Publications

This paper summarises the common issues and challenges for health information systems in Pacific island countries and territories. Pacific participants of two meetings hosted by the Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub in 2009 identified these issues and suggested future actions. These two key events were held in the Pacific region in 2009: a meeting of the Pacific Health Information Network (PHIN) in September in Nadi and a Pacific Health Information Systems Development Forum in November in Brisbane. Both events were designed to create greater knowledge about what is happening within the region, and provide forums to discuss common issues and challenges and learn from relevant local advances. The global agenda and drivers of health information systems were discussed at both meetings to provide a clearer understanding of how Pacific island countries are positioned within the larger international agenda. 

On 20 November 2009, the global community celebrates the 20th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This unique document outlines universal standards for the care, treatment and protection of all individuals below age 18. It is the most widely endorsed human rights treaty in history, currently ratified by 193 States parties. During the past two decades, the Convention has transformed the way children are viewed and treated throughout the world. It has exerted a pervasive and profound influence on national and international legislation, policy and programmes, public and private institutions, families, communities and individuals. And it has supported marked advances in survival, development, protection and participation across the world.

Faced with a rising HIV epidemic among injecting drug users, harm reduction policies and programs were introduced in Malaysia in 2005. The positive impact seen since the introduction of these programs comprise the inclusion of the health aspects of illicit drug use in the country’s drug policies; better access to antiretroviral therapy for injecting drug users who are HIV infected; reduction in HIV-risk behavior; and greater social benefits, including increased employment. Despite these achievements, tension between law enforcement and public health persists, as harm reduction exists alongside an overall drug policy that is based on abstinence and zero tolerance. Unless there is harmonization of this policy, sustainability and scale-up of harm reduction programs will remain a challenge.

The objective of this documentation note is to describe the current status of the health information system and its activities across the Vanuatu health sector. It is expected that the outcome of this will provide a strategic overview and preliminary diagnostics for use in determining areas requiring improvement and allow planning for future health information system activities. After a brief description of the Vanuatu context, the six components of the Health Metrics Network Framework and Standards for Country Health Information Systems (WHO 2008a) are used to describe the present state and potential of the Vanuatu health information system. To inform this analysis, a review of existing forms and databases was undertaken, as well as a number of consultations held with key stakeholders.

Worldwide, far more people migrate within than across borders, and although internal migrants do not risk a loss of citizenship, they frequently confront significant social, financial and health consequences, as well as a loss of rights. The recent global financial crisis has exacerbated the vulnerability internal migrants face in realizing their rights to health care generally and to antiretroviral therapy in particular. For example, in countries such as China and Russia, internal migrants who lack official residence status are often ineligible to receive public health services and may be increasingly unable to afford private care. In India, internal migrants face substantial logistical, cultural and linguistic barriers to HIV prevention and care, and have difficulty accessing treatment when returning to poorly served rural areas. Resulting interruptions in HIV services may lead to a wide range of negative consequences, including: individual vulnerability to infection and risk of death; an undermining of state efforts to curb the HIV epidemic and provide universal access to treatment; and the emergence of drug-resistant disease strains. International human rights law guarantees individuals lawfully within a territory the right to free movement within the borders of that state. This guarantee, combined with the right to the highest attainable standard of health set out in international human rights treaties, and the fundamental principle of non-discrimination, creates a duty on states to provide a core minimum of health care services to internal migrants on a non-discriminatory basis. Targeted HIV prevention programs and the elimination of restrictive residence-based eligibility criteria for access to health services are necessary to ensure that internal migrants are able to realize their equal rights to HIV prevention and treatment.

This book begins with four case studies that examine how policing practices directly impact the lives of people who use drugs. Though the settings differ, the themes are similar: an approach to drug use that is primarily the responsibility of law enforcement officials rather than health care personnel results in corruption, abuses, and reluctance on the part of drug users to access even the most basic disease prevention services.

This study sought to examine the effects of husband’s control and frequency of spousal discussion on domestic violence against Cambodian married women, using the 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey data. The sample included 1,707 married women, aged 16 – 49 (M=35.14). Structural Equation Modeling showed that husband’s control positively predicted both emotional and physical violence. Frequency of spousal discussion positively predicted emotional violence, an association consistent with the idea that a husband holding patriarchal beliefs would interpret women’s more frequent discussion as a violation of Cambodian norms for quiet, submissive wives.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are changing the ways women experience and confront violence. Despite this, there has been little attention paid to issues arising from the intersection of ICT and violence against women. The APC WNSP regards this intersection as a critical site of intervention both for women's rights activists and those working in the ICT development and policy arena. In this context, the APC WNSP commissioned the following overview paper as part of its 12-country project, "Strengthening women's organisations use of ICTs to end violence against women and girls" supported by the Dutch government's MDG3 Fund to promote gender equality and women's empowerment. This country report highlights forms of violence against women that have received recognition in Malaysia and provides the context of ICT development and national policy objectives.

The estimated HIV prevalence in Cambodia among adults aged 15–49 years declined from 2.0% in 1998 to 0.9% in 2006 (Ministry of Health Cambodia 2008). The number of people living with HIV ⁄ AIDS at the end of 2006 was a 61 400 (Ministry of Health Cambodia, NCHADS Surveillance Unit 2008; National AIDS Authority 2008). Since 2001, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have started pilot projects to deliver antiretroviral therapy (ART) and Cambodia has successfully applied for consecutive rounds of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). In the third quarter of 2007, more than 25,000 patients were receiving ART at 48 treatment sites, approaching 80% ART coverage (National AIDS Authority 2008). This document aims to evaluate a 5-year HIV care programme (2003–2007) in the Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The goal of the regional training was to help countries implement effective national response through the creation of prioritized and evidence-based NSPs that are accompanied by necessary operational, human resource and management plans, which include estimation of costs and measurable targets for monitoring and evaluation.