should be given high priority. ***

Allocating Scarce Resources Strategically - An Evaluation and Discussion of the Global Funds Pattern of Disbursements
by David McCoy and Kelvin Kinyua PLoS ONE 7(5): e34749 (9 May 2012) 10 pp. 800 kB:
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObjectAttachment.action;jsessionid=E91460FCF6E9B2CD 623FFC22579BA266?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0034749&representation=PDF

The Global Fund (GF) is under pressure to improve its rationing of financial support. This study describes the GFs pattern of disbursements in relation to total health expenditure, government health expenditure, income status and the burden of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. It also examines the potential for recipient countries to increase domestic public financing for health. The authors conclude that the GF needs to: a) reduce the extent to which funds are allocated on a demand-driven basis; and b) align its funding model to broader health systems financing and patterns of health expenditure beyond the three diseases. ***

A Framework Convention on Global Health: Health for All, Justice for All
by Lawrence O. Gostin Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 307, No. 19, pp. 20872092, May 16, 2012 6 pp. 106 kB: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/pdfaccess.ashx?ResourceID=312485 9&PDFSource=13 Health inequalities represent perhaps the most consequential global health challenge and yet they persist despite increased funding and innovative programs. The United Nations is revising the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that will shape the world for many years to come. What would a transformative post-MDG framework for global health justice look like? ***

The US Global Health Initiative: where does it stand?

by Jennifer Kates and Josh Michaud The Lancet, Vol. 379, Issue 9830, pp. 1925-1926, 26 May 2012 2 pp. 100 kB: http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673612607831.pdf In May, 2009, shortly after taking office, President Barack Obama announced the Global Health Initiative (GHI), which was to be a 6-year (2009-14), US$ 63 billion effort to refocus US global health activities by developing the first comprehensive US Government global health strategy. 4 years into the GHI, where does it stand? Of the US$ 63 billion originally proposed, only 55% (US$ 35 billion) has actually been appropriated, leaving the GHI with a substantial funding gap. The picture is one of both successes and challenges. HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 8

HIV - AIDS - STI HIV Operational Plan 2012 - 2013

WHOs support to implement the Global Health Sector Strategy on HIV / AIDS World Health Organization, May 2012 48 pp. 683 kB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241503709_eng.pdf This HIV Operational Plan describes how WHO will implement the strategy in 2012 / 2013. It outlines WHOs priority work areas for 2012/2013, providing details of the no rmative guidance, policy advice, technical assistance and other products and services that will be implemented within each strategic direction across WHOs HIV programme within each of the three levels of the Organization (headquarters, regional offices and country offices), all of which are aimed at delivering robust, coordinated support for country HIV programmes. ***

Retention in HIV Programmes: Defining the challenges and identifying solutions

Meeting Report, 13-15 September 2011, WHO Geneva World Health Organization, May 2012 71 pp. 539 kB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241503686_eng.pdf Retention in HIV care can be defined as continuous engagement from diagnosis in a package of prevention, treatment, support and care services. In this paper four stages of retention in the continuum of care starting from a positive HIV test to enrolment in care, enrolment in care to ART eligibility, ART eligibility to initiation of ART, and finally continuation of lifelong ART, are described and discussed. Retention is critical to reduce HIV-related morbidity and mortality, reduce the incidence of new infections in children and adults, and reduce development of ART resistance. ***

The (Mis)Reporting of Male Circumcision Status among Men and Women in Zambia and Swaziland: A Randomized Evaluation of Interview Methods
by Paul C. Hewett, Nicole Haberland, Lou Apicella et al. PLoS ONE 7(5): e36251 (22 May 2012) 10 pp. 277 kB:
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObjectAttachment.action;jsessionid=5BA834A7F71ADEBD 55359987E3C929B8?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0036251&representation=PDF

To date, male circumcision prevalence has been estimated using surveys of men selfreporting their circumcision status. HIV prevention trials and observational studies involving female participants also collect data on partners circumcision status as a risk factor for HIV/STIs. A number of studies indicate that reports of circumcision status may be inaccurate. Study results suggest that the prevalence of circumcision may be overestimated in Zambia and Swaziland; the error in reporting is higher among women than HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 9

among men. Improved reporting when a description or illustration is provided suggests that the source of the error is a lack of understanding of male circumcision. ***

Treatment as prevention: Making it work for communities most affected by HIV

International HIV/AIDS Alliance, June 2012 3 pp. 50 kB: http://www.aidsalliance.org/includes/Publication/TAP-Policy-Briefing-2012.pdf There are rapid developments in the field of HIV prevention. Treatment as prevention (TAP) is one emerging issue that is causing great debate. The International HIV/AIDS Alliance has conducted a partnership-wide consultation on the topic in order to inform its own programming and advocacy messages. This briefing draws on the results of that consultation and on an extensive desk review of the available literature. It highlights some of the key questions that communities most affected by HIV and the organisations that support them are currently discussing, and outlines eight points to remember to make TAP work. ***

HIV Clients as Agents for Prevention: A Social Network Solution

by Sarah Ssali, Glenn Wagner, Christopher Tumwine et al. AIDS Research and Treatment, Vol. 2012, Article ID 815823 7 pp. 584 kB: http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/art/2012/815823.pdf HIV prevention efforts to date have not explored the potential for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) to act as change agents for prevention behaviour in their social ne tworks. At a time when new innovative concepts for HIV prevention interventions are needed to make further inroads against the spread of the HIV epidemic, the study data suggest that PLHA have the potential to serve as a key part of the solution, not only in regards to reducing their own risk behaviour, but also as po werful agents for health behaviour change and HIV prevention among their families, friends and community. ***

Tools for Change: Applying United Nations standards to secure womens housing, land, and property rights in the context of HIV
by Mayra Gomez, Birte Scholz, Tamar Ezer et al. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Open Society Foundations, 2012 86 pp. 3.2 MB:
http://www.soros.org/sites/default/files/tools-for-change-20120416.pdf

Tools for Change is an easy-to-use resource for advocates working on womens housing, land, and property rights in the context of HIV. It brings together relevant international human rights documents and highlights core concepts, rights, and means of enforcement, providing examples of successful advocacy from around the world. Mor eover, it draws on the voices of women worldwide to explain these rights and their uses in practical terms. HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 10

Palliative Care: A Handbook of Palliative Care in Africa

Editors: Julia Downing, Mackuline Atieno, Stephanie Debere et al. African Palliative Care Association (APCA), 2010 88 pp. 3.3 MB: http://www.apca.org.ug/images/stories/pdf/Handbook.pdf In addition to addressing general HIV care and support needs, palliative care has a strong focus on pain and symptom control. Palliative care is concerned with the assessment and management of pain and symptoms among patients with life limiting illnesses; it includes attention to physical, emotional and spiritual pain. With the huge burden of cancer and HIV disease among other life-limiting illnesses in Africa, there is a clear public health need for palliative care to enhance quality of life for the millions of people affected and to ensure freedom from suffering. The handbook is written for an African audience and therefore discusses models of care appropriate for the African setting.

Sexual & Reproductive Health The sexual behaviour of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: patterns and trends from national surveys
by Aoife M. Doyle, Sue Napierala Mavedzenge, Mary L. Plummer et al. Tropical Medicine & International Health; Article first published online: 18 May 2012 12 pp. 260 kB: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2012.03005.x/pdf Many 15- to 19-year-olds are at risk of HIV/STIs and unplanned pregnancies because of multiple partnerships and insufficient condom and other contraceptive use. In many countries, trends are moving in a favourable direction. To better inform prevention programmes in this important area, the authors recommend routine collection of sexual and reproductive behaviour data for adolescents aged <15 years, expanding the data collected for 15- to 19-year-olds to include detailed information on sexual behaviour within partnerships, and disaggregating data according to socio-demographic variables. ***

From desires to behavior: Moderating factors in a fertility transition

by Sarah R. Hayford and Victor Agadjanian Demographic Research Vol. 26 - Article 20, pp. 511-542; 31 May 2012 34 pp. 601 kB: http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol26/20/26-20.pdf This article documents the degree to which the desire to stop childbearing predicts fertility behavior over the short term among married women in rural southern Mozambique, a context where fertility transition is still in the early stages. Analyses test the moderating powers of individual, household, and community characteristics. As expected, the desire to stop childbearing is strongly predictive of fertility behavior. Household wealth, local adult AIDS mortality, and being married to an unsuccessful labor migrant are associated HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 11

with higher correspondence between reported desire to stop childbearing and fertility behavior. ***

Reproductive Health and Economic Development: What Connections Should We Focus On?
by Shareen Joshi Population Reference Bureau, January 2012 5 pp. 776 kB: http://www.prb.org/pdf12/poppov-economicdevelopmentreproductivehealth-women.pdf Reproductive Health (RH), defined in this brief as the use of effective contraception, use of health care during pregnancy and childbirth, and health care for infants - is a critical component of human capital. Investments in RH are linked to lower fertility and reduced maternal and child morbidity and mortality, thereby improving overall health and quality of life. Policymakers are faced with critical questions as to the extent to which improvements in RH contribute to broader economic returns. This brief examines the emerging evidence base for answering three questions about the relationship between RH and three important areas of human capital development. ***

Family Planning: The Smartest Investment We Can Make

Population Action International, March 2012 2 pp. 861 kB: http://populationaction.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/04/CostEffectiveness-2012.pdf Funding for international family planning and reproductive health is a proven and costeffective way to meet a broad range of international development goals. Increased access to contraception for women in developing countries is critical to improving maternal and newborn health, preventing HIV/ AIDS, and reducing unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion. Family planning programs yield improvements in other key development areas such as education, water and sanitation.

Maternal & Child Health Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health: Progress Report 20102011
Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, World Health Organization, May 2012 44 pp. 2.3 MB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241503600_eng.pdf Never before has the global community rallied so strongly and uniformly around the cause of reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health. This report highlights achievements of the WHO Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 12

Health. It pays testimony to a range of tools and actions developed and supported by their extensive network of staff in headquarter, regional and country offices. WHO cannot do it alone, but with so many committed stakeholders, the message is conveyed that they can and will deliver on the promises made. ***

Levels and trends in child mortality - Report 2011

by Danzhen You, Gareth Jones and Tessa Wardlaw UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA/Population Division, 2011 24 pp. 3.7 MB: http://www.who.int/entity/maternal_child_adolescent/documents/c hildmortality_booklet_2011.pdf The United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (IGME) updates child mortality estimates annually for monitoring progress. This report presents the IGMEs latest estimates of under-five, infant and neonatal mortality and assesses progress towards MDG 4 at the country, regional and global levels. It aims to help countries and partners give high priority to reducing newborn and child mortality, particularly by targeting the major killers of children with effective preventive and curative interventions. ***

Measuring Child Poverty: New league tables of child poverty in the worlds rich countries
by Peter Adamson United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), Innocenti Research Centre, May 2012 40 pp. 1.7 MB: http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/rc10_eng.pdf This report sets out the latest internationally comparable data on child deprivation and relative child poverty. Taken together, these two different measures offer the best currently available picture of child poverty across the worlds wealthiest nations. Previous reports in this series have shown that failure to protect children from poverty is one of the most costly mistakes a society can make. This comparative snapshot of child poverty in the industrialized nations is presented for the attention of political leaders, press and public. ***

Improving Quality of Care for Maternal and Newborn Health: Prospective Pilot Study of the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist Program
by Jonathan M. Spector, Priya Agrawal, Bhala Kodkany et al. PLoS ONE 7(5): e35151 (16 May 2012) 7 pp. 739 kB:
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObjectAttachment.action;jsessionid=41A192A57013A0C07 83A24EABDC94E42?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0035151&representation=PDF

Checklist-based interventions aid management of complex or neglected tasks and have been shown to reduce harm in healthcare. The authors hypothesized that implementaHESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 13

tion of a novel childbirth safety program for institutional births incorporating a 29-item checklist, would increase delivery of essential childbirth practices linked with improved maternal and perinatal health outcomes. They conclude that introduction of the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist program markedly improved delivery of essential safety practices by health workers. Future study will determine if this program can be implemented at scale and improve health outcomes. ***

Adolescent Mental Health

Mapping actions of nongovernmental organizations and other international development organizations by Chiara Servili, Juliana Yartey, M.T. Yasamy et al. World Health Organization, May 2012 50 pp. 1.0 MB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241503648_eng.pdf Adolescents are generally perceived as a healthy age group, and yet 20% of them, in any given year, experience a mental health problem, most commonly depression or anxiety. In many settings, suicide is among the leading causes of death among young people. Accumulated evidence shows that strengthening protective factors in schools, homes and local communities, as well as improving quality of mental health care for adolescents, can make important contributions to improving developmental outcomes of vulnerable young people. ***

Making Abortion Services Accessible in the Wake of Legal Reforms: A Framework and Six Case Studies
by Susheela Singh, Gilda Sedgh, Akinrinola Bankole et al. Guttmacher Institute, April 2012 50 pp. 458 kB: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/abortion-services-laws.pdf Evidence shows that restrictive abortion laws contribute substantially to maternal illness and death from unsafe abortion, and, in the last two decades, 26 countries have e xpanded the conditions under which abortion is legal. The study examines the implementation and impact of legal reforms in six settings - Cambodia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Mexico City, Nepal and South Africa - and finds that expanding access to legal abortion does not in itself guarantee a decrease in unsafe procedures. The findings indicate that increasing safe abortion services following legal reform requires sustained commitment and dedicated human and financial resources.

Malaria Drug quality and the fight against malaria

The Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN), 2010 4 pp. 910 kB:
http://www.wwarn.org/sites/default/files/WWARN%20Antimalarial%20Quality.pdf

Poor quality medicines, both counterfeit and substandard, of the majority of commonly HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 14

used antimalarials have been described. Antimalarials containing sub-therapeutic amounts of artesunate may have contributed to reported drug resistance in Southeast Asia. Poor quality antimalarial drugs have far reaching consequences. Patients can suffer death, prolonged sickness, treatment failure, side effects, loss of income and increased healthcare costs. With no new antimalarials on the horizon for at least 15 years, we must do everything possible to preserve the efficacy of these important drugs. ***

Poor-quality antimalarial drugs in southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa

by Gaurvika ML Nayyar, Joel G Breman, Paul N Newton et al. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Vol. 12, Issue 6, pp. 488-496, June 2012 9 pp. 121 kB:
http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473309912700646.pdf

Poor-quality antimalarial drugs lead to drug resistance and inadequate treatment, which pose an urgent threat to vulnerable populations and jeopardise progress and inves tments in combating malaria. Emergence of artemisinin resistance or tolerance in Plasmodium falciparum on the Thailand-Cambodia border makes protection of the effectiveness of the drug supply imperative. The authors reviewed published and unpublished studies reporting chemical analyses and assessments of packaging of antimalarial drugs. They conclude that concurrent interventions and a multifaceted approach are needed to define and eliminate criminal production, distribution, and poor manufacturing of antimalarial drugs. ***

Inaugural Meeting of the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee to the WHO: Conclusions and Recommendations
by Robert D Newman Malaria Journal 2012, 11:137 (30 April 2012) 13 pp. 141 kB: http://www.malariajournal.com/content/pdf/1475-2875-11-137.pdf The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) to the WHO met for the first time from 31 January to 2 February 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland. This article provides a summary of the discussions, conclusions and recommendations from that meeting a as part of the newly launched Malaria Journal thematic series WHO Malaria Policy Advisory Committee: Reports and Recommendations. ***

Global Plan for Insecticide Resistance Management in Malaria Vectors

World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme, 2012 132 pp. 2.1 MB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241564472_eng.pdf The Global Plan for Insecticide Resistance Management in malaria vectors (GPIRM) is a call to action. Through this document, WHO and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership call on governments of malaria-endemic countries, donor organizations, UN agencies, as well as research and industry partners, to implement a five-pillar strategy to tackle the growing threat of insecticide resistance and to facilitate the development of HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 15

innovative vector control tools and strategies. ***

Prevalence of Malaria and Sexually Transmitted and Reproductive Tract Infections in Pregnancy in Sub-Saharan Africa
A Systematic Review by R. Matthew Chico, Philippe Mayaud, Cono Ariti et al. JAMA. 2012;307(19):2079-2086 (16 May 2012) 8 pp. 282 kB: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/pdfaccess.ashx?ResourceID=3124852&PDFSource=13 Malaria and sexually transmitted infections/reproductive tract infections (STIs/ RTIs) in pregnancy are direct and indirect causes of stillbirth, prematurity, low birth weight, and maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. The authors conclude that the dual prevalence of malaria and STIs/RTIs in pregnancy among women who attend antenatal care facilities in sub-Saharan Africa is considerable, with the combined prevalence of curable STIs/RTIs being equal to, if not greater than, malaria. ***

Good practices for selecting and procuring rapid diagnostic tests for malaria
by P. Hayes, D.R. Bell, A. Bosman et al. World Health Organization, 2011 110 pp. 3.0 MB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789241501125_eng.pdf This manual, designed as a practical 12-step checklist, provides guidance on the selection and procurement of quality rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria. It covers all aspects of the procurement cycle, with special emphasis on product specifications, selection criteria for different epidemiological settings, different quantification methodologies based on malaria surveillance and consumption data, as well as quality control through lot testing. ***

The Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI)

Sixth Annual Report to Congress, April 2012 U.S. Agency for International Development 60 pp. 10.2 MB: http://www.pmi.gov/resources/reports/pmi_annual_report12.pdf On the occasion of World Malaria Day this year (25 April), the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) released its sixth annual report which describes the role and contributions of the U.S. Government in the effort to reduce the burden of malaria in Africa, and to monitor antimalarial drug resistance and decrease malaria transmission in the Greater Mekong Subregion. ***

HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 16

Essential Malaria Actions Guide for Kenyan Families

by Athuman Chiguzo Division of Malaria Control, Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation Kenya, April 2012 30 pp. 1.5 MB: http://c-changeprogram.org/sites/default/files/EMA-Guide-forKenyan-Families-FINAL.pdf The guide is designed to assist district health managers, health workers, and NGO partners in planning and implementing malaria social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) activities at community level. The guide seeks to ensure harmonisation of communication approaches and promotes seven essential malaria actions that fall into four categories: long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLIN) use, malaria case management, indoor residual spraying, and prevention of malaria during pregnancy. ***

Scepticism towards insecticide treated mosquito nets for malaria control in rural community in north-western Tanzania
by Soori E. Nnko, Susan R. Whyte, Wenzel P. Geissler et al. Tanzania Journal of Health Research, Vol. 14, No. 2, April 2012 11 pp. 236 kB: http://www.ajol.info/index.php/thrb/article/viewFile/71681/67436 The study explores reasons for scepticism and low uptake of insecticide treated mosquito nets (ITNs) that were promoted through social marketing strategy for malaria control prior to the introduction of long lasting nets (LLN). This paper has shown that the majority of people who could afford the prices of ITNs and who knew where to obtain the insecticides did not necessarily buy them. This suggests that, although people tend to report cost-related factors as a barrier against the use of ITNs, there are other critical concerns at work.

Tuberculosis Management of children exposed to multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

by James A Seddon, Peter Godfrey-Faussett, Anneke C Hesseling et al. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Vol. 12, Issue 6, pp. 469-479, June 2012 11 pp. 165 kB:
http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473309911703668.pdf

Children exposed to multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis are at risk of developing MDR tuberculosis. Where treatment is available, it is lengthy, expensive, and associated with poor adherence and notable morbidity and mortality. Preventive treatment effectively lowers the risk of disease progression for contacts of individuals with drug-susceptible tuberculosis, but this strategy is poorly studied for contacts of people with MDR tuberculosis. *** HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 17

Treatment outcomes for children with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis
by Dena Ettehad, H Simon Schaaf, James A Seddon et al. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Vol. 12, Issue 6, pp. 449-456, June 2012 8 pp. 235 kB: http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473309912700336.pdf The treatment of paediatric multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis has been neglected, but when children are treated outcomes can be achieved that are at least as good as those reported for adults. Programmes should be encouraged to report outcomes in children to improve the knowledge base for care, especially as new drugs become available. ***

Point-of-care detection of lipoarabinomannan (LAM) in urine for diagnosis of HIV-associated tuberculosis: a state of the art review
by Stephen D Lawn BMC Infectious Diseases 2012, 12:103 (26 April 2012) 25 pp. 446 kB: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2334-12-103.pdf Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens in urine is attractive as a potential means of diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) regardless of the anatomical site of disease. The most promising candidate antigen is the cell wall lipopolysaccharide antigen lipoarabinomannan (LAM), which has been used to develop commercially available enzymelinked immunosorbent assays. A recently developed low-cost, lateral-flow (urine dipstick) format of the assay provides a result within 30 minutes and is potentially a major step forward as it can be used at the point-of-care, making the possibility of immediate diagnosis and treatment a reality. ***

New laboratory tests to enhance TB diagnosis: Microscopy, LAM and Xpert MTB/RIF used as a drug resistance test
by Theo Smart HIV & AIDS Treatment In Practice (HATIP), 25 May 2012 11 pp. 230 kB: http://www.aidsmap.com/pdf/page/2368762/ This edition looks first at how smear microscopy can be improved, and then moves on to look at the Determine TB-LAM test, which looks for a fragment of the M.TB cell wall in urine. Determine TB-LAM is probably most suitable for use in people living with HIV with low CD4 cell counts. The publication also looks at the use of the Xpert MTB/RIF to d etect resistance to rifampicin, a key drug in first-line TB treatment, and asks whether evidence from the early roll-out of the test in South Africa indicates that the test is detecting very recently acquired cases of drug-resistant TB. ***

HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 18

Vaccines against Tuberculosis: Where Are We and Where Do We Need to Go?

by Tom H. M. Ottenhoff and Stefan H. E. Kaufmann PLoS Pathog 8(5): e1002607 (10 May 2012) 12 pp. 250 kB:
http://www.plospathogens.org/article/fetchObjectAttachment.action;jsessionid=959351CC96FDEAD 9AF53C7DD9D8A0986?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1002607&representation=PDF

Over the last 20 years, tremendous progress has been made in TB vaccine research and development: from a pipeline virtually empty of new TB candidate vaccines in the early 1990s, to an era in which a dozen novel TB vaccine candidates have been and are being evaluated in human clinical trials. In addition, innovative approaches are being pursued to further improve existing vaccines, as well as discover new ones. Thus, there is good reason for optimism in the field of TB vaccines that it will be possible to develop better vaccines than BCG, which is still the only vaccine available against TB.

Other Infectious Diseases Polios last stand

by Ewen Callaway Nature, Vol. 485, pp. 563; 28 May 2012 1 pp. 731 kB: http://www.nature.com/polopoly_fs/1.10730!/menu/main/t opColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/485563a.pdf A hard-fought battle against the polio virus may be approaching its endgame. Last week, health officials laid out plans to eradicate the virus from its last redoubts, but warned that the effort may founder owing to a US$ 1-billion funding gap. An assistant director-general at the World Health Organization, who is leading the eradication effort announced an Emergency Action Plan to step up vaccination efforts in the three countries that have never been able to stop the virus from spreading: Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The plan, which would boost global spending to US$ 2.2 billion over the next two years, aims to stamp out new polio cases by the end of this year. ***

Neglected Disease Research and Development: Is Innovation under Threat?

by Mary Moran, Javier Guzman, Lisette Abela-Oversteegen et al. Published by Policy Cures, December 2011 122 pp. 19.0 MB(!): http://policycures.org/downloads/g-finder_2011.pdf The fourth G-FINDER survey reports on 2010 global investment into research and development (R&D) of new products for neglected diseases, and identifies trends and patterns. The survey scope was expanded in order to build a more complete picture of global investment into neglected disease R&D, with a greater focus on Low- and MiddleIncome Countries (LMICs) and groups who had historically provided limited data, such as the vector control industry. Public funders in six LMICs - Argentina, Chile, Mexico, HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 19

Uganda, Nigeria and Malaysia - participated in the survey for the first time. In all, 240 organisations completed the survey in 2010, a 10% increase on 2009. ***

Eliminating Soil-Transmitted Helminthiases as a Public Health Problem in Children

Progress Report 2001-2010 and Strategic Plan 2011-2020 by Marco Albonico, Riadh Ben-Ismail, Moses J. Bockarie et al. World Health Organization, 2012 90 pp. 3.4 MB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241503129_eng.pdf Soil-transmitted helminths are responsible for diseases that thrive where there is poverty and disadvantage. These parasites infect more than 2 billion people in more than 100 countries adversely affecting nutritional status and impairing cognitive processes; in conclusion they make it more difficult for infected populations to surmount poverty. For the first time in history the elimination of soil-transmitted helminthiases as a public health problem is achievable: this document is intended to guide and coordinate the efforts of all the partners involved.

Non-communicable Diseases The Global Economic Burden of Noncommunicable Diseases

by D.E.Bloom, E.T.Cafiero, E.Jan-Llopis et al. Harvard Initiative for Global Health, January 2012 49 pp. 1.8 MB:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/pgda/WorkingPapers/2012/PGDA_WP_87.pdf

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been established as a clear threat not only to human health, but also to development and economic growth. Recognizing that building a solid economic argument is ever more crucial in times of financial crisis, this report brings an account of the overall costs of NCDs, including what specific impact NCDs might have on economic growth. The report also tries to capture the thinking of the business community about the impact of NCDs on their enterprises. ***

Resource Needs for Addressing Noncommunicable Disease in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Current and Future Developments by Karin Stenberg and Dan Chisholm Global Heart, Vol.7, No. 1, 2012 8 pp. 287 kB: http://www.who.int/choice/publications/karindan.pdf With non-communicable diseases (NCD) on the rise in low and middle income countries, there is a growing need to be able to estimate resource requirements, costs and HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 20

expected impact associated with various investment strategies related to prevention and control of NCD. In this article, recently developed costing and health impact models for non-communicable disease are reviewed, with a view to drawing out their main findings as well as methodological limitations.

Essential Medicines A practical handbook on the pharmacovigilance of medicines used in the treatment of tuberculosis
Enhancing the Safety of the Tb Patient by David Coulter, Geraldine Hill, Shanthi N. Pal et al. World Health Organization, May 2012 124 pp. 1.2 MB:
http://www.who.int/entity/medicines/publications/Pharmaco_TB_web_v3.pdf

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) can lead to the interruption of tuberculosis (TB) treatment, and contribute to regimen failure, morbidity, loss in quality of life or death. ADRs due to TB medicines are well known, but the overall contribution of anti-TB medicines to the burden of disease and patient mortality has been poorly studied. This handbook provides the practitioner with a step-by-step approach to the different methodologies available to include pharmacovigilance activities as a standard of care for TB patients ***

Priority live-saving medicines for women and children 2012

WHO, Department of Essential Medicines and Health Products, 24 May 2012 4 pp. 246 kB: http://www.who.int/entity/medicines/publications/EN_A4_WHOEM PMAR20121.pdf The list of priority medicines for mothers and children 2011 has been updated. Priority medicines are medicines with potential to save lives and should be available in all health systems. The priority medicines list for mothers and children helps countries select and make available the most important medicines. Major causes of death in mothers and children could be prevented or treated with access to simple and affordable medicines. However, many medicines are not available in countries. ***

Methodology Report 2012 for the Access to Medicine Index

Access to Medicine Foundation, May 2012 78 pp. 3.9 MB:
http://www.accesstomedicineindex.org/sites/www.accesstomedicineindex. org/files/2012_Methodology_Report_-_Stakeholder_Review_-_May_2012.pdf

The autumn of 2012 will again see the publication of the Access to Medicine Index. This will show to what degree the pharmaceutical industry is contributing to a fairer, healthier world. The Methodology Report 2012 defines exactly how the Index HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 21

will do this what we measure, how we measure it, and why. In effect, this report defines in detail what the world could expect of large pharmaceutical companies when it comes to their policies and progress in making medicines available to those who need them. ***

WHO Drug Information, Vol. 26, N 1, March 2012

44 pp. 630 kB:
http://www.who.int/entity/medicines/publications/druginformation/issues/26-1.pdf

In this issue (among others): Regulation of medicines in China; Development of paediatric medicines: points to consider in pharmaceutical formulation; Information on signals and reports of adverse drug reactions; Brief summaries of several recently-published documents and online resources. ***

The Selection and Use of Essential Medicines

Report of the WHO Expert Committee, 2011 (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 965) World Health Organization, 2012 268 pp. 1.0 MB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_965_eng.pdf This report presents the recommendations of the WHO Expert Committee responsible for updating the WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines. It contains a summary of the Committees considerations and justifications for additions and changes to the Model Lists, including its recommendations. Annexes to the main report include the revised version of the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (17th edition) and the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for Children (3rd edition). In addition there is a list of all the items on the Model Lists sorted according to their Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification codes

Social Protection Social Protection: Shared Interests in Vulnerability Reduction and Development
Editors: Daniel Albrecht, Nicole Valentine and Anjana Bhushan The Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Sectoral Briefing Series, May 2012 32 pp. 1.7 MB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241503655_eng.pdf The overarching objective of social protection is to shield households from external shocks that impoverish them, and to help those in chronic poverty to escape it. Key instruments for social protection include social transfers in cash or in kind (e.g. cash and food transfers, nutritional supplements, public works, food subsidies), access to services, social support, and equity-enhancing legislation. Social protection practice has evolved in the last decade from focusing on two principles (Prevention, Protection), HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 22

which were at the core of the so-called safety nets of the 1990s, to include promotion and transformation in order to enhance human capability, address the structural causes of poverty, and recognize the importance of social solidarity. ***

Can Conditional Cash Transfers Improve Maternal Health and Birth Outcomes? Evidence from El Salvadors Comunidades Solidarias Rurales
by Alan de Brauw and Amber Peterman International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), April 2011 38 pp. 806 kB: http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp01080.pdf Although conditional cash transfers (CCTs) are traditionally evaluated in relation to child schooling and nutrition outcomes, there is growing interest in examining maternal and reproductive health impacts. This evaluates the impact of El Salvadors CCT program Comunidades Solidarias Rurales on a range of maternal and reproductive health outcomes: (1) prenatal care, (2) skilled attendance at birth, (3) birth in a health facility, and (4) postnatal care. Results indicate that impacts are found on outcomes at time of birth, while no impacts are found on health seeking behavior pre- and post-birth. ***

Alternative Cash Transfer Delivery Mechanisms: Impacts on Routine Preventative Health Clinic Visits in Burkina Faso
by Richard Akresh, Damien de Walque, Harounan Kazianga Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit - Institute for the Study of Labor, January 2012 30 pp. 225 kB: http://ftp.iza.org/dp6321.pdf A unique randomized experiment has been conducted to estimate the impact of alternative cash transfer delivery mechanisms on household demand for routine preventative health services in rural Burkina Faso. Compared with control group households, cond itional cash transfers significantly increase the number of preventative health care visits during the previous year, while unconditional cash transfers did not have such an impact. For the conditional cash transfers, money given to mothers or fathers showed beneficial impacts of similar magnitude in increasing routine visits. ***

Impact of education on informal workers willingness to pay and knowledge of health insurance
by Jahangir A. M. Khan International Labour Office (ILO), Research Paper N16, March 2012 41 pp. 1.4 MB:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/mifacility/download/repaper16.pdf

A literature review identified a number of barriers that restrict potential clients from joining health insurance schemes in developing countries. Among those, the literacy gap HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 23

i.e. the lack of knowledge about insurance was found to be an important one. The aim of this study is two-fold; first, it is to assess the impact of educational intervention on knowledge, attitude and willingness-to-pay for health insurance using occupational solidarity and then, to explore the views of relevant actors on occupational solidarity-based health insurance. ***

Developing Asias Pension Systems and Old-Age Income Support

by Donghyun Park and Gemma B. Estrada Asian Development Bank Institute, April 2012 34 pp. 565 kB: http://www.adbi.org/files/2012.04.26.wp358.dev.asia.pension.systems.pdf Old-age income support is becoming an issue of growing importance throughout Asia. This is especially true in East and Southeast Asia. This paper provides a broad overview of the current state of pension systems in the Peoples Republic of China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. All eight countries are experiencing a steady increase in the proportion of the elderly relative to the working-age population and total population. By 2050, the entire region will have a drastically different, much greyer demographic profile.

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Roles of Companies in Water Management - Extending the Boundaries of Private Sector Responsibility?
by Peter Newborne European Report on Development, 2012 49 pp. 1.0 MB: http://erd-report.eu/erd/report_2011/documents/dev-11-00111researchpapers_newborne.pdf This paper reviews the policies and practices of companies in water use and water management, and considers how they manifest an evolution of private sector roles, through examples of innovation by companies in sectors that make significant use of water: beverages/drinks, tourism, and mining and energy - with agriculture also considered in two respects. ***

Water Safety Planning for Small Community Water Supplies

by Jennifer De France, David Drury, Bruce Gordon et al. World Health Organization, 2012 66 pp. 2.0 MB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241548427_eng.pdf A considerable number of people in todays world have to rely on small community water supplies for their everyday basic needs, both in industrialized and in less developed countries. These communities, often in remote places, tend to lack capacities for essential management, operation and maintenance, and implementation of technical imHESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 24

provements. This guidance document puts water safety planning in the context of small community water supplies and provides a step-by-step approach for those charged with dealing with the everyday realities of maintaining a reliable, safe supply.

Human Resources Preparing the Next Generation of Community Health Workers: The Power of Technology for Training
by Rocio Funes, Vicky Hausman, Angela Rastegar et al. The iheed Institute, the Barr Foundation, the mHealth Alliance, and the MDG Health Alliance, May 2012 60 pp. 3.1 MB: http://www.dalberg.com/documents/Power_of_Technology.pdf Community health workers (CHWs), who provide essential access to inexpensive, basic, life-saving health care, are indispensable to improving global health outcomes and thus the focus of this report. Sub-Saharan Africa needs at least one million more CHWs to address its health needs. This study identifies opportunities to train CHWs more costeffectively through technology- enabled multimedia content that leverages visuals, videos, or audio. Additionally, it highlights the potential to create open, easily sharable digital content that could act as a crucial ingredient for new approaches to training and learning in the future. ***

Measuring workload for tuberculosis service provision at primary care level: a methodology
by Lucie Blok, Susan van den Hof, Sayoky G Mfinanga et al. Human Resources for Health 2012, 10:11 (28 May 2012) 20 pp. 175 kB:
http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/pdf/1478-4491-10-11.pdf

In this article the authors describe a methodology that they developed to establish TB related workload in a given context and for a given patient load for use by TB pr ogramme managers and health planners. Workload is defined in this article as the total time required to provide all TB services for a certain patient load in a defined period of time. They present and discuss the methodology to measure actual workload for TBrelated tasks at primary care level in Tanzania.

Health Systems & Research Innovation for health: Research that makes a difference
TDR biennial report, 2010-2011 by Jamie Guth, Mahnaz Vahedi, Bernard Dichet et al. World Health Organization on behalf of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), 2012 56 pp. 2.7 MB: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241503563_eng.pdf HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 25

There are many drugs, diagnostic tools and other tools to improve health that simply never get to those who need them most - the poor living in remote or underserved areas. There are also specific successful projects carried out in one area but never stu died to see how they can be scaled up through a country or region. TDR supports this type of research, often called implementation research, which looks at how to use these tools in these difficult and remote settings. They work with local researchers, ministries of health and other government officials, as well as with other international partners, for a coordinated approach that can be implemented as soon as the research results are in. ***

How a Global R&D Convention Could Fill the Gaps Left by Todays Medical Innovation System
Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF), May 2012 13 pp. 3.1 MB: http://www.msfaccess.org/sites/default/files/MSF_assets/Innovation /Docs/MedInno_Briefing_GlobalConventionRD_ENG_2012Update.pdf The current Research and Development (R&D) system is driven by market forces, not health needs, and relies overwhelmingly on the patent system to recoup R&D costs by charging high prices for the medical tools that reach the market. By creating a binding Convention on health R&D, countries would agree to a sustainable system of medical innovation with adequate and predictable financing, to deliver products that are focused on the priority health needs of developing countries. The Convention would create norms to ensure that the fruits of innovation and new medical products are accessible and affordable. ***

Primary Health Care in Low-Income Countries: Building on Recent Achievements

by Jeffrey D. Sachs JAMA. 2012;307(19):2031-2032 (16 May 2012) 2 pp. 131 kB: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/pdfaccess.ashx?ResourceID=3124871&PDFSource=13 The dozen years since the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals have been a period of great achievement and advances in public health in the poorest countries. The cynics and naysayers were proven wrong. Ancient scourges such as malaria and newer ones such as AIDS can be controlled, even in the poorest places. Now is the time to redouble efforts to ensure that the gains of the past decade are pushed forward to b ecome lasting triumphs. ***

How can Disease Control Programmes Contribute to Health System Strengthening? Country Report: Liberia
by Raoul Bermejo III, Luke Bawo, Eisa Hamouda et al. Studies in Health Services Organisation and Policy, Working Paper 5; 2012 71 pp. 1.5 MB: http://www.itg.be/itg/Uploads/Volksgezondheid/wpshsop/WP5%20Liberia.pdf HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 26

Strong and effective health systems are increasingly considered prerequisites to further reducing the disease burden and to achieving the health MDGs, rather than the outcomes of increased investments in disease control programs (DCPs). While the investments in specific DCPs have undoubtedly led to improved specific health outcomes for the targeted diseases, they also resulted, in some cases, in a parallel system of wellfunded DCPs and underfunded general health services. Such imbalance in some national health systems led to disparity and unequal access to different services, attrition of health workers from general health services to DCPs, and the setup of parallel supply and information system.

Information & Communication Technology Bridging Gaps, Building Opportunity: Broadband as a Catalyst of Economic Growth and Social Progress in Latin America and the Caribbean
by Antonio Garca Zaballos, Ginya A. Truitt Nakata, Eloy Vidal et al. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), March 2012 52 pp. 2.9 MB: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=36882814 Broadband is expanding rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean, but the region still lags behind the worlds most advanced nations in terms of coverage, access and adoption of information and communication technology services delivered through fast networks. By improving broadband connectivity and making services more widely available and affordable, countries could help businesses - particularly small and medium-sized ones - become more competitive as well as provide their citizens access to more efficient government services, educational opportunities and healthcare, especially for people in remote areas or in underserved segments of the population. ***

Layout-Aware Text Extraction from Full-text PDF of Scientific Articles

Cartic Ramakrishnan, Abhishek Patnia, Eduard Hovy et al. Source Code for Biology and Medicine, 7:7 (28 May 2012) 21 pp. 3.2 MB: http://www.scfbm.org/content/pdf/1751-0473-7-7.pdf The Portable Document Format (PDF) is the most commonly used file format for online scientific publications. The absence of effective means to extract text from these PDF files in a layout-aware manner presents a significant challenge for developers of biomedical text mining or biocuration informatics systems that use published literature as an information source. In this paper the authors introduce the Layout-Aware PDF Text Extraction (LA-PDFText) system to facilitate accurate extraction of text from PDF files of research articles for use in text mining applications. ***

Open science, open access and open source software at Open Medicine
by Sally Murray, Stephen Choi, John Hoey et al. Open Medicine 2008;2(1):E1-3 HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 27

3 pp. 181 kB: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3091592/pdf/OpenMed-02e1.pdf??tool=pmcentrez Is access to the final polished version of research enough? Could we do more to encourage the collaborative reuse and reanalysis of existing data, or the verification of analyses? Could we move from open access to open science? As the name seems to imply, there is no strict definition of open science, but it is inextricably linked to the parallel movements of open access publication and open source software.

Education Education for Sustainable Development: Sourcebook

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2012 51 pp. 2.0 MB: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002163/216383e.pdf The purpose of the publication is to describe ways in which education for sustainable development (ESD) can be integrated into primary and secondary schooling. This co llection of briefs is designed to complement other ESD materials published by UNESCO. The topics for the briefs were selected in consultation with UNESCO Field Offices and Institutes. The briefs for primary and secondary teachers are specifically written for professional educators who work in formal education settings. ***

World Education 1951-2011: Celebrating 60 Years

World Education, 2012 36 pp. 7.4 MB: http://worlded.org/docs/ar-2011.pdf World Education has been helping people raise their standard of living through education for more than 60 years. This special publication commemorates some of the people, projects, and developments that have contributed to the unique entity that World Educ ation is today. ***

A New Face of Education: Bringing Technology into the Classroom in the Developing World
by Rebecca Winthrop and Marshall S. Smith Brooke Shearer Working Paper Series, January 2012 52 pp. 462 kB: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2012/01_educati on_technology_shearer/01_education_technology_shearer.pdf The goal of this publication is to provide a broad overview of some of the common education challenges facing the developing world and the range of different technologies HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 28

that are available to help address them. It looks closely at the different enabling cond itions that frequently shape the success or failure of technology interventions in education and derives a set of seven basic principles for effective technology use. These principles can provide guidance to decision-makers designing, implementing or investing in education initiatives. In doing so, the paper looks both at the primary and secondary, as well as at the higher levels, of education systems. ***

The eLearning Africa 2012 Report

by David Angwin, Gaston Bappa, Tanja Bosch et al. International Conferences, Workshops and Exhibitions (ICWE), Germany, May 2012 56 pp. 2.0 MB: http://www.elearning-africa.com/pdf/report/ela_report_2012.pdf The report offers an up-to-date look at how Africans are using new technologies to enhance education and training across Africa. The survey results indicate that the majority of respondents use ICT in classroom teaching and learning. Although most of those who participated in the survey were encouraged by the potential of ICT to improve the quality of their teaching practices, 16% of respondents were constrained by limitations in bandwidth, funds, electricity supply and insufficient human resource capacity. But the large increase in the number of mobile phone subscriptions across Africa is reflected in the 48% of respondents who use mobile phones in their teaching practices.

Harm Reduction and Drug Use Social service offices as a point of entry into substance abuse treatment for poor South Africans
by Nadine Harker Burnhams, Siphokazi Dada and Bronwyn Myers Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2012, 7:22 (29 May 2012) 19 pp. 166 kB: http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/content/pdf/1747-597X-7-22.pdf In South Africa, district social service offices are often the first point of entry into the substance abuse treatment system. The study provides evidence that social services are a point of entry and intervention for people from underserved communities in the Western Cape. If these low-threshold services can be supported to provide good quality services, they may be an effective and efficient way of improving access to treatment in a context of limited service availability. ***

The War on Drugs: Creating crime, enriching criminals

by Steve Rolles, Lisa Mackay, George Murkin et al. Count the Costs, 2012 14 pp. 1.5 MB: http://www.countthecosts.org/sites/default/files/Crime-briefing.pdf HESP-News & Notes - 12/2012 - page 29

The global war on drugs has been fought for over 50 years, to achieve its stated goal of a drug-free world. Yet despite the ever increasing resources spent on police and military efforts to suppress the illicit drug trade, supply has more than kept pace with rising global demand. Indeed, most indicators suggest drugs are cheaper and more available than ever before. This briefing summarizes the crime-related costs stemming from the war on drugs.

Millennium Development Goals Post-2015 Goals, Targets and Indicators

Conference Report - April 10-11, 2012 Paris, France by Barry Carin and Nicole Bates-Eamer The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), May 2012 44 pp. 818 kB: http://www.cigionline.org/sites/default/files/Post_2015_1.pdf The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been remarkably successful in focusing attention and mobilizing resources to address the major gaps in human development, but future goals must reach beyond traditional development thinking to become higher sustainable one-world goals that apply to poor and rich countries alike. On April 10-11, 2012, statisticians, metrics and issue experts, and development practitioners convened to discuss the options for indicators to underpin potential post-2015 development goals. ***

Sustainable Development Goals and the Relationship to a Post-2015 Global Development Framework
A Beyond 2015 Policy Paper, May 2012 5 pp. 462 kB: http://www.beyond2015.org/sites/default/files/Beyond%202015%20MDGSDG%20relationship%20FINAL%20May%202012.pdf The current over-arching development framework of the MDGs expires in 2015. Any plans for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) coming out of Rio+20 must be fully integrated into the global overarching post-2015 development framework, argues Beyond 2015. To develop SDGs and the post-MDG development framework in parallel would be both inefficient and short-sighted, and could lead to a number of negative scenarios. Principles of participation, accountability, equality and non-discrimination must cut across any post-2015 framework to ensure outcomes which are effective, just and sustainable. ***

Getting to Zero: Finishing the Job the MDGs Started

by Ernest Aryeetey, Daniel Esty, Edwin Feulner et al. Global Agenda Council on Benchmarking Progress (GAC), April 17, 2012 18 pp. 230 kB:
http://post2015.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/getting-to-zero-final-draft-20120417-11.pdf

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It is time to start preparing the ground for new goals to mark the sustainable end of extreme poverty - a vision of getting to zero within a generation, i.e., by 2030. As with the MDGs, this implies much more than just boosting incomes. It entails ending chronic hunger, ensuring universal access to secondary education, ensuring universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation, reducing child and maternal deaths to current upper middle-income country (MIC) levels, and tackling key environmental priorities that will underpin development success. Achieving this suite of goals will in turn reinforce further progress in economic growth, as shown for example in the economic returns to addressing malnutrition.

Development Assistance Integrated Monitoring: A Practical Manual for Organisations that Want to Achieve Results
by Sonia Herrero inProgress, Berlin, April 2012 44 pp. 11.1 MB: https://www.ecn-eu.com/project-directory/integrated-monitoring-ahandbook-for-organisations-that-want-to-achieve-results/5 The aim of this manual is to help those working in the non-profit sector - nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and other civil society organisations (CSOs) - and the donors which fund them, to observe more accurately what they are achieving through their efforts and to ensure that they make a positive difference in the lives of the people they want to help. The goal is to help organisations build monitoring and evaluation into all their project management efforts. ***

The Effects of Aid on Rights and Governance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
by Peter M. Aronow, Allison Carnegie and Nikolay Marinovx Yale University, New Haven CT, 11 May 2012 51 pp. 2.2 MB: http://www.nikolaymarinov.com/wp-content/files/AronowMarinovSovey.pdf Does foreign aid promote good governance in recipient countries? The authors help arbitrate the debate over this question by leveraging a novel source of exogeneity: the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. They find that when a countrys former colonizer is the president of the Council of the European Union during the budget making process, the country is allocated considerably more foreign aid than are countries whose former colonizer does not hold the presidency. They demonstrate that this aid has positive effects on multiple measures of human rights and governance, although the effects are short-lived after the shock to aid dissipates. ***

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What if three quarters of the worlds poor live (and have always lived) in Low Aid Countries?
by Jonathan Glennie Overseas Development Institute (ODI), May 2012 6 pp. 227 kB: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/docs/7681.pdf This Background Note posits that rich countries focus on aid, as the key tool to help end poverty, may need careful examination. It considers the conventional development narrative of reduced aid dependency from a different perspective, bringing new data to bear on the debate, and producing some surprising information.

Others Shaping cities for health: complexity and the planning of urban environments in the 21st century
by Yvonne Rydin, Ana Bleahu, Michael Davies et al. The Lancet, Vol. 379, Issue 9831, pp. 2079-2108, 2 June 2012 30 pp. 2.2 MB: http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673612604358.pdf With almost 30 years experience from the Healthy Cities movement, we are increasingly aware of the features needed to transform a city into a healthy city. This report argues against the assumption that urban health outcomes will improve with economic growth and demographic change, and instead highlights the need for urban planning for health needs. Evaluation and assessment of practices and decision-making processes through dialogue between stakeholders and communities and mutual learning is essential. ***

How To Make Cities More Resilient - A Handbook For Local Government Leaders
by Helena Molin Valds, Aloysius Reg, John Scott et al. United Nations UNISDR, March 2012 104 pp. 8.3 MB: http://www.unisdr.org/files/26462_handbookfinalonlineversion.pdf Cities and urban areas represent dense and complex systems of interconnected services. As such, they face a growing number of issues that drive disaster risk. Strategies and policies can be developed to address each of these issues, as part of an overall vision to make cities of all sizes and profiles more resilient and livable. ***

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Making Research Evidence Matter: A Guide to Policy Advocacy in Transition Countries

by Ein Young & Lisa Quinn Open Society Foundations, 2012 176 pp. 1.3 MB: http://www.policyadvocacy.org/docs/PolicyAdvocacyGuidebookYoungQuinn2012.pdf The publication is a practical resource for those interested in designing and conducting effective evidence-informed advocacy campaigns in environments where the demand for applied research is low and policy discussions are often centered around taking sides rather than finding the best solutions. Collecting the insights from extensive case research and literature on effective approaches to policy advocacy in transition and developing countries, this in-depth guide presents and explains the nuts and bolts of the process of designing policy advocacy campaigns to achieve policy results. ***

A Guide for Transboundary Research Partnerships

Swiss Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries (KFPE), 2012 28 pp. 642 kB: http://www.kfpe.ch/download/KFPE-Guide_11P7Q_E.pdf This Guide is intended for: Researchers considering or planning to engage in fair and equal partnership towards common goals; Funding agencies designing programmes for effective and intercultural research collaboration; Policymakers aiming at establishing an enabling environment for effective research collaborations; Development organisations encouraging contextualisation of scientific knowledge through facilitation and brokering; International organisations dealing with knowledge based solutions to global challenges. ***

A Learning Package for Social and Behavior Change Communication

Communication for Change (C-Change), March 1, 2010 Communication for Change (C-Change) has created this learning package for facilitated, face-to-face workshops on social and behaviour change communication (SBCC). The package for communication practitioners working in development includes a series of 6 modules and accompanying f acilitator guides for each module. Download the 6 modules at: http://c-changeprogram.org/focus-areas/capacity-strengthening/sbcc-modules ***

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ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Hans Rosling: Religions and babies
Video (13:20 Min.): http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_religion s_and_babies.html Hans Rosling had a question: Do some religions have a higher birth rate than others - and how does this affect global population growth? Speaking at the TEDxSummit in Doha, Qatar, he graphs data over time and across r eligions. With his trademark humor and sharp insight, he reaches a surprising conclusion on world fertility rates. ***

Food Security Insights - Issue 82, January 2012

Research Findings for Development Policymakers and Practitioners Innovative approaches to gender and food security Editor: Susanne Turrall Institute of Development Studies, 2012 8 pp. 6.9 MB: http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/1202/insights82.pdf Insights provides a thematic overview of recent policy-relevant research findings on international development. Insights is intended for policymakers and practitioners worldwide, in particular those with limited internet access. It is available online at: http://www.eldis.org/insights ***

InsightsAfrica
http://www.insightsafrica.com/ InsightsAfrica is an interactive tool providing critical data about the online behaviour of urban consumers in six key African markets: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. ***

Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, Vol. 18 No. 4, April 2012

http://www.emro.who.int/publications/emhj/18/04/Index.htm The EMHJ was launched in 1995 as a peer-reviewed medical journal. Starting January 2010, the Journal has been given a new format and is now published monthly. The EMHJ serves as a forum for the dissemination of biomedical information through the publication of scientific research papers on a range of topics related to public health, with particular relevance to the Eastern Mediterranean Region. ***

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Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Volume 90, Number 6, June 2012, 401-476 http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/90/6/en/index.html This issue includes articles on the following topics: Europe works together to combat rare diseases Turkeys tobacco transformation Tapping into social networks for health Improving treatment of noncommunicable diseases Medical conditions among Iraqi refugees

INTERESTING WEB SITES

Antimalarial Quality Surveyor
http://www.wwarn.org/resistance/surveyors/antimalarial-quality A visualisation tool delivering customised summaries of published reports of antimalarial medicine quality, displaying geographical distribution across regions and over time. The Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN) Antimalarial Quality (AQ) Surveyor includes published data describing the quality of malaria medicines, tec hniques, assays and sampling. This mapping tool enables studies to be filtered according to medicine, report type, collection type, medicine source and quality classification.

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Summer School of International Nutrition: Double Burden of Malnutrition
20 - 28 September, 2012 - Potsdam, Germany Main objective of the Summer School is the interdisciplinary description and development of possible strategies regarding the problem of undernutrition on the one side and the growing prevalence of overnutrition on the other side in developing nations. Participants should have the following background: Professionals active in the field of nutrition/food Nationality: African, Asian or Latin American Alumni of a German University (former student or PhD student from a German University) Participant fees and travel expenses will be funded up to 100% by the German Government. Deadline for application is June 10, 2012. For further information see: http://www.internationalnutrition.eu ***

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CONFERENCES
Report on the Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2012
Moving Towards Universal Health Coverage: Health Financing Matters 24-28 January 2012, Bangkok, Thailand 67 pp. 28.1 MB(!): http://www.pmaconference.mahidol.ac.th/index.php?option=com_d ocman&task=doc_download&gid=661&Itemid= In recent years, the goal of Universal Health Coverage has become an increasingly important issue - featuring more and more prominently on global, regional and national agendas. Universal Health Coverage depends on strong and well-designed health financing systems that assure sufficient financial resources for health. This conference provided a chance for all stakeholders to work together to effectively translate ambitious policy intentions into concrete actions that can make Universal Health Coverage a reality for all people, everywhere, ensuring better health for everyone - whoever they are, wherever they live.

CARTOON

TIPS & TRICKS

Forward Slash - Backslash
Forward slash is /, and backslash is \. Remember that the name tells us in which direction the top of the slash points. Forward slashes tell your computer you are looking for something external to your system, like web pages:

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Backslashes tell your computer you are looking for something inside your system, like a drive or a file:

***

Android Text Response

With Android 4.0, a new feature was introduced that provides an option to personally respond to an inconvenient phone call. Now, along with the choices available in earlier Android versions answering calls directly, or sending them to voice mail calls can also be replied to quickly with a text response. If your Android phone is not built on the 4.0 operating system, recent updates may still include this feature. As it was in earlier versions, to speak to the caller, just slide the white receiver icon to the green receiver. To send the call to voice mail, slide to the red receiver. To send a quick text reply, simply slide to the message icon (see left picture). There, you can either make a selection from a list of canned responses, or write your own message (tapping Custom message will open Messaging). ***

Android Punctuation made easy

Ironically, the introduction of software designed to improve writing (spell check, grammar check, etc.) coincided with an increasing lack of interest in the rules of writing. As a r esult, punctuation, capitalization, and even correct spelling are instruments that are becoming progressively rusty from neglect. With e-mail, people tended to speed through messages, ignoring punctuation and capitalization. However, if you own an Android phone, the stock keyboard offers easy access to punctuation. The shortcut to punctuation is to touch and hold the period key, and then slide to the preferred character. If you just touch, hold, and release without sliding, a comma will be placed. Note: This is demonstrated on Android 4.0 and may not work on all versions.

Best regards, Dieter Neuvians MD

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